The role of “dark money” in distorting the political process is a hotly debated topic these days, given the backdrop of the U.S. presidential election campaigns. Dark money refers to political contributions from nonprofits who don’t have to disclose who their donors are or disclose their expenditures. Three major factors are shaping the debate. One is a recent finding that dark money represents two-thirds of the money spent on advertising in the current elections. The second is the surge in campaign spending thanks to the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the so-called Citizens United case that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibited the government from restricting independent political expenditures by nonprofits. That protection was extended to contributions from for-profit organizations, labor unions and other organizations.…