Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T06:30:52.772Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Public Campaign Financing, Candidate Socioeconomic Diversity, and Representational Inequality at the U.S. State Level: Evidence from Connecticut

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Mitchell Kilborn
Mitchell Kilborn*
Affiliation:
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
*
Mitchell Kilborn, Department of Government, Harvard University, 1737 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Conventional wisdom holds that public campaign financing can diversify the socioeconomic makeup of candidate pools and, therefore, of U.S. elected officials, which could make U.S. public policy more responsive to lower socioeconomic status (SES) citizens. I argue that in addition to the absence of a positive relationship between public financing and candidate socioeconomic diversity, public financing, depending on the program design, may, in fact, reduce candidate socioeconomic diversity. Using occupational data on state legislative candidates in public financing state Connecticut and two paired control states to execute a difference in difference analysis, I demonstrate that when public financing is available, fewer low SES candidates run for state legislative office, and those who do run are not more likely to win and are less likely to utilize public financing.

Keywords

campaign financepolitical behaviorpolitical participationrepresentationlegislative electionslegislative politicselectionselection rulespoverty/inequalitypublic policy
Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 18 , Issue 3 , September 2018 , pp. 296 - 323
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abadie, Alberto, Diamond, Alexis, and Hainmueller, Jens. 2011. “Synth: An R Package for Synthetic Control Methods in Comparative Case Studies.” Journal of Statistical Software 42 (13): 1–17..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abramowitz, Alan. 1991. “Incumbency, Campaign Spending, and the Decline of Competition in U.S. House Elections.” Journal of Politics 53 (1): 34–56..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abramowitz, Alan, Alexander, Brad, and Gunning, Matthew. 2006. “Incumbency, Redistricting, and the Decline of Competition in U.S. House Elections.” Journal of Politics 68 (1): 75–88..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alexander, Herbert E. 1986. Financing Congressional Campaigns: Contributors, PACs and Parties in Hearings on S. 59, S. 1072, S. 1563, S.1787, S.1806, S.1891 and S. 2016, Proposed Amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. United States Senate. 99th Cong., 2d sess., Serial No. 61-309.Google Scholar
Angrist, Joshua D., and Pischke, Jörn-Steffen. 2009. Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartels, Larry. 2008. Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Biersack, Robert, Herrnson, Paul, and Wilcox, Clyde. 1993. “Seeds for Success: Early Money in Congressional Elections.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 18 (4): 535–51..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, Gordon S. 1972. “A Theory of Political Ambition: Career Choices and the Role of Structural Incentives.” American Political Science Review 66 (1): 144–59..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowen, Daniel C., and Greene, Zachary. 2014. Should We Measure Professionalism with an Index: A Note on Theory and Practice in State Legislative Professionalism Research. State Politics and Policy Quarterly 14 (3): 277–96..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brady, Henry E., Verba, Sidney, and Schlozman, Kay Lehman. 1995. “Beyond SES: A Resource Model of Political Participation.” American Political Science Review 89 (2): 271–94..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bulger, A. 2008. “Calling Out—A Bill that Mandates Paid Sick Leave Works Its Way through the State Legislature for a Second Year. Will It Pass?” Hartford Advocate (CT), March 25. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/12DC1823E9E353E0?p=AWNBGoogle Scholar
Burden, Barry. 2007. The Personal Roots of Representation. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caldeira, Gregory A., and Patterson, Samuel C.. 1982. “Bringing Home the Votes: Electoral Outcomes in State Legislative Races.” Political Behavior 4:33–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, James E. 2002. “Is the House Incumbency Advantage Mostly a Campaign Finance Advantage?” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the New England Political Science Association. May 2002, Portland, ME.Google Scholar
Carnes, Nicholas. 2013. White Collar Government: The Hidden Role of Class in Economic Policy Making. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carnes, Nicholas. 2015. “Why Are There So Few Working Class People in Office: Evidence from State Legislatures.” Politics, Groups, and Identities 4 (1): 84–109..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carnes, Nicholas. 2016. “Keeping Workers Off the Ballot: Gatekeeper Biases and the Shortage of Candidates from the Working Class.” http://equitablegrowth.org/equitablog/keeping-workers-off-the-ballot-electoral-gatekeepers-and-the-shortage-of-candidates-from-the-working-class/ (accessed December 2016).Google Scholar
