Promotional Expenditures In Congressional Elections: Turnou

The 1971 legislation that allowed the formation of Political Action Committees (PAC) has had several unintended effects: 1. The number of corporate or business PACs has increased dramatically in recent years. 2. PAC money is donated disproportionately in favor of House candidates. 3. Most of the money distributed by PACs comes from outside a congressman's state and is given in response to the congressman's position on issues supported by the PAC. As a result, recent attempts have been made to limit campaign spending and PAC contributions. A study replicated and extended the research of Soley and Reid (1982) and Siomkos and Ghosh (1986) to determine if there exist significant asymmetries in campaign promotional spending effects. The study found that: 1. incumbency and promotional expenditure are important determinants of congressional votes received. 2. there is no evidence that spending and voter turnout are related, and 3. PAC contributions have a significant and positive effect on the number of votes received.