The Influence of Campaign Contributions in State Legislatures : The Effects of Institutions and Politics / Lynda W. Powell.

Author
Powell, Lynda W. [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, [2012]
Description
1 online resource (271 pages).

Details

Subject(s)
Series
Legislative politics & policy making
Summary note
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, she develops 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 much time a legislator devotes 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 confirms a link between fundraising and lobbying with evidence supporting the theory that contributors gain access to legislators based on donations, Powell's findings have important implications for the debate over the role of money in the legislative process.
Source of description
Description based on: online resource; title from PDF information screen (University of Michigan Press, viewed December 3, 2022).
Other title(s)
Effects of institutions and politics
ISBN
0-472-07172-6
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