The Financiers of Congressional Elections PDF Download

Author: Peter L. Francia
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231116187
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description
Individual donors play a critical role in financing congressional elections, accounting for more than half of all money raised in House campaigns. But significant donors (defined here as those contributing more than $200) are the least understood participants in the system. Defenders assert that contributing money to campaigns is part of a broader pattern of civic involvement and is free speech that gives a voice to various interests. Detractors argue that these contributions are undemocratic, enabling wealthy citizens to overwhelm the voices of the many and to promote narrow business and policy interests. These divergent assessments were raised in connection with the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002 and continue to characterize the debate over campaign finance reform. So who really contributes and why? How much and to how many candidates? What are the strategies used by political campaigns to elicit contributions and how do the views of significant donors impact the campaign-finance system? What do donors think about campaign-finance reform? This book investigates these vital questions, describing the influence of congressional financiers in American politics.

Author: Peter L. Francia
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 023151302X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
Individual donors play a critical role in financing congressional elections, accounting for more than half of all money raised in House campaigns. But significant donors (defined here as those contributing more than $200) are the least understood participants in the system. Defenders assert that contributing money to campaigns is part of a broader pattern of civic involvement and is free speech that gives a voice to various interests. Detractors argue that these contributions are undemocratic, enabling wealthy citizens to overwhelm the voices of the many and to promote narrow business and policy interests. These divergent assessments were raised in connection with the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002 and continue to characterize the debate over campaign finance reform. So who really contributes and why? How much and to how many candidates? What are the strategies used by political campaigns to elicit contributions and how do the views of significant donors impact the campaign-finance system? What do donors think about campaign-finance reform? This book investigates these vital questions, describing the influence of congressional financiers in American politics.

Author: Michael A. Bailey
Publisher: CQ Press
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
Contains case studies of nineteen contemporary political campaigns, including Senate races, House races, and referenda and initiatives.

Author: Thomas Ferguson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022616201X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 439

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Book Description
"To discover who rules, follow the gold." This is the argument of Golden Rule, a provocative, pungent history of modern American politics. Although the role big money plays in defining political outcomes has long been obvious to ordinary Americans, most pundits and scholars have virtually dismissed this assumption. Even in light of skyrocketing campaign costs, the belief that major financial interests primarily determine who parties nominate and where they stand on the issues—that, in effect, Democrats and Republicans are merely the left and right wings of the "Property Party"—has been ignored by most political scientists. Offering evidence ranging from the nineteenth century to the 1994 mid-term elections, Golden Rule shows that voters are "right on the money." Thomas Ferguson breaks completely with traditional voter centered accounts of party politics. In its place he outlines an "investment approach," in which powerful investors, not unorganized voters, dominate campaigns and elections. Because businesses "invest" in political parties and their candidates, changes in industrial structures—between large firms and sectors—can alter the agenda of party politics and the shape of public policy. Golden Rule presents revised versions of widely read essays in which Ferguson advanced and tested his theory, including his seminal study of the role played by capital intensive multinationals and international financiers in the New Deal. The chapter "Studies in Money Driven Politics" brings this aspect of American politics into better focus, along with other studies of Federal Reserve policy making and campaign finance in the 1936 election. Ferguson analyzes how a changing world economy and other social developments broke up the New Deal system in our own time, through careful studies of the 1988 and 1992 elections. The essay on 1992 contains an extended analysis of the emergence of the Clinton coalition and Ross Perot's dramatic independent insurgency. A postscript on the 1994 elections demonstrates the controlling impact of money on several key campaigns. This controversial work by a theorist of money and politics in the U.S. relates to issues in campaign finance reform, PACs, policymaking, public financing, and how today's elections work.

Author: Paul S. Herrnson
Publisher: CQ Press
ISBN: 1452203784
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
The 2010 campaign and election was pivotal: Republican takeover of House, advent of super PACs, and record-breaking sums spent on a midterm election. This volume explores - a cross-section of groups, and networks that illustrates unleashing of interest group activity in electoral process in response to Citizens United and other court cases.

