POL 401 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Election 2, Eleanor Powell

• School: University of Miami
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POL 401
• Professor: Uscinski Joseph

Document Summary

Keywords: congress, committees, campaign finance, money, influence. 81% of americans disapprove of congress the public broadly perceives that there is too much money in politics causing moneyed interests to receive the attention of congress, while the problems of the middle-class and the poor remain neglected. Political elites share this assessment: they worry about the tremendous time and energy politicians spend fundraising, and the influence of the unprecedented amount of money circulating in washington role of money in the form of campaign contributions. One of the best places to influence the content of legislation is in committee. Business pacs contribute to seek short-term access to legislators with policy-relevant influence, rather than cultivating long-term relationships or influencing electoral outcomes to assist ideologically aligned legislators. Business pacs bail on exiled legislators, reducing contributions to legislators who are removed from committees that oversee corporations" business activities.