Impact of Campaign Contributions on Policy in Congress

Impact of Campaign Contributions on Policy in sexual congressDominique OrnelasThe Impact of Campaign Contributions on Policy reservation in CongressIntroductionFrom the 1960s and continuing through the 1980s the number, activity and diversity of please groups being represented in Washington proliferated. Observers of this phenomenon, in the first place journalist, argue that the rise in interest group activity has resulted in interest groups enjoying far too much go in Congress (Smith, 1995 Stratmann, 2000). However, scholars headstone a far less certain picture as to the nature of interest group influence in Congress. This lack in academic consensus has direct to a wealth of explore. This research largely focuses on one question how and to what extent do the function contributions of special interest groups influence the legislative decisions and actions of item-by-item members of Congress. In this paper I will inventory and review this research to convey as clear as possi ble where we are in our cause of whether or not endure contributions influence the decisions of individual members of the U.S. Congress and conduct a content analysisLiterature ReviewThe increase of policy-making carry out Committees involvement in congressional elections have resulted in journalist, scholars and the American public growing increasingly concerned about the influence of endure contributions by interest groups. However, whether or not driving contributions by interest groups influence congressional decision making is still a subject of habitual and academic debate. The popular perception is that a great deal of corruption arises from large contributions to candidates and political parties or from certain types of expenditures on behalf of those parties and candidates (Persily Lammie, 2004). Sixty five percent of Americans believe that campaign contributions by special interest groups result in Member of Congress giving the contributors opinion special conside ration because of the contribution (Smith, 2013). discover 1 depicts the trend that as the presence and activity of interest groups increases so does public perception that government officials are crooked (Persily Lammie, 2004), thus conveying the motif that Americans believe Congress is beholden to special interest.Figure 1 Trends in Public Opinion of Government (1958-2002) too, journalist have argued that campaign contributions contribute to the overrepresentation of special interest in Congress at the expense of the interest of unorganized citizens (Choate, 1990 Clawson, 1992 Curtis, 1990 Drew, 1983 Smith, 1990).However, according to several scholars popular opinion and the evidence that is presented by journalist in support of claims that campaign contributions impact Congressional policy making is seriously flawed (Smith, 1995 Souraf, 1992). As stated by Richard Smith (1995), Souraf (1992) and Edsall the research presented by journalist consists of various stories, intervie ws with lobbyist and members of Congress and correlation studies that do not present a causal relationship between the campaign contributions of interest groups and congressional decision making (Smith, 1995). In some other words, a significant correlation between money and votes does not justify the conclusion that money buys votes and journalist failed to offer substantive evidence that suggest members of Congress wouldve voted differently if it were not for the contributions of interest groups (Thomas Stratmann, 2000).In fact, according to several sources, when you aggregate the research the work of scholars seems to suggest that the campaign contributions of special interest groups exert far less influence over Congress than commonly thought. However because there is less consensus amongst the academic community it is tall(prenominal) to formulate a firm and concise conclusion.Moreover, this lack of academic consensus has led to a wealth of literature filled with conflicting results. Consider first the whole kit and boodle concerning how campaign contributions effect roll call choose behavior on the House and Senate floor. On one hand you have various scholars asserting that campaign contributions by interest groups do marginally impact congressional roll-call voting behavior. For instance , a study conducted by Fleisher (1993) that analyzed how PAC contributions from defense contractors influence members votes for pro-defense positions on the floor showed that PAC contributions do in fact have an effect on the roll-call voting behavior of members of Congress (Fleisher, 1993). Similarly studies conducted by Stratmann (1991), Durden, Shogren and Silberman (1991) and Langbein and Lotwis (1990) all show that theres a causal relationship between the campaign contributions of interest groups and congressional voting behavior.However, at the other end of the spectrum you have scholars asserting the exact opposite. Scholars Chappell (1982), Grenzke (1989), an d Rothenberg (1990) all report views that suggest there is no statistically significant relationship between campaign contributions and members of Congress roll-call voting.However, between the two extremes lies research that purports mixed results. According to observations of Richard Smith several scholars including Kau and Rubin (1981, 1982), Neustadl (1990) and Langbein (1993) all purport an array of results. The study conducted by Laura Langbein concludes that campaign contributions are potent primarily when the groups ideology is consistent with the members underlying ideology and constituency. Another study conducted by Neustadl reports that the effectiveness of interest group contributions varies by the salience of the issue.This lack of academic consensus is visible whether one looks at the House or the senate and whether one analyzes single votes or a string of votes. So how does one worst these discrepancies in findings? In this study I will critically analyze the rese arch as a whole and conduct a content analysis to look for areas in which there is academic consensus and determine the conditions under which, according to scholars, campaign contributions by interest groups have the most influence on the voting behavior of members of Congress.Data and MethodsTo examine the influence of campaign contributions by interest groups on the decisions of individual member of the U.S. Congress I will analyzex amount of sources and conduct a content analysis. 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