Carnes, Nicholas, and Lupu, Noam. 2016. “Do Voters Dislike Working-Class Candidates? Voter Biases and the Descriptive Underrepresentation of the Working Class.” American Political Science Review 110 (4): 832–44..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carnes, Nicholas, and Sadin, Meredith L.. 2015. “The ‘Mill Worker's Son’ Heuristic: How Voters Perceive Politicians from Working-Class Families—And How They Really Behave in Office.” Journal of Politics 77 (1): 285–98..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission. 2009. Reclaiming Democracy: The Inaugural Run of the Citizens' Election Program for the 2008 Election Cycle. March. http://www.ct.gov/seec/lib/seec/publications/2008_cep_report_reclaiming_democracy_102709.pdfGoogle Scholar
Delli Carpini, M. X. 1996. What Americans Know about Politics and Why It Matters. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Francia, Peter L., and Herrnson, Paul S.. 2003. “The Impact of Public Finance Laws on Fundraising in State Legislative Elections.” American Politics Research 31 (5): 520–39..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gierzynski, Anthony, and Breaux, David. 1991. “Money and Votes in State Legislative Elections.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 16:203–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gierzynski, Anthony, and Breaux, David. 1996. “Legislative Elections and the Importance of Money.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 21 (3): 337–57..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilens, Martin. 2012. Affluence and Influence. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Giles, Michael W., and Pritchard, Anita. 1985. “Campaign Expenditures and Legislative Elections in Florida.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 10:71–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hacker, Jacob S., Gregory, A. Huber, Nichols, A., Rehm, P., Schlesinger, M., Valletta, R., and Craig, S.. 2013. “The Economic Security Index: A New Measure for Research and Policy Analysis.” Review of Income and Wealth 60 (S1): S5–S32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herrnson, Paul S. 2011. Congressional Elections: Campaigning at Home and in Washington. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Hirsch, Barry T., and Macpherson, David A.. 2003. “Union Membership and Coverage Database from the Current Population Survey: Note.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 56 (2): 349–54..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, P. 2011. “Paid Sick Leave Approved—Malloy to Sign 1st State Law Guaranteeing Pay to Service Staff.” Republican-American (Waterbury, CT), June 5, 1A.Google Scholar
Jacobson, Gary C. 1980. Money in Congressional Elections. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Jacobson, Gary C., and Kernell, Samuel. 1981. Strategy and Choice in Congressional Elections. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Klarner, Carl, Berry, William D., Carsey, Thomas, Jewell, Malcolm, Niemi, Richard, Powell, Lynda, and Snyder, James. 2013. State Legislative Election Returns (1967–2010). ICPSR34297-v1. Ann Arbor: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2013-01-11. doi:10.3886/ICPSR34297.v1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
La Raja, Raymond. 2008. “Candidate Emergence in State Legislative Elections: Does Public Funding Make a Difference?” Paper presented at the 2008 Temple IPA State Politics and Policy Conference. May 30-31, 2008, Philadelphia, PA.Google Scholar
Lawless, Jennifer L. 2012. Becoming a Candidate: Political Ambition and the Decision to Run for Office. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lawless, Jennifer L., and Fox, Richard L.. 2005. It Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lawless, Jennifer L., and Fox, Richard L.. 2010. It Still Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levitt, S., and Wolfram, C.. 1997. “Decomposing the Sources of Incumbency Advantage in the U.S. House.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 22 (1): 45–60..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lilley, William, DeFranco, Laurence J., and Diefenderfer, William. 2008. The Alamanc of State Legislative Elections: Voting Patterns and Demographics 2000-2006. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.Google Scholar
Maine Election Overview. n.d. http://www.followthemoney.org/election-overview?s=ME (accessed December 21, 2016).Google Scholar
Maisel, L. Sandy, Fowler, Linda L., Jones, Ruth S., and Stone, Walter J.. 1990. “The Naming of Candidates; Recruitment or Emergence.” In The Parties Respond: Changes in the American Party System, eds. Sandy, L., Maisel 137–159. Boulder, CO: Westview.Google Scholar
Maestas, Cherie D., Fulton, , Sarah, L. Maisel, Sandy., and Stone, Walter J.. 2006. “When to Risk It? Institutions, Ambitions, and the Decision to Run for the U.S. House.” American Political Science Review 100 (2): 195–208..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maisel, L. Sandy, and Stone, Walter J.. 1997. “Determinants of Candidate Emergence in U.S. House Elections: An Exploratory Study.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 22 (1): 79–96..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malhotra, Neil. 2008. “The Impact of Public Financing on Electoral Competition: Evidence from Arizona and Maine.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 8 (3): 263–81..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayer, Kenneth R., Werner, Timothy, and Williams, Amanda. 2006. “Do Public Funding Programs Enhance Electoral Competition?” In The Marketplace of Democracy: Electoral Competition and American Politics, eds. McDonald, Michael P., and Samples, John, 245–267. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Miller, Michael G. 2011. “After the GAO Report: What Do We Know about Public Election Funding?” Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy 10 (3): 273–90..Google Scholar
