soft money
31
8.3
- noun
- /sɔft ˈmʌni/
- Jargon
:
contribución no regulada
- The ABA's policy-making House of Delegates in 1998 voted to oppose soft-money contributions and the use of soft money in presidential and congressional election campaigns.
- soft money sources
- soft money contributions
Examples
-
With soft money banned to political parties, it has flowed to various types of outside groups.
Academic text (2014) -
Financial resources in the form of grants and other soft money sources were the key factors in Phase 1.
Academic text (2006) -
Both rely on outside sources of funding, soft money sources that eventually end.
Academic text (2006) -
Commonly referred to as "soft money," these are the funds raised and spent by PACs.
Blog text (5) -
The loss of soft money was hardly inconsequential for the CCCs.
Academic text (2014) -
As soft money sources of funding diminish, SWDL must compete with other state agencies and projects for limited resources.
Academic text (2006) -
For parties, BCRA put an end to issue advocacy by banning the national party committees from raising soft money.
Academic text (2014) -
To date, much of the battle has focused on the soft-money prohibition and the curbs on advertising.
Academic text (2002) -
Among other changes ushered in by BCRA, the law prohibited the national party and federal officeholders from raising soft money.
Academic text (2014) -
In the last election cycle, many candidates relied on soft money donations to fund their campaigns without strict reporting requirements.
How Regulated
3
3.5
- Jargon
31
8.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound combines 'soft' (not strict/lenient) with 'money', so a learner can infer it refers to funds that are loosely regulated or unrestricted. However, the specific legal/political sense — contributions routed to parties/committees to avoid federal regulations — is a specialized, discourse-bound meaning that a B1 learner would not reliably derive without prior exposure.
Etymology
Soft money may come from the contrast between soft and hard money: imagine hard money as tightly checked cash while soft money is loose cash that slips through the rules. So soft money now means political funds given in ways that 'avoid the rules', for example donations to parties or committees instead of directly to candidates.