New Federalisms unanswered question: Who should prosecute state and local officials for political corruption?
Thus, the campaign finance reform cases may cut both ways in terms of the general problem this Article raises. On the one hand, they reinforce the notion of combating corruption as an important government activity. Thus, we can find an area of jurisprudence outside of the patronage cases in which a vision of good government is adumbrated. Even though, it may reflect a more narrow vision of corruption, focusing primarily on quid pro quo from outside sources.542 On the other hand, the campaign finance reform cases show that the Constitution places limits on the activity of fighting corruption regardless of how it is defined. Whether these limits extend beyond the First Amendment rights involved in those cases to the state sovereignty values enshrined in the new federalism is for now an open question.
