jjes, Japanese Journal of Electoral Studies, 18(18) 203-213, 2003 Peer-reviewed
This study investigates congressional voting on the Shays-Meehan bill (the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002). The legislation bans soft money, the unregulated special interest donations to national political parties. But it doubles the limits of hard money, with donations to individual candidates now capped at $1, 000 per election. This study specifically explores the legislation by analyzing the congruence between members' rollcall voting and (1) their electoral margins against their opponents in the last elections; (2) their tenure; (3) the amount of individual contributions; (4) the amount of PAC (Political Action Committee) contributions; (5) the African American population in their constituencies; and (6) contributions from the now-defunct Enron corporation. Representatives' tenure establishes the strongest influence on their voting. While senior Democratic members are likely to cast 'nay' votes, senior Republicans tend to support the bill. The results also indicate that electoral margins against their opponents demonstrate a negative congruence with the vote.