Cite as: 518 U. S. 604 (1996)
Opinion of Thomas, J.
II
A
Critical to Justice Breyer's reasoning is the distinction between contributions 3 and independent expenditures that we first drew in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U. S. 1 (1976) (per curiam). Though we said in Buckley that controls on spending and giving "operate in an area of the most fundamental First Amendment activities," id., at 14, we invalidated the expenditure limits of FECA and upheld the Act's contribution limits. The justification we gave for the differing results was this: "The expenditure limitations . . . represent substantial rather than merely theoretical restraints on the quantity and diversity of political speech," id., at 19, whereas "limitation[s] upon the amount that any one person or group may contribute to a candidate or political committee entai[l] only a marginal restriction upon the contributor's ability to engage in free communication," id., at 20-21. This conclusion was supported mainly by two assertions about the nature of contributions: First, though contributions may result in speech, that speech is by the candidate and not by the contributor; and second, contributions express only general support for the candidate but do not communicate the reasons for that support. Id., at 21. Since Buckley, our campaign finance jurisprudence has been based in large part on this distinction between contributions and expenditures. See, e. g., Federal Election Comm'n v. Massachusetts Citizens for Life, Inc. (MCFL), 479 U. S. 238, 259-260, 261-262 (1986); Federal Election Comm'n v. National Conservative Political Action Comm. (NCPAC), 470 U. S. 480, 497 (1985);
3 Coordinated expenditures are by statute categorized as contributions. See 2 U. S. C. § 441a(a)(7)(B)(i) ("[E]xpenditures made by any person in cooperation, consultation, or concert, with, or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate, his authorized political committees, or their agents, shall be considered to be a contribution to such candidate").
635
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