Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T07:39:56.309Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Individual Contributions to State Supreme Court Campaigns: Context and the Impact of Institutional Design

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Brent D. Boyea
Brent D. Boyea*
Affiliation:
The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA
*
Brent D. Boyea, Department of Political Science, The University of Texas at Arlington, 601 S. Nedderman Drive, Arlington, TX 76019, USA. Email: boyea@uta.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Building upon existing theories of political fundraising and citizen participation in elections, this study examines contributions from individuals as an essential form of political participation in state high court elections from 2000 through 2012. Specifically, I explore the degree to which candidate characteristics, state political environments, and the attributes of state institutions affect the size of individual contributions. The findings of this investigation indicate the participation of contributors in judicial elections closely resembles the activities of voters. Like voters, contributors respond to contextual forces that increase or decrease salience and the political information available to state citizens. Of particular importance are state decisions to use partisan or nonpartisan election designs. Decisions by states to use partisan elections have important consequences for the generosity of contributors with larger donations directed to candidates seeking office in the most professionalized elective state supreme courts.

Keywords

judicial electionsjudicial politicspolitical participationpolitical behaviorelectoral systemscampaign financecampaigns
Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 17 , Issue 3 , September 2017 , pp. 227 - 250
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2017

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Biersack, Robert, and Herrnson, Paul S.. 1994. “Political Parties and the Year of the Woman.” Pp. 161–80. In The Year of the Woman: Myths and Realities, eds. Cook, Elizabeth Adell, Thomas, Sue, and Wilcox, Clyde. Boulder: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Bonica, Adam. 2014. “Mapping the Ideological Marketplace.” American Journal of Political Science 58:367–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonica, Adam, and Woodruff, Michael J.. 2015. “A Common-Space Measure of State Supreme Court Ideology.” Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization 31:472–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonneau, Chris W. 2005a. “Electoral Verdicts: Incumbent Defeats in State Supreme Court Elections.” American Politics Research 33:818–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonneau, Chris W. 2005b. “What Price Justice(s)? Understanding Campaign Spending in State Supreme Court Elections.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 5:107–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonneau, Chris W. 2007. “Campaign Fundraising in State Supreme Court Elections.” Social Science Quarterly 88:68–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonneau, Chris W., and Cann, Damon M.. 2015. Voters' Verdicts: Citizens, Campaigns, and Institutions in State Supreme Court Elections. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.Google Scholar
Bonneau, Chris W., and Hall, Melinda Gann. 2009. In Defense of Judicial Elections. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M. 1996. “A Dynamic Analysis of the Role of War Chests in Campaign Strategy.” American Journal of Political Science 40:352–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyea, Brent D. 2011. “Time Served in State Supreme Courts: Mapping the Determinants of Judicial Seniority.” Justice System Journal 32:44–61.Google Scholar
Brace, Paul, and Boyea, Brent D.. 2008. “State Public Opinion, the Death Penalty, and the Practice of Electing Judges.” American Journal of Political Science 52:360–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brace, Paul, and Hall, Melinda Gann. 1997. “The Interplay of Preferences, Case Facts, Context, and Rules in the Politics of Judicial Choice.” Journal of Politics 59:1206–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brace, Paul, and Hall, Melinda Gann. 2001. “‘Haves’ versus ‘Have Nots’ in State Supreme Courts: Allocating Docket Space and Wins in Power Asymmetric Cases.” Law & Society Review 35:393–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brambor, Thomas, Clark, William Roberts, and Golder, Matt. 2006. “Understanding Interaction Models: Improving Empirical Analyses.” Political Analysis 14:63–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, Adam R. 2013. “Does Money Buy Votes? The Case of Self-Financed Gubernatorial Candidates, 1998–2008.” Political Behavior 35:21–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, Clifford W., Powell, Lynda W, and Wilcox, Clyde. 1995. Serious Money: Fundraising and Contributing in Presidential Nomination Campaigns. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burrell, Barbara. 2014. Gender in Campaigns for the U.S. House of Representatives. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cann, Damon M. 2007. “Justice for Sale? Campaign Contributions and Judicial Decisionmaking.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 7:281–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Damore, David F., and Nicholson, Stephen P.. 2014. “Mobilizing Interests: Group Participation and Competition in Direct Democracy Elections.” Political Behavior 36:535–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dubois, Philip L. 1980. From Ballot to Bench: Judicial Elections and the Quest for Accountability. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Engstrom, Erik J. 2012. “The Rise and Decline of Turnout in Congressional Elections: Electoral Institutions, Competition, and Strategic Mobilization.” American Journal of Political Science 56:373–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engstrom, Erik J., and Ewell, William. 2010. “The Impact of Unified Government on Campaign Contributions.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 35:543–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ensley, Michael J. 2009. “Individual Campaign Contributions and Candidate Ideology.” Public Choice 138:221–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Francia, Peter L., Green, John C., Herrnson, Paul S., Powell, Lynda W., and Wilcox, Clyde. 2003. The Financiers of Congressional Elections: Investors, Ideologues, and Intimates. New York: Columbia University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frederick, Brian, and Streb, Matthew J.. 2008. “Paying the Price for a Seat on the Bench: Campaign Spending in Contested Elections for State Intermediate Courts of Appeals.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 8:410–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaddie, Ronald K., and Bullock, Charles S. III 1995. “Congressional Elections and the Year of the Woman: Structural and Elite Influences on Female Candidates.” Social Science Quarterly 76:749–62.Google Scholar
