From the FEC to the Ballot Box: Voter Accountability for Campaign Finance Law Violations. Issue 5 (September 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gaskins, Ben; Seljan, Ellen; Lochner, Todd; Kowal, Katie; Dundon, Zane; Gold, Maya
• Is Part Of: American politics research. Volume 47:Issue 5(2019)
• Page Start: 1000
• Page End: 1035
• Publication Date: 2019-09
• Subjects: campaign finance -- scandal -- Federal Election Commission -- voting; Public opinion -- United States -- Periodicals; United States -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; 320.973
• DOI: 10.1177/1532673X18759641
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1532-673X

Abstract

Scholarship suggests the Federal Election Commission lacks adequate enforcement tools to deter those who would violate campaign finance laws. But can and do voters hold political candidates accountable for violating these laws? In this article, we employ two studies to empirically evaluate these questions. The first examines the extent to which media cover campaign finance violations, and how they do so. The second employs an experimental approach to test the effects of such media coverage on evaluations of political candidates, in particular whether knowledge of a candidate's violation of campaign finance laws erodes voter support. We find that the media are more likely to cover campaign finance impropriety for high-profile offices, when criminal action is alleged, and for most serious violations. We also show that voters care about campaign violations, and certain violations lower voter support similar to other types of political scandal.