Miller, Michael G. 2014. Subsidizing Democracy: How Public Funding Changes Elections and How It Can Work in the Future. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Moncrief, Gary F., Squire, Peverill, and Jewell, Malcom E.. 2001. Who Runs for the Legislature. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
National Conference of State Legislatures. 2010. “2010 Constituents per Legislative District.” In About State Legislatures. http://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/2010-constituents-per-state-legislative-district.aspx.Google Scholar
National Conference of State Legislatures. 2014. “Full- and Part-Time Legislators.” In About State Legislatures. http://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/full-and-part-time-legislatures.aspx.Google Scholar
Niven, David. 1998. “Party Elites and Women Candidates: The Shape of Bias.” Women and Politics 19 (2): 57–80..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Leary, M. E. 2010. “DAYS LATER, THE NUMBERS SAY. IT'S MALLOY—Foley Not Conceding, Lags by 5,637 Votes.” New Haven Register (CT), November 6, A1, A5.Google Scholar
Primo, David M. 2002. “Public Opinion and Campaign Finance: Reformers Versus Reality.” The Independent Review 7 (2): 207–19..Google Scholar
Primo, David M., Jacobsmeier, Matthew L., and Milyo, Jeffrey. 2007. “Estimating the Impact of State Policies and Institutions with Mixed-Level Data.” State Politics Policy Quarterly 7 (4): 446–59..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pritchard, Anita. 1992. “Strategic Considerations in the Decision to Challenge a State Legislative Incumbent.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 17 (3): 381–92..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pustejovsky, James E., and Tipton, Elizabeth. 2017. “Small-Sample Methods for Cluster-Robust Variance Estimation and Hypothesis Testing in Fixed Effects Models.” Journal of Business and Economic Statistics. In press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rigby, Eleanor, and Wright, Gerald C.. 2011. “Whose Statehouse Democracy? Policy Responsiveness to Poor versus Rich Constituents in Poor versus Rich States.” In Who Gets Represented, eds. Enns, Peter K., and Wlezien, Christopher, 189–222. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Sanbonmatsu, Kira. 2006. Where Women Run: Gender and Party in the American States. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sellers, Kimberly F., and Shmueli, Galit. 2010. “A Flexible Regression Model for Count Data.” Annals of Applied Statistics 4 (2): 943–61..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squire, Peverill. 1988. “Member Career Opportunities and the Internal Organization of Legislatures.” Journal of Politics 50:726–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squire, Peverill. 2007. “Measuring State Legislative Professionalization: The Squire Index Revisited.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 7 (2): 211–27..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stapleton, J. T. 2015. 2014 Candidate Elections Overview. October. https://www.followthemoney.org/research/institute-reports/2014-candidate-elections-overview/.Google Scholar
Steen, Jennifer A. 2009. Contemporary Political and Social Issues: Self-Financed Candidates in Congressional Elections. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Thompson, Joel A., and Moncrief, Gary. 1998. Campaign Finance in State Legislative Elections. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Tucker, Harvey J., and Weber, Ronald E.. 1987. “State Legislative Election Outcomes: Contextual Effects and Legislative Performance Effects Quarterly.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 12:537–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2012. Local Area Unemployment Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/data/#unemployment (accessed April 20, 2018).Google Scholar
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2008. Occupational Employment Statistics Survey: 2008 State Report. https://www.bls.gov/oes/special.requests/oesm08st.zipGoogle Scholar
U.S. Census Bureau. 2000a. Profile of Selected Economic Characteristics: 2000. https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_00_SF3_DP3&prodType=tableGoogle Scholar
U.S. Census Bureau. 2000b. Urban and Rural Population for the U.S. and All States 1900–2000. http://www.iowadatacenter.org/datatables/UnitedStates/urusstpop19002000.pdfGoogle Scholar
U.S. Census Bureau. 2005. “Table S2407: Industry by Class of Worker for the Civilian Employed Population 16 Years and Over” 2005–2009 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.” https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_09_5YR_S2407&prodType=tableGoogle Scholar
U.S. Census Bureau. 2009. Median Household Income for States: 2007 and 2008 American Community Surveys. https://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/acsbr08-2.pdfGoogle Scholar
U.S. Government Accountability Office. 2010. Campaign Finance Reform: Experiences of Two States that Offered Full Public Funding for Political Candidates. GAO Publication No. GAO-10-390. http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-390.Google Scholar
Werner, Timothy, and Mayer, Kenneth R.. 2007. “Public Election Funding, Competition, and Candidate Gender.” PS Online: Political Science and Politics 40:661–67.Google Scholar
Wilcox, Clyde. 1988. “I Owe It All to Me: Candidates' Investments in Their Own Campaigns.” American Politics Quarterly 16:266–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woolley, Peter, and Vercellotti, Tim. 2007. “Public Attitudes toward the Clean Elections Initiative.” http://publicmind.fdu.edu/cleane/cleanelectionsfindings.pdfGoogle Scholar