Formatting and Placing Disclosure So That It Is Most Effective

It's always nice to see clever, simple, effective forms of disclosure that convey the most important information in the most readable, quickly understandable way. Such a form of disclosure is suggested in a paper published a month ago by Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School, and summarized in an Election Law Blog post that ran yesterday.

This particular form of disclosure, called Democracy Facts, is for organizations that advertise independently for political candidates. It provides the names of only the top five donors, and the total number of donors who live in the candidate's district. It also shows the percentage of total donations provided by the top five donors, and tells readers or viewers of the ad whether the candidate authorized the ad or not (usually not, or the expenditure would not be independent).

A serious problem with disclosure is that even when it is accessible online, it is often hard for ordinary people to read. Most campaign finance disclosure is really for the news media and the very politically involved. Democracy Facts is, as suggested by its familiar format, for ordinary people. It can affect how they accept the message in the ad. And the existence of such disclosure would likely make a difference in how such ads would be presented, and even how such organizations would fundraise.

An ad from a few donors primarily outside the candidate's district will be treated far less seriously than an ad from many donors in the candidate's district. It is this fact, not privacy, that most leads organizations to hide the names of their donors. But too much information, in such a situation, is only a little more useful than none at all. It certainly saves reporters a lot of footwork, but even the best article about the donors to an organization will be missed by most people and will be difficult to tie to particular ads.

It's worth thinking how other sorts of government ethics disclosure can be fashioned so that it provides the most important information in the right form and context to the greatest number of people.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics

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