Information at the Margin: Campaign Finance Disclosure Laws, Ballot Issues, and Voter Knowledge

Primo, David M.

doi:10.1089/elj.2012.0161

Cited by 20 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Voters might use campaign finance information as a heuristic, an informational shortcut that allows low-information voters to vote as if they had more ''encyclopedic'' knowledge (Lupia 1994). Quantifying the information benefit is difficult, though a few scholars are making headway (Primo 2013;Fortier and Malbin 2013;Carpenter 2009). For example, experimental evidence has shown that the effects of attack ads are neutralized when donors are revealed (Dowling and Wichowsky 2015).…”

Section: The Benefits and Costs Of Disclosurementioning

confidence: 99%

In the Shadows of Sunlight: The Effects of Transparency on State Political Campaigns

Wood

Spencer

2016

Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy

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In recent years, the courts have invalidated a variety of campaign finance laws while simultaneously upholding disclosure requirements. Courts view disclosure as a less-restrictive means to root out corruption while critics claim that disclosure chills speech and deters political participation. Using individual-level contribution data from state elections between 2000 and 2008, we find that the speech-chilling effects of disclosure are negligible. On average, less than one donor per candidate is likely to stop contributing when the public visibility of campaign contributions increases. Moreover, we do not observe heterogeneous effects for small donors or ideological outliers despite an assumption in First Amendment jurisprudence that these donors are disproportionately affected by campaign finance regulations. In short, the argument that disclosure chills speech is not strongly supported by the data.

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Section: The Benefits and Costs Of Disclosurementioning

confidence: 99%

In the Shadows of Sunlight: The Effects of Transparency on State Political Campaigns

Wood

Spencer

2016

Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy

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“…Campaign finance, of course, is a large and debated topic, spanning candidate and ballot-issue contexts; recent US Supreme Court decisions (e.g., Citizens United v. FEC); the role of money in politics (Gaughan 2016;Gerken 2014;Krumholz 2013;Mayer 2016); and the efficacy of disclosure (Hasen 2011;Munger 2009;Primo 2013;Primo and Milyo 2006;Wood and Spencer 2016)-to name only a few. By necessity, a simulation created to be implemented within the confines of one class meeting must be narrowly focused.…”

Section: Simulating Campaign Financementioning

confidence: 99%

Simulated Complexity: A New Classroom Simulation to Teach about Campaign-Finance Laws

Carpenter¹,

Dunn²

2018

APSC

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Classroom simulations have become an increasingly popular instructional method in political science to increase student engagement, interest, and learning. This article describes a simulation designed to teach students about the complexities of campaignfinance systems, particularly disclosure requirements. In the simulation, students work in groups to convince others how to vote on a pending ballot measure. After spending more than $200 on materials, groups then must register as ballot-issue committees and comply with state campaign-finance laws, including tracking contributions and expenditures and completing all required forms. The simulation ends with a debrief. Results from several years of debriefs are presented to discuss how students perceive the complexities of campaign-finance laws. Dominant themes include surprise by students in the complexities of these laws and the effects they have on political speech and association.

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“…In elections where there are few cues for voters, knowing that an environmental group supports or opposes a candidate or ballot initiative can be vital information to citizens trying to make decisions (Lau and Redlawsk 2006). Therefore, all states to use ballot initiatives and referenda require interest groups running ads on ballot issues to disclose their advertising expenditures (Primo 2013). Of course, disclosing donor information goes beyond a group simply disclosing that it ran an advertisement.…”

Section: Concealing Business Influencementioning

confidence: 99%

Anonymous Money in Campaigns: Is Sunlight the Best Disinfectant?

Chand

2015

The Forum

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Following the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), applications flooded the IRS to establish political 501(c) nonprofits. This increased popularity in creating 501(c)s is fueled by the fact that 501(c) nonprofits are not required to release their donor information, as opposed to PACs and super PACs that operate transparently. Consequently, those who are interested in keeping their political activities secret, including, presumably, forprofit businesses, have mostly contributed to political 501(c)s. This study seeks to better explain the dark-money phenomenon by examining all outside expenditures in the 2010 and 2012 congressional elections. It finds that dark-money groups are mostly conservative organizations utilizing 501(c)s and occasionally 501(c)s and super PACs simultaneously. It also provides a discussion of efforts to increase transparency in both federal and state elections, and provides some support to the theory that dark-money groups will avoid activity in strongly regulated races.

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Information at the Margin: Campaign Finance Disclosure Laws, Ballot Issues, and Voter Knowledge

Cited by 20 publications

References 22 publications

In the Shadows of Sunlight: The Effects of Transparency on State Political Campaigns

In the Shadows of Sunlight: The Effects of Transparency on State Political Campaigns

Simulated Complexity: A New Classroom Simulation to Teach about Campaign-Finance Laws

Anonymous Money in Campaigns: Is Sunlight the Best Disinfectant?

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