POLITICAL ECONOMICS

Financing of Election Campaigns

Financing of Election Campaigns

Introduction

Political campaigns are a key aspect of representative democracy. During campaigns, candidates are responsible for attracting the votes of citizens. Under democratic theory, this is the juncture in the process during which citizens may reward parties and candidates that have performed in desirable ways during the past term or punish candidates and parties that have been corrupt, incompetent, or advocated policies and positions that the voter does not desire. During the campaign season leading up to the election, candidates use a variety of tactics to persuade citizens to vote for them, and indeed to vote at all. The elections campaigns are financed through heavy funding, coming from a variety of sources. The expenses of extended campaigns are so huge that it can also discourage those who do not possess great personal wealth form running for high office. Even if non-wealthy candidates can manage to get campaign funding together, they may not be able to afford to quit a day job to run for office full-time.

Discussion

Aside from candidate personal appeal, perhaps the most important determinant of the success of a campaign is the amount of money the campaign can raise and spend. Indeed, campaigns that fail to raise enough money early tend to be considered failing, and those candidates often drop out of the race, rather than limp along with minimal funding. On the flip side, people with enormous personal wealth but little to no political experience can sometimes be viable candidates merely because they can finance their own campaign activities (Thurber & Nelson, 2010). Examples include Ross Perot, a wealthy industrialist who managed to secure 19% of the popular vote for president in 1992, or billionaire Michael Bloomberg, elected mayor of New York City in 2001.

The aggressively studied element of the election campaign is fund-raising. Fund-raising is an essential part of running for political office in the U.S. In presidential elections especially, the amount of money that leading candidates raise and spend has become a much-discussed aspect of politics. In the 2004 election, the two nominees, President Bush (R) and Sen. John Kerry (D. Mass.), raised hundreds of millions of dollars (Lytle, 2002).

Since the 1970s, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has overseen a system in which presidential candidates may accept public funds to supplement the private money that they raise. The money in the public campaign fund comes from tax money that people have the option of directing to that purpose, by marking a box on their income tax returns. The current donation amount is $3. Since the early 1980s, the percentage of taxpayers selecting the donation has been declining. As of 2004, it stood at less than 10%, a drop from nearly 30% in 1980.

In return for public funds, candidates must abide by certain conditions, including holding their campaign spending to a particular limit (DiClerico, 2000). While the vast majority of candidates have opted to take federal funding, in recent elections some high-profile candidates have chosen not to take part ...