POS3931 Final Exam

(national) congressional campaign committees

-For the congressional campaigns, it is not the DNC or RNC, there are campaign committees for each party and each chamber that are the major resources for the campaigns -an organization maintained by a political party to raise funds to support its own candidates in congressional elections

(traditional) PAC misconceptions

-Most congressional (candidate) campaign $ comes from PACs (but only about 25%) Largest source of money is direct individual contributors, and individual donations -Most PACs contribute a lot of $ In actuality, only ~5% or 200 PACs make more than 1/2 of total PAC $ contributions; more than 2/3 of PACs contribute <$50,000 each in an election -PACs are clearly "buying the floor votes" of members of Congress Constituents interest and member's ideology of Congress are what really determine their vote

vote choice in congressional elections

-Party I.D. remains an important influence- has become more important across the past 30 years. - In recent house elections 90% of voters have been loyal partisans -majority of the party defection is toward the incumbent - in the last 5 or 6 elections, people are voting with the party but are still overwhelmingly voting for the incumbents - Among congressional voters who are more familiar with others party candidate approx. ¼ typically defect to this more familiar candidate - Almost everyone reports contact with incumbent - Typically less than 1/2 have contact with challenger - Why is $ Critical for Challengers and Open Seat Candidates - Those few winning challengers to make themselves well known - make voters aware of their positives and make voters aware of incumbents negatives

presidential coattails

-These occur when voters cast their ballots for congressional candidates of the president's party because they support the president. Recent studies show that few races are won this way. -Few races that try to follow the presidential coattails are barely won.

(Kernell and Jacobson's) strategic politicians' hypothesis

-experienced politicians make strategic/"rational" decisions about when to run for higher office -potential campaign contributors make strategic decisions about when and to whom to contribute -appearance of incumbent invincibility - deters strong challengers Ex: in a district where an incumbent has raised money and support, it would be dumb to be a challenger. -argue that politicians structure their career choices according to their assessment of a variable political environment. The more extreme the electoral climate, the greater divergence there will be in quality of Republican and Democratic candidates

Independent expenditures (outside spending) and Super PACs

-funds spent to elect or defeat candidates but not coordinated with any candidate's campaign -The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals, groups, and parties can spend unlimited amounts in campaigns for or against candidates as long as they operate independently from the candidates. When an individual, group, or party does so, they are making an independent expenditure.

coordinated expenditures

-legally limited purchases or payments made by a political party on behalf of, and in coordination with, a specific campaign -party committee make coordinated expenditures on behalf of the candidate such as polling producing ads and conducting research on the opposition and are limited by law EX: independent expenditures can be used on whatever and and are not limited by law

-credit-claiming (pork or particularized benefits)

-members claim personal responsibility for moving government to do things for their district and constituents. Example. "i did this. I did that" -Federal grants and money that flows into a district: Congressmen will claim credit. Example: Pork Barrel (government funds for projects designed to please voters of legislators to gain votes). -Ear Marks are concentrated benefits with dispersed cost like jobs or money coming to a certain district that the national tax payer pays for. -Casework: help constituents (via staff) deal with government bureaucracy- make friends and no enemies & non partisan.

advertising (franking privilege)

A member's efforts to get their names and themselves in front of constituents in a positive light. (Trips home and Franking P. ) Franking P. allows congress to transmit mail to advertise their success, paid by tax payers money. Trips home occur every week, allows congressmen to stay connected with supporters keeps up their following. --Circulate name in favorable ways without issues. Ex: Joe Biden taking the train home every night. Showing face in the public and supporting local things. "franking privilege"-free mail.

congressional paradox

Also known as Fenno's Paradox, Congress has extremely low approval ratings, but incumbent members of Congress are re-elected at extremely high rates

(traditional) PACs

Corporations and other organized interests cannot give money directly to federal candidates Includes congressional and presidential candidates Most corporations and interest groups have a (traditional) PAC PAC- raises money in voluntary contributions from (at least 50) individuals and contributes it to (at least 5) candidates for federal office. *Candidates don't have to report any contributions from citizens that are less than $200* Todays there's around 5,000 PACs Max. contribution from any PAC to 1 candidate is $5,000 "Access-oriented" contribution strategy- most PAC $ flows to incumbents (~70%) PACs strategy is to give money to "buy" a seat at the table On average amount of overall direct candidate funding from (traditional)

(Mayhew's) continuous campaign

The electoral connection (david mayhew) discusses the continuous campaign of incumbent name recognition, good service and good ties. A belief that these politicians are "single minded seekers of re-election"

(power and advantages of) congressional incumbency

The incumbent often has more name recognition because of their previous work in the office they occupy. Incumbents have easier access to campaign finance and government resources that can be indirectly used to boost a campaign. In general, incumbents have structural advantages over challengers during elections. - Name recognition, Experience, Money, lack of competition, exposure and campaign organization. · Incumbency advantage has declined over the past decade because: o Party polarization and strengthen of party ID influence on the vote has weakened the personal vote for incumbents o Fiorina says all politics is not local when it comes to congressional elections anymore

(anti-) party "wave" elections

When the people are frustrated with the current president's (low approval ratings) and their party, which causes the incumbents to lose re-election (midterm elections) allowing the opposing party to gain more seats in both houses gaining control. (Party in power becomes punished) Normally many more incumbents lose than is typical in an election year. (from the party in power) But even these elections, the vast majority are re-elected.

Mayhew's 3 basic kinds of activities in which members of congress engage in continuous campaign..

advertising (franking privilege) -credit-claiming (pork or particularized benefits) (casework and Fiorina's argument) -position taking

slurge

easy measure of of incumbency advantage =[(average retirement slump + average sophomore surge) / 2] The slurge is one of the more accurate means of measuring incumbency advantage in congressional elections. --- "retirement slump" is the difference in percentage of the vote share between a retiring incumbent and a new candidate ---"sophomore surge" is the difference in percentage between a new candidate's first campaign and second campaign as an incumbent, then the slurge, being an average of the two, indicates a higher incumbency advantage when higher.

-position taking

publicly announced positions. Typically already popular with important constituents. Can be ambiguous or divisive. Basically a congressman takes the "right" position and casts the "right" vote on matters important to their district.

Individual responsiveness and collective (ir-)responsibility (collective action problem/perspective)

•Factors that help members get reelected lead to Collectively larger spending by government as a whole •Individual responsiveness (helping your constituents) "bringing home the bacon" federal money to benefit district •The more responsive you are to your constituents leads to Collective irresponsibility - are you spending too much money to get reelected ex: increase taxes hurt economy