This column ran in the online version of The State‘s editorial page. John Crangle’s group, Common Cause South Carolina, is a member of the SC Progressive Network.

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By Bob Edgar and John V. Crangle

The avalanche of scandals of the past six months simply adds to the mountain of evidence that America must change the way it pays for its elections. The cases of former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich illustrate the problems of America’s pay-to-play political system.

Our highest-bidder style of campaign fundraising is an open invitation to more scandals at every level of government. It also invites public cynicism because those who want something from government – whether it’s a tax break, a lucrative contract or favorable legislation – make the largest contributions to political campaigns.

It is difficult today to tell the difference between legal contributions to political candidates and illegal contributions made with an express quid pro quo. Lawmakers who serve on committees with jurisdiction over specific issues and sectors of the economy receive much of their campaign money from the very industries they are supposed to regulate. The most appalling cases of this are congressional committees that are supposed to watch Wall Street, but outrageously fail to do so.

In the wake of an $800 billion trillion stimulus package that features road work and other infrastructure projects in the states, we are likely to see this pay-to-play culture get even worse. The ultimate solution is to create a voluntary system of public funding under which federal and state candidates run vigorous campaigns funded by a combination of small contributions and limited public dollars.

Common Cause and its allies have developed a new campaign finance model that combines the best from successful state public financing systems – such as the “clean elections” laws in Connecticut, Arizona, Maine, North Carolina and New Mexico, as well as matching-funds systems in Minnesota and New York – and Internet-based small-donor fundraising strategies. This model would include a ban on lobbyist contributions – an imperfect version of which South Carolina already has on its books – and a ban on campaign contributions and fundraising by government contractors.

This new approach – which focuses on changing the source of campaign funding instead of imposing spending limits – will allow candidates who swear off special-interest money to instead run for office on a blend of small donations and limited public funds. This year we expect to see bipartisan legislation to modernize the outdated presidential public financing system, and to create a new campaign finance program for Congress.

This urgent set of reforms also would build walls between lawmakers and the private interests that seek to buy their votes. Given the broad array of companies that do business with state and federal governments, this is a difficult challenge, but it is critical to the task of severing the connection between big money and politics.

The root of the problem is less the people than the system itself – a system that has been nurtured and protected by the handful of interests who for decades have benefited the most, usually at the expense of the average taxpayer. It is time to end the pervasive conflicts of interest in the pay-to-play system, open the door to more citizen participation in the electoral process by encouraging small donations, and restore a measure of confidence in the integrity of our institutions and the people who serve them.

Mr. Edgar is president and CEO of the national office of Common Cause. Mr. Crangle is executive director of Common Cause/South Carolina.