Event Title
Session 2
Location
Centre de formation et de séminaires (CEFOS) in Remich, Luxembourg
Start Date
7-7-2013 2:00 PM
Description
Session 3: “What’s on the Table: Reform Proposals in the US and Elsewhere”
- Matthew Furman, “Interest Group Activity in Campaign Finance Reform in the United States”
ABSTRACT
Interest Group Activity in Campaign Finance Reform in the United States Matthew Furman, Clark University, USA
In the United States, interest groups have organized around campaign finance as an issue area since the early-1970s when organizations such as Common Cause, U.S. PIRG, and Public Citizen were formed to push for good government reforms. As campaign finance reform has risen and fallen as a salient issue in the minds of Americans over the following four decades, dozens of additional campaign finance interest groups have formed. Most recently, the Supreme Court’s controversial decision in Citizen United v. FEC sparked the formation of a new generation of interest groups, many of which are pushing for reforms that ban corporate involvement in elections. My paper aims to increase our understanding of the campaign finance issue area by (1) conducting a census of involved interest groups and (2) cataloging the strategies that those interest groups use to influence government. I find that there are twenty-six interest groups that routinely focus on campaign finance reform but that many other interest groups, including the NRA, AFL-CIO, and the Chamber of Commerce, become involved in the issue area sporadically. Furthermore, I conclude that campaign finance interest groups employ a variety of influence strategies, including inside lobbying, outside lobbying, lawsuits, electioneering, and participation in the rulemaking process, in order to advance their agendas. Interest group leaders select between these strategies because the structure of the U.S. government incentivizes certain behavior.
Session 2
Centre de formation et de séminaires (CEFOS) in Remich, Luxembourg
Session 3: “What’s on the Table: Reform Proposals in the US and Elsewhere”
- Matthew Furman, “Interest Group Activity in Campaign Finance Reform in the United States”
ABSTRACT
Interest Group Activity in Campaign Finance Reform in the United States Matthew Furman, Clark University, USA
In the United States, interest groups have organized around campaign finance as an issue area since the early-1970s when organizations such as Common Cause, U.S. PIRG, and Public Citizen were formed to push for good government reforms. As campaign finance reform has risen and fallen as a salient issue in the minds of Americans over the following four decades, dozens of additional campaign finance interest groups have formed. Most recently, the Supreme Court’s controversial decision in Citizen United v. FEC sparked the formation of a new generation of interest groups, many of which are pushing for reforms that ban corporate involvement in elections. My paper aims to increase our understanding of the campaign finance issue area by (1) conducting a census of involved interest groups and (2) cataloging the strategies that those interest groups use to influence government. I find that there are twenty-six interest groups that routinely focus on campaign finance reform but that many other interest groups, including the NRA, AFL-CIO, and the Chamber of Commerce, become involved in the issue area sporadically. Furthermore, I conclude that campaign finance interest groups employ a variety of influence strategies, including inside lobbying, outside lobbying, lawsuits, electioneering, and participation in the rulemaking process, in order to advance their agendas. Interest group leaders select between these strategies because the structure of the U.S. government incentivizes certain behavior.