Corporations and Campaign Finance

Why do corporations exist? Are they good or bad or both? What is their economic purpose?
See the Economist review of the movie, "The Corporation". It is available on campus computers here or you can search through the library proxy server.

Given what corporations are good at, should they be able to give unlimited amounts of money to political campaigns?

The Wonk Room:

Nineteen years ago, in Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, the Court upheld a ban on independent political expenditures–so-called “soft money” contributions–by corporate donors. As the Court explained in Austin, “the unique state-conferred corporate structure that facilitates the amassing of large treasuries warrants the limit on independent expenditures.” Corporations are designed to amass massive amounts of money, and they can use their enormous wealth to drown out individual voices, all while spending only a fraction of their treasuries.

Should the Court toss out Austin, it could be the end of any meaningful restrictions on campaign finance. In most states, all that is necessary to form a new corporation is to file the right paperwork in the appropriate government office. Moreover, nothing prevents one corporation from owning another corporation. Without Austin, even a cap on overall contributions becomes meaningless, because corporate donors can simply create a series of shell-corporations for the purpose of evading such caps.

Admittedly, Austin dealt only with independent expenditures, not direct corporate donations to candidates and their campaigns, but the Roberts Court’s apparent willingness to take on Austin directly is its boldest assault on campaign finance reform yet.

Trivia: Wikipedia says that Harvard College is the oldest corporation in the western hemisphere:

Harvard College ... (also known as the Harvard Corporation), ... Founded in 1636, ... was incorporated by the Great and General Court of Massachusetts in 1650. Significantly, Massachusetts itself was a corporate colony at that time – owned and operated by the Massachusetts Bay Company (until it lost its charter in 1684) - so Harvard College is a corporation created by a corporation.