The latest news on this front comes from a really interesting article at Election Law Blog written by the widely-respected election expert Richard Pildes. Take a look at this excerpt:

With the Democrats starting to push onto the agenda the package of political reforms titled the “For the People Act,” more attention is going to start getting focused on the provisions for campaign-finance reform. Those provisions involve a 6:1 small-donor matching program — for every $1 in small donations a candidate raises, $6 of federal matching funds would be provided, up to a certain amount.

I have written several pieces that look at the evidence regarding whether small donors tend to fuel the ideological extremes of the parties (see here, here, and here). For one initial perspective on that issue, here is a list from the Open Secrets website of those members of Congress elected in 2018 who raised more than 50% of their funds from small donors (the data for 2020 is not yet available).

Also, visit the main Democracy Chronicles section on American Democracy or our articles on Money Politics and Worldwide Corruption.