Unions, corporations, and political campaign contributions: The 1982 house elections

Wilhite, Allen; Theilmann, John M.

doi:10.1007/bf02685309

Cited by 17 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…This is a substantial impact when it is realized that incumbents have many sources of funds available (other PACs, individuals and political parties). The winning vote margin, WIN%, also has the expected coefficient and is consistent with previous work (Wilhite and Theilmann, 1986). Apparently, larger winning margins in previous elections indicate an easier race in the present election and so less fundraising occurs.…”

Section: The Resultssupporting

confidence: 76%

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Labor PAC contributions and labor legislation: A simultaneous logit approach

Wilhite

Theilmann

1987

Public Choice

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Section: The Resultssupporting

confidence: 76%

“…On the other hand, if the previous election was close (small WIN%) it signals both parties that this seat is vulnerable. The challenging party may recruit a strong candidate, offer support, and a close, expensive race is expected (Wilhite and Theilmann, 1986). A negative sign is predicted for this coefficient.…”

Section: + E-(bx~)mentioning

confidence: 95%

Labor PAC contributions and labor legislation: A simultaneous logit approach

Wilhite

Theilmann

1987

Public Choice

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“…Because these studies analyze different sets of votes cast at separate times, their results are not readily comparable. They tend, however, to support the view that union PAC contributions have an impact on voting on some legislative issues, ceteris paribus Rubin 1978, 1981 Theilmann 1986). The effect of union PAC donations may vary across legislative issues, though it appears more evident on such topics as the minimum wage and assorted matters of economic regulation than on subjects such as government spending and taxes (see, for example, Kau and Rubin 1981;Coughlin 1985).…”

Section: Heldman and Knight (1980) Also Reached An Interesting Conclumentioning

confidence: 66%

Union Political Activities: A Review of the Empirical Literature

Masters¹,

Delaney²

1987

ILR Review

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The authors of this literature review find that empirical research on unions' political activity since World War II has failed to answer many important questions. Not only have researchers neglected some issues outright, but disparate data sources and statistical methods, lack of a guiding theory, inconsistent findings, and hidden normative assumptions about the propriety of unions' political involvement limit the generalizability of reported results. The review nevertheless confirms that union members and leaders often differ in political orientation, though the extent of disagreement varies across political issues. Also, unions apparently have been more successful at achieving political objectives only weakly supported by their members than at achieving the objectives their members strongly support. BECAUSE of the decline in union membership, a more hostile organizing environment, and other external factors, unions have increased their national political activities in recent years. The number of professional lobbyists retained by unions has increased significantly since 1978, and union political action committee (PAC) contributions to federal candidates have increased from $6.3 million in 1974 to $26.3 million in 1984 (Masters and Delaney 1985). Also of significance, the AFL-CIO endorsed for insightful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. endorsement. These developments illustrate the increased importance many union leaders attach to the election of sympathetic lawmakers and the achievement of favorable legislative objectives.The payoffs for political action, however, have always been uncertain. Both the Taft-Hartley and Landrum-Griffin amendments to the National Labor Relations Act were passed despite vehement union opposition, and several recent legislative proposals favored by unions, such as the Labor Law Reform Act of 1978, have not been enacted. It has even been suggested that "unions have been unable to win the legislation most important to them as institutions" (Freeman and Medoff 1984:192). Further, though labor's political success has fluctuated over time, it has declined in several respects since the election of Ronald Reagan-who, ironically, was

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“…However, Wilhite and Paul (1989) ®nd that PACs do indeed in¯uence voting patterns. Their analysis of three elections show that a legislator is more likely to support pro-business legislation when corporate PAC contributions make up a larger share of the candidate's campaign chest.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Who gets the goods? Moderate Voting Records, Diminishing Returns, and PAC Contributions

Dempster

Westley

2000

Economics & Politics

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Assuming that a legislator representing a moderate constituency (with respect to a variety of interests) may be expected to vote moderately in general, the authors suggest a measure of the``moderateness'' of a legislator's voting behavior and use it to determine whether a relationship exists between PAC contributions and the degree of moderateness. The results suggest that PACs exhibit a tendency to give more, at the margin, to legislators with moderate voting records.

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Unions, corporations, and political campaign contributions: The 1982 house elections

Cited by 17 publications

References 11 publications

Labor PAC contributions and labor legislation: A simultaneous logit approach

Labor PAC contributions and labor legislation: A simultaneous logit approach

Union Political Activities: A Review of the Empirical Literature

Who gets the goods? Moderate Voting Records, Diminishing Returns, and PAC Contributions

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