Extended party network (EPN) theory characterizes political parties in the United States as dynamic networks of interest groups that collaboratively support favored candidates for office. Electoral predictions derived from EPN theory have yet to be tested on a large sample of races. We operationalize EPNs in the context of organized interest contributions to U.S. House campaigns. We deduce that support by a partisan community of interests signals the ideological credibility and appeal of a candidate. EPN integration overcomes voter ambiguity surrounding challengers' ideological preferences, and resources provided by these coordinating interest groups promote a consistent message about the candidate. Using data from the 1994-2010 cycles, we apply network analysis to detect EPN support of challengers and find that EPN integration substantially improves the electoral prospects of challengers. The effect of EPN integration is distinct from that of campaign resources. The findings provide support for EPN theory, as applied to congressional elections.A rich scholarly tradition exists in studying the organizational forms of political parties and how such characteristics potentially shape key political outcomes (see, e.g.
Scholars and politicians in recent years have become concerned with rising levels of inequality among Americans, heightened in the aftermath of the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. F.E.C. The suspicion over an ever larger influence of corporate and elite interest over public policy has brought about significant public backlash, even becoming a key platform of reformist candidates such as Sen. Bernie Sanders. In large part, these fears have yet to be realized, as many corporations have chosen to remain on the sidelines in American elections and have not fully taken advantage of their newfound rights. At the same time, we have observed a stark rise in corporate lobbying expenditures in recent decades. What explains the puzzle of how corporations choose to engage in new or expanded forms of political activity, and even what drives the spread of corporate norms? This study investigates the conditions under which corporations may come to embrace political action.
Social media has become a dominant force in American political life, from Twitter and Facebook to newer rivals like Instagram and TikTok. As American elections have also grown increasingly expensive, campaigns have sought to capitalize on social media success through campaign donations. The most successful social media posts can garner thousands of likes and millions of views focusing attention on the candidate and presenting a fundraising opportunity. In this study, I examine the impact of viral posts (those receiving more than 5,000 likes or those in the top 1% of likes) on the number and amount of campaign donations a candidate receives on the date of the post. Combining social media data from Facebook and campaign finance donations during the 2018 and 2020 House of Representatives elections, I find that viral posts can dramatically increase a candidate’s fundraising on those dates. This finding suggests that candidates can increase their fundraising through increased social media success.
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