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

合作研究：测试竞选融资法在州立法选举中的效果

• 批准号: 0215450
• 负责人: Keith Hamm
• 金额: $ 7.5万
• 依托单位: William Marsh Rice University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-07-01 至 2006-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0215450&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Testing; Effects; Campaign

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.

本项目研究了州立法选举中规范竞选筹资的法律的影响。 对具有不同法律和监管规定的州进行比较分析，为确定法律的背景如何塑造选举行为的各个方面提供了必要的分析杠杆。 各州监管制度的重大差异为测试这些特征如何影响候选人资格决定、筹款做法和选举竞争提供了理想的实验室。 采用多种研究策略来测试一个模型的选举中，竞选财务法发挥了突出的作用。 本研究的主要目的是评估法律的条件对各州利益集团和政党的贡献策略、候选人支出、候选人特征和选举结果等选举特征的影响。 专家们相信，这个项目将产生具有重要理论和实践意义的发现。 比如说：定义和澄清的法律和监管规定的竞选财务法在50个州的30年的时间框架（1972-2002）。 提出一个选举模型，其中竞选财务法的影响被假定为影响选举过程的各个阶段。 收集2002年选举周期中州立法选举中竞选捐款模式、竞选支出、候选人特征和选举竞争的数据。 分析收集的数据，以确定竞选财务法的直接和间接影响，同时保持一系列其他因素和条件不变。 就调查结果编写书面报告，并向学者和决策者传播信息。 公布这些数据，以便其他学者可以探索竞选财务法的其他方面。 总的来说，该项目的结果有望大大提高我们对竞选财务法规的理解，以及这些法律如何塑造美国的选举行为。 本文的研究结果有望对美国政治研究中若干子领域的理论发展有所贡献。 此外，调查结果可能会有实际的影响，通知现有的竞选资金政策在州和国家层面的政策辩论。