Collaborative Research: Testing the Effects of Campaign Finance Laws in State Legislative Elections

William Marsh Rice University, Houston TX

Investigators

Abstract

This project examines the effects of laws regulating campaign financing in state legislative elections. A comparative analysis of states with varying statutory and regulatory provisions provides analytical leverage necessary for determining how the legal context shapes various aspects of electoral behavior. Major differences in the regulatory regimes across states provide an ideal laboratory for testing how such features affect candidacy decisions, fundraising practices, and election competition. Multiple research strategies are employed to test a model of elections in which campaign finance laws play a prominent role. A primary concern of this project is to evaluate the effects of legal conditions on such electoral features as contribution strategies of interest group and parties, candidate spending, candidate characteristics, and electoral outcomes in the states. The investigtors have confidence this project will generate findings that will have important theoretical and practical implications. Such as: Define and clarify the statutory and regulatory provisions of campaign finance laws across the fifty states for a 30-year time frame (1972-2002). Propose a model of elections in which the influences of campaign finance laws are posited to impact various stages of the electoral process. Collect data on campaign contribution patterns, campaign spending, candidate characteristics, and election competition in state legislative elections during the 2002 election cycle. Analyze the data collected to determine both the direct and indirect effects of campaign finance laws while holding constant a range of other factors and conditions. Prepare written reports on the findings and disseminate the information to scholars and policy makers. Release the data so that other scholars may explore additional dimensions of campaign finance laws. Overall, the results of the project promise to enhance substantially our understanding of campaign finance regulations and how these laws shape electoral behavior in the United States. The findings are expected to contribute to the theoretical development of several sub-fields in the study of American politics. In addition, the findings are likely to have practical implications by informing the policy debate over existing campaign finance policies at both the state and national levels.