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Gaming Arizona: Public Money and Shifting Candidate Strategies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2008

Michael Miller
Michael Miller
Affiliation:
Cornell University
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Extract

Since public election financing was first implemented during the wave of post-Watergatereforms, the burning question has been, “does it work?” Evaluations of public financing havefocused on its primary objectives, which are designed to address familiar grievances:Elections are too expensive and not competitive enough. Corporate PACs and other “specialinterests” contribute disproportionately to incumbents because they are interested inpurchasing influence. Candidates must devote so much time to fundraising that little is leftfor other campaign tasks. Lost in these considerations, however, is the fact that mandatedfinancial parity changes the strategic environment candidates function in, altering theirdecision making and potentially changing the nature of elections. As fully subsidizedelections gain increasing ubiquity in the United States, reformers must decide whether thisis a cost worth bearing.

Type
Features
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 41 , Issue 3 , July 2008 , pp. 527 - 532
Copyright
Copyright © The American Political Science Association 2008

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