Political Action Committee

Originating in the United States, a Political Action Committee or PAC is an organization set up to advance causes or individuals by providing material and financial support to favored political candidates. PACs must be registered with the Federal Election Commission and are divided into two categories: separate segregated funds (SSFs) and nonconnected committees..

Criticism

US Federal laws prohibit other types of organizations from endorsing and financially supporting political candidates for public office to prevent corporate and special interest group control of the political process, but PACs can be legally used to provide funds to and oppose or support candidates directly. PACs are limited by the amount of funds they can receive and give to individuals and institutions per an allotted timeframe, but analysts note that this important monitoring measure can be surpassed by creating a group of PACs devoted to the same purpose. In other words, even though a political candidate cannot legally accept more than $5,000 from a specific PAC in the primary election and $10,000 in the general election, he or she can actually receive much more than that from other related PACs endorsing the same cause. In this way well-funded lobbying groups can indirectly and effectively promote their causes by providing financial incentive to specific political candidates even though they are not legally permitted to directly do so.