Doctoral Dissertation Research: Money and State Supreme Court Elections

博士论文研究：金钱与州最高法院选举

• 批准号: 0108906
• 负责人: Melinda Hall
• 金额: $ 0.8万
• 依托单位: Michigan State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-07-15 至 2002-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0108906&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Money; State

What are the effects of money in state supreme court elections? Do these effects vary across selection systems and type of elections (incumbent-challenger versus open seat, primaries versus general)? Despite the fact that no area of political science has received greater attention than the study of elections, judicial elections, the means by which the most judges in the United States attain their positions, have been virtually ignored. This doctoral dissertation systematically analyzes and answers two central questions: 1) who contributes to state supreme court candidates, how much do they give, and to whom do they give? and 2) how do campaign contributions and expenditures affect the outcomes of state supreme court elections? The researcher examines these questions using all contested elections for state supreme courts between 1990-1995 in all states that require candidates for judicial office to file campaign finance reports. The researcher combines data to be collected for this project on campaign contributions and expenditures with a database on state supreme court elections collected by Melinda Gann Hall (SES- 9911166) and Paul Brace (SES- 9911082). This dissertation will not only answer the question of whether money affects state supreme court elections, but also how and under what circumstances. Further, by comparing the influence of money in state supreme court elections to elections for other offices as well as comparing partisan elections to nonpartisan elections and retention elections, this dissertation will enable us to gain a more complete picture of the factors influencing the electoral process.

金钱在州最高法院选举中的作用是什么？这些影响是否因选举制度和选举类型而异（现任挑战者与开放席位，初选与大选）？尽管政治学的任何领域都没有选举研究受到更多的关注，但司法选举，即美国大多数法官获得职位的手段，实际上被忽视了。本博士论文系统地分析和回答了两个中心问题：1）谁为州最高法院候选人捐款，他们捐款多少，他们捐款给谁？2）竞选捐款和支出如何影响州最高法院选举的结果？研究人员使用1990年至1995年期间所有州最高法院的有争议的选举来研究这些问题，这些选举要求司法职位候选人提交竞选财务报告。研究人员将为该项目收集的竞选捐款和支出数据与Melinda Gann Hall（SES- 9911166）和Paul Brace（SES- 9911082）收集的州最高法院选举数据库相结合。本文不仅要回答金钱是否影响州最高法院选举的问题，而且要回答金钱如何影响州最高法院选举以及在什么情况下影响州最高法院选举的问题。此外，通过比较金钱在州最高法院选举中的影响，以及比较其他办公室的选举，党派选举，无党派选举和保留选举，本文将使我们能够获得一个更完整的画面的影响因素的选举过程。