Cite as: 528 U. S. 377 (2000)
Breyer, J., concurring
is found generally where competing constitutional interests are implicated, such as privacy, see, e. g., Frisby v. Schultz, 487 U. S. 474, 485-488 (1988) (balancing rights of privacy and expression); Rowan v. Post Office Dept., 397 U. S. 728, 736 (1970) (same), First Amendment interests of listeners or viewers, see, e. g., Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. FCC, 520 U. S. 180, 192-194 (1997) (recognizing the speech interests of both viewers and cable operators); Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Democratic National Committee, 412 U. S. 94, 102-103 (1973) ("Balancing the various First Amendment interests involved in the broadcast media . . . is a task of a great delicacy and difficulty"); Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC, 395 U. S. 367, 389-390 (1969) (First Amendment permits the Federal Communications Commission to restrict the speech of some to enable the speech of others), and the integrity of the electoral process, see, e. g., Burson, supra, at 198-211 (weighing First Amendment rights against electoral integrity necessary for right to vote); Anderson v. Celebrezze, 460 U. S. 780, 788-790 (1983) (same); Storer v. Brown, supra, at 730 ("[T]here must be a substantial regulation of elections if they are to be fair and honest"). The approach taken by these cases is consistent with that of other constitutional courts facing similarly complex constitutional problems. See, e. g., Bowman v. United Kingdom, 26 Eur. Ct. H. R. 1 (European Comm'n of Human Rights 1998) (demanding proportionality in the campaign finance context); Libman v. Quebec (Attorney General), 151 D. L. R. (4th) 385 (Canada 1997) (same). For the dissenters to call the approach "sui generis," post, at 410 (opinion of Thomas, J.), overstates their case.
Applying this approach to the present case, I would uphold the statute essentially for the reasons stated by the Court. I agree that the legislature understands the problem—the threat to electoral integrity, the need for democratization— better than do we. We should defer to its political judgment that unlimited spending threatens the integrity of the
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