Do Small Campaign Contributions Distance Congressmen from Constituents? A Longitudinal Study of the United States House of Representatives, 2008 to 2020

Abstract

The role of money is one which is frequently debated in policy debates. The idea of spending as speech is subject to many opinions, ranging from those considering it ludicrous that certain individuals or entities can have more “speech” because they are wealthy, to those who consider electioneering contributions to be a valid form of civic engagement. This work analyzes a subset of election donations to gain some empirical insights on this debate. Looking at the House of Representatives and focusing specifically on small individual donors, I run a panel study using data from 2008 to 2020 to analyze the acceptance of small donations and whether it makes congressmen less ideologically similar to their districts. The extent of this effect is also explored over time, and this study tracks whether or not the effect of small donations has changed throughout the time period studied. In general, results show that small donations do play a significant role in increasing differences between legislators and the ideological mean of their district. Additionally, it appears that the extent of this effect has remained largely the same throughout the entire period.