Abstract
Scholars looking for evidence of corruption in Congress have focused on the data available to them: the limited contributions of political action committees. This literature has largely failed to identify systematic money-induced legislative behavior. But what if lobbyists are using their personal funds to contribute to congressional campaigns? I use newly available data to show that individual lobbyists make contributions in predictable ways, favoring key members at key times. In particular, healthcare lobbyists were significantly more likely to give to members of the committees drafting the Affordable Care Act relative to other members and other times. The findings represent an important step forward in understanding what actors who are interested in legislative decisions might expect in return for their campaign contributions.
Highlights
What do campaign contributions buy? Lobbyists meet with, inform, and attempt to persuade legislators and their staff to adjust legislation to their liking, while on the same day they are giving money to the legislator’s political campaign—seemingly as close to legalized bribery as one can get
Scholars looking for evidence of corruption in Congress have focused on the data available to them: the limited contributions of political action committees
Scholars looking for evidence of corruption have previously focused on the data available to them: the contributions of political action committees (PACs)
Summary
What do campaign contributions buy? Lobbyists meet with, inform, and attempt to persuade legislators and their staff to adjust legislation to their liking, while on the same day they are giving money to the legislator’s political campaign—seemingly as close to legalized bribery as one can get. Scholars looking for evidence of corruption have previously focused on the data available to them: the contributions of political action committees (PACs). We have for the first time the ability to connect the efforts and success of individual lobbyists with their contemporaneous contributions to Members of Congress. When a lobbyist’s issue is at the top of the agenda, as was health reform in 2009, that lobbyist focuses contributions on key committee members and puts less emphasis than at other times on constituent ties, majority party status, and electoral proximity in deciding to whom to donate. The results suggest worryingly that campaign contributions are intended, at least, to draw attention to a lobbyist’s current concerns, and at most, to influence the legislator to act in the lobbying group’s interests
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