Gimpel, James G., Lee, Frances E., and Kaminski, Joshua. 2006. “The Political Geography of Campaign Contributions in American Politics.” Journal of Politics 68:626–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grant, J. Tobin, and Rudolph, Thomas J.. 2002. “To Give or Not to Give: Modeling Individuals' Contribution Decisions.” Political Behavior 24:31–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Melinda Gann. 2001. “State Supreme Courts in American Democracy: Probing the Myths of Judicial Reform.” American Political Science Review 95:315–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Melinda Gann. 2007. “Voting in State Supreme Court Elections: Competition and Context as Democratic Incentives.” Journal of Politics 69:1147–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Melinda Gann. 2015. Attacking Judges: How Campaign Advertising Influences State Supreme Court Elections. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Hall, Melinda Gann, and Bonneau, Chris W.. 2008. “Mobilizing Interest: The Effects of Money on Citizen Participation in State Supreme Court Elections.” American Journal of Political Science 52:457–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Melinda Gann, and Bonneau, Chris W.. 2013. “Attack Advertising, the White Decision, and Voter Participation in State Supreme Court Elections.” Political Research Quarterly 66:115–26.Google Scholar
Harden, Jeffrey J. 2011. “A Bootstrap Method for Conducting Statistical Inference with Clustered Data.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 11:223–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hogan, Robert E. 2007. “The Effect of Candidate Gender on Campaign Spending in State Legislative Elections.” Social Science Quarterly 88:1092–1105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, David A., Wilhelm, Teena, and Vining, Richard L. Jr. 2015. “Deliberation Rules and Opinion Assignment Procedures in State Supreme Courts: A Replication.” Justice System Journal 35:395–410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobson, Gary C., and Carson, Jamie L.. 2015. The Politics of Congressional Elections. 9th ed. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Krasno, Jonathan S., Green, Donald P., and Cowden, Jonathan A.. 1994. “The Dynamics of Campaign Fundraising in House Elections.” Journal of Politics 56:459–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
La Raja, Raymond J., and Schaffner, Brian F.. 2015. Campaign Finance and Political Polarization: When Purists Prevail. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Maestas, Cherie D., and Rugeley, Cynthia R.. 2008. “Assessing the ‘Experience Bonus’ through Examining Strategic Entry, Candidate Quality, and Campaign Receipts in U.S. House Elections.” American Journal of Political Science 52:520–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mandel, Ruth B. 1981. In the Running: The New Women Candidates. New Haven: Ticknor and Fields.Google Scholar
Nelson, Michael J., Caufield, Rachel Paine, and Martin, Andrew D.. 2013. “OH, MI: A Note on Empirical Examinations of Judicial Elections.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 13:495–511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Connor, Sandra Day, and McGregor, Ruth V.. 2011–2012. “Judicial Selection Principles: A Perspective.” Albany Law Review 75:1741–46.Google Scholar
Powell, Lynda. 2012. The Influence of Campaign Contributions in State Legislatures: The Effects of Institutions and Politics. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenstone, Steven J., and Hansen, John Mark. 1993. Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Sample, James, Skaggs, Adam, Blitzer, Jonathan, and Casey, Linda. 2010. The New Politics of Judicial Elections, 2000–2009: Decade of Change. Washington, DC: Justice at Stake Campaign.Google Scholar
Schaffner, Brian F., Streb, Matthew, and Wright, Gerald. 2001. “Teams without Uniform: The Nonpartisan Ballot in State and Local Elections.” Political Research Quarterly 54:7–30.Google Scholar
Sorauf, Frank J. 1992. Inside Campaign Finance: Myths and Realities. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Squire, Peverill. 2008. “Measuring the Professionalization of U.S. State Courts of Last Resort.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 8:223–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squire, Peverill. 2012. The Evolution of American Legislatures: Colonies, Territories, and States, 1619–2009. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Streb, Matthew J., and Frederick, Brian. 2011. “When Money Cannot Encourage Participation: Campaign Spending and Rolloff in Low Visibility Judicial Elections.” Political Behavior 33:665–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Streb, Matthew J., Frederick, Brian, and LaFrance, Casey. 2009. “Voter Rolloff in a Low-Information Context: Evidence from Intermediate Appellate Courts.” American Politics Research 37:644–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Dunk, Emily. 1997. “Challenger Quality in State Legislative Elections.” Political Research Quarterly 50:793–807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weber, Ronald E., Tucker, Harvey, and Brace, Paul. 1991. “Vanishing Marginals in State Legislative Elections.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 16:29–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar