The Influence of Campaign Contributions in State Legislatures: The Effects of Institutions and Politics

ISBN-13: 9780472051724 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 272 str.

Lynda W. Powell

Opis

Campaign contributions are widely viewed as a corrupting influence but most scholarly research concludes that they have marginal impact on legislative behavior. Lynda W. Powell shows that contributions have considerable influence in some state legislatures but very little in others.Using a national survey of legislators, shedevelops an innovative measure of influence and delineates the factors that explain this great variation across the 99 U.S. state legislative chambers. Powell identifies the personal, institutional, and political factors that determine how muchtime alegislatordevotes to personal fundraising and fundraising for the caucus. She shows that the extent of donors' legislative influence varies in ways corresponding to the same variations in the factors that determine fundraising time. She also confirmsa link between fundraising and lobbying with evidence supporting the theory that contributors gain access to legislators based on donations, Powell's findingshave important implications for the debate over the role of money in the legislative process."