A Test of the Structure of PAC Contracts: An Analysis of House Gun Control Votes in the 1980s

@article{McGarrity2000ATO,
  title={A Test of the Structure of PAC Contracts: An Analysis of House Gun Control Votes in the 1980s},
  author={Joseph P. McGarrity and Daniel Sutter},
  journal={Southern Economic Journal},
  year={2000},
  volume={67},
  pages={41-63}
}
We examine roll call votes on gun control in the U.S. House of Representatives during the 1980s to determine whether political action committees (PACs) make spot market purchases, prepay for votes in the prior election cycle, or make long-term investments. Previous tests generally employ PAC contributions from only one cycle, which could impose the wrong structure on contracts between PACs and politicians, causing researchers to misestimate a contribution’s impact. We find that money from more… 
View via Publisher
safetylit.org
15 Citations
Background Citations
7
Methods Citations
1

15 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

PAC Spending and Roll Call Voting in the U.S. House: An Empirical Extension
This paper expands the investigation of how PAC spending affects the roll call voting behavior to the U.S. House of Representatives. Using a theoretical framework which draws on the voting…
Can Money Buy Votes? -A Case Study of U.S. Sugar Policy
The purpose of this article is to propose a model to explain the simultaneity of campaign contributions and voting. Three U.S. House of Representative votes on sugar amendments are studied. The…
When Money Matters: Campaign Contributions, Roll Call Votes, and School Choice in Florida
The effect of campaign contributions on legislative roll call voting has long been the subject of debate. This study weighs into this debate by examining the impact of teachers' union contributions…
The House's policy reversal on gun control
Purpose - This paper aims to examine why a legislature would repeal an interest group deal. Findings - This paper finds that changes in the democratic party leadership may be responsible for the…
The Position-taking Value of Bill Sponsorship in Congress
What is the value of non—roll call position taking in Congress? The authors argue that non—roll call positions are used by interest groups to acquire information about the direction and intensity of…
Campaign Contributions, Post-War Reconstruction Contracts, and State Crime
This article presents a case-control study of the relationship between Federal-level campaign contributions, corporate political connections, and the awarding of post-war reconstruction contracts in…
IS THERE A PRINCIPAL‐AGENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FUTURE EMPLOYERS AND CONGRESSMEN? AN EXAMINATION OF THE HOUSE VOTE ON FLAG BURNING
To date, Congressional ideology has been considered to be the portion of a roll call vote that could not be explained by self‐interested behavior. This paper suggests that the scope of what is…
Campaign contributions, lobbying and post-Katrina contracts.
TLDR
Results indicate that both a campaign contribution dichotomous variable and the dollar amount of contributions are significantly related to whether a company received a contract, but that lobbying activity was not.
Estimation of policy effects using parametric nonlinear models: a contextual critique of the generalized method of moments
  • J. Terza
  • Mathematics
    Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology
  • 2006
The typical empirical study in health services and outcomes research is aimed at estimating the causal effect that an exogenously imposed condition (e.g. a policy mandate) will have (or has had) on a…
Ignorance in Congressional Voting? Evidence from Policy Reversal on the Endangered Species Act*
In 1978 Congress weakened several key provisions of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which had been enacted only five years earlier. The objective is to compare alternative explanations for this…
...
1
2
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 29 REFERENCES
Campaign Contributions as Investments: The U.S. House of Representatives, 1980-1986
  • J. Snyder
  • Economics, Geography
    Journal of Political Economy
  • 1990
This paper treats the market for special-interest campaign contributions and political "favors" as a simple asset market. The model yields a simple equilibrium relationship among three variables: the…
The Political Efficacy of Lobbying and Money: Gun Control in the U. S. House, 1986
This paper sheds empirical light on the effectiveness of both sides of the gun lobby in affecting votes in the House on the McClure-Volkmer bill. It examines the impact of elite and grass roots…
What Do Campaign Contributions Buy? Deciphering Causal Effects of Money and Votes
In the 1987-1988 election cycle, political action committees (PACs) spent $176.6 million on candidates who competed for a seat in the House of Representatives. What do PACs buy when contributing this…
Comparing Interest Group PAC Contributions to House and Senate Incumbents, 1980-1986
Most work on the allocation patterns of campaign contributions by interest groups focuses on the relative productivity of legislators' effort in serving each group. Short time-series and…
A General Equilibrium Model of Congressional Voting
In this paper we specify a model in which Congressmen, constituents, and campaign contributors simultaneously decide on behavior. Constituents and contributors desire to influence the voting behavior…
Commitment and the Campaign Contribution Contract
Theory: Commitment problems make establishing long-term relationships between members of Congress and organized interests extremely difficult. Hypothesis: Political action committees whose…
Campaign Contributions and Congressional Voting: A Simultaneous Probit-Tobit Model
M /[ ANY citizens and scholars have been troubled by the influence that special interest groups appear to exert over policymaking as a result of their roles in the financing of political campaigns.…
Long-Term Investing in Politicians; Or, Give Early, Give Often
THE political history of the United States is filled with stories about the power of money in shaping public decisions, and concern about this power is a frequent cause for public debate and an…
Campaign Contributions and Congressional Voting: Does the Timing of Contributions Matter?
Theoretical and empirical studies do not address whether campaign contributions from more than one election cycle are important for congressional voting behavior. Further, they do not address whether…
The Industrial Organization of Congress; or, Why Legislatures, Like Firms, Are Not Organized as Markets
This paper provides a theory of legislative institutions that parallels the theory of the firm and the theory of contractual institutions. Like market institutions, legislative institutions reflect…
...
1
2
3
...