The impact of campaign contributions on policymaking in The U.S. and Canada: Theoretical and public policy implications

Abstract

In both the academic and public policy realms, debates have gone on for decades concerning the influence of class-based interest groups on policymaking. Virtually no work in this area compares influence in the U.S. with influence in Canada despite the fact that the countries provide interesting differences in the social and political contexts within which influence may occur. In this chapter, we analyze how receiving money from the same business and labor entities (“political action committees” in the U.S.) influences similarity in voting among legislators in the 105th U.S. House of Representatives (1997–1998). We then perform the same analysis for the 36th Canadian House of Commons (1997–2000). In the U.S., we find that sharing business contributors significantly affects vote similarity among legislators, whereas sharing labor contributors does not. This supports elite-power and class-based theories and bolsters the arguments of those who feel more campaign finance reform may be necessary. In Canada, however, sharing contributors of either type has no effect on vote similarity among parliamentarians, which supports state-centered theory and lends credence to those arguing additional reforms may be unnecessary. These findings suggest that structural context matters greatly for patterns of political power.

Citation

Peoples, C.D. and Gortari, M. (2008), "The impact of campaign contributions on policymaking in The U.S. and Canada: Theoretical and public policy implications", Prechel, H. (Ed.) Politics and Public Policy (Research in Political Sociology, Vol. 17), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 43-64. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0895-9935(08)17003-6