Author: David B. Magleby
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 0815704623
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
The 2008 elections were by any standard historic. The nation elected its first African American president, and the Republicans nominated their first female candidate for vice president. More money was raised and spent on federal contests than in any election in U.S. history. Barack Obama raised a record-setting $745 million for his campaign and federal candidates, party committees, and interest groups also raised and spent record-setting amounts. Moreover, the way money was raised by some candidates and party committees has the potential to transform American politics for years to come. The latest installment in a series that dates back half a century, Financing the 2008 Election is the definitive analysis of how campaign finance and spending shaped the historic presidential and congressional races of 2008. It explains why these records were set and what it means for the future of U.S. politics. David Magleby and Anthony Corrado have assembled a team of experts who join them in exploring the financing of the 2008 presidential and congressional elections. They provide insights into the political parties and interest groups that made campaign finance history and summarize important legal and regulatory changes that affected these elections. Contributors: Allan Cigler (University of Kansas), Stephanie Perry Curtis (Brigham Young University), John C. Green (Bliss Institute at the University of Akron), Paul S. Herrnson (University of Maryland), Diana Kingsbury (Bliss Institute at the University of Akron), Thomas E. Mann (Brookings Institution).

Author: Paul S. Herrnson
Publisher: CQ Press
ISBN: 1544323107
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
"It is the gold standard for texts on congressional campaigns and elections." — Bruce A. Larson, Gettysburg College In Congressional Elections: Campaigning at Home and in Washington authors Paul Herrnson and Costas Panagopoulos combine top-notch research with real-world politics as they argues that successful candidates run two campaigns: one for votes, the other for resources. Using campaign finance data, original survey research, and hundreds of interviews with candidates and political insiders, Herrnson and Panagopoulos look at how this dual strategy affects who wins and how it ultimately shapes the entire electoral system. The Eighth Edition considers the impact of the Internet and social media on campaigning in the 2018 elections; the growing influence of interest groups; and the influence of new voting methods on candidate, party, and voter mobilization tactics.

Author: Julie Ballington
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
This handbook provides a general description of the different models of political finance regulations and analyses the relationship between party funding and effective democracy. The most important part of the book is an extensive matrix on political finance laws and regulations for about 100 countries. Public funding regulations, ceilings on campaign expenditure, bans on foreign donations and enforcing an agency are some of the issues covered in the study. Includes regional studies and discusses how political funding can affect women and men differently, and the delicate issue of monitoring, control and enforcement of political finance laws.

Author: David B. Magleby
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 0815725620
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
The amount of money flowing through U.S. politics continues to astound. "While not all expenditures are reported," writes David Magleby, "our best estimate is that at least $8 billion was spent in the 2012 federal elections." In this essential volume, the latest in a quadrennial series dating back to 1960, Magleby and his colleagues reveal where all this the money came from, where it went, what were the results—and why it matters. Anthony Corrado examines the most important changes and legal challenges to the law and regulation of campaign finance leading up to the 2012 election. John Green, Michael Koehler, and Ian Schwarber discuss the dynamics and funding of the Republicans' presidential nomination contest as well as the Obama campaign's activity—including the role his Priorities USA "Super PAC" played in negatively defining Romney. Candice Nelson examines in considerable detail how each side raised and spent its funds and the implications of their different approaches. Paul Herrnson, Kelly Patterson, and Stephanie Perry Curtis explore the financing of congressional elections. Diana Dwyre and Robin Kolodny examine the ways political parties raised and spent money through their national committees, including congressional campaign committees. Jay Goodliffe and Magleby examine how interest groups raised and spent money—closely examining the effect of the new Super PACs. How did these organizations raise more than $828 million, and how did they allot the $609 million they reported spending, and to what effect? Thomas Mann concludes with a summary of lessons recently learned regarding the financing of federal elections. What changes should be made to the system, and what institutional steps would they require?

Author: Louise I. Gerdes
Publisher: Greenhaven Publishing LLC
ISBN: 0737768649
Category : Young Adult Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 113

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Book Description
The passage of Citizens United by the Supreme Court in 2010 sparked a renewed debate about campaign spending by large political action committees, or Super PACs. Its ruling said that it is okay for corporations and labor unions to spend as much as they want in advertising and other methods to convince people to vote for or against a candidate. This book provides a wide range of opinions on the issue. Includes primary and secondary sources from a variety of perspectives; eyewitnesses, scientific journals, government officials, and many others.