Publisher Description

While much is known about who votes in American elections, much less is known about who donates. In this book, the authors utilize a unique and historically unprecedented data set of donors from the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections to answer longstanding questions: what is the relationship between donors and candidates? How do candidates attract and respond to contributors? How do campaign strategies reflect changing campaign finance laws and the development of the internet? With unprecedented cooperation from the Obama, McCain, and Romney campaigns, the authors investigate presidential campaign donors at all giving levels to produce the most systematic and complete analysis of donors to presidential nominees to date. As elections are decided increasingly by donors' dollars, Who Donates to Campaigns? provides relevant research on the broader trends in partisan polarization and, more generally, on how campaigns can engage more citizens in political participation.

Author Biography

David B. Magleby is Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Brigham Young University, Utah, and Senior Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy. He is the editor of a series on the financing of the quadrennial presidential election in the US since 2000. Jay Goodliffe is Associate Professor of Political Science at Brigham Young University, Utah and Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy. His work has appeared in American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Political Behavior, and other journals. Joseph A. Olsen is Associate Research Professor, Assistant Dean, and Director of Information Technology and Research Support in the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences at Brigham Young University, Utah. He is a member of the American Statistical Association and the Psychometric Society.

Table of Contents

1. The importance of donors in American politics; 2. Profile of donors in 2008 and 2012; 3. What motivates donors to contribute?; 4. How the Internet, BCRA, and super PACs have affected campaigns, donor attitudes, and behavior; 5. New, repeat, continuing, and lapsed donors; 6. What distinguishes small donors?; 7. The diminished gender gap among democratic donors; 8. The timing of donations in presidential campaigns; 9. Policy implications of changing laws, regulations, and of who donates; 10. What explains donor behavior?

Review

'This fine book constitutes the state of the art in scholarship on individual contributors. Drawing on large, well-designed surveys and many in-depth interviews, the book advances theory, methods, and substantive knowledge, and is an impressive accomplishment. Highly recommended.' Clyde Wilcox, Georgetown University, Washington, DC
'Political reformers often speak of 'small donors' as a kind of salvation for whatever ails our political system. Professors Magleby, Goodliffe, and Olsen have done the hard work of looking at small donor contributions to recent presidential campaigns. This book is very important for understanding the motivations and benefits of small donations, and their limitations as a cure-all.' Trevor Potter, General Counsel to the John McCain Campaigns, former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission, and Founder and President of the Campaign Legal Center
'Magleby, Goodliffe, and Olsen have made a major advance in our understanding of donors and the effect of their donations in modern electoral campaigns in America … The result is a massively important advance in our understanding of who donates and why they do, increasingly critical questions in today's campaign environment.' John Aldrich, Duke University, North Carolina

Promotional

Utilizing surveys of Obama, McCain, and Romney donors, the authors explore the question: who donates to presidential campaigns?

Review Quote

'This fine book constitutes the state of the art in scholarship on individual contributors. Drawing on large, well-designed surveys and many in-depth interviews, the book advances theory, methods, and substantive knowledge, and is an impressive accomplishment. Highly recommended.' Clyde Wilcox, Georgetown University, Washington, DC

Promotional "Headline"

Utilizing surveys of Obama, McCain, and Romney donors, the authors explore the question: who donates to presidential campaigns?

Description for Bookstore

Who Donates to Campaigns? examines data on donors to the 2008 and 2012 presidential election campaigns to demonstrate who is donating and how the internet and campaign finance law have contributed to significant change. This book will be of value to students, scholars, campaign professionals, and journalists and anyone interested in US campaign and elections.

Description for Library

Who Donates to Campaigns? examines data on donors to the 2008 and 2012 presidential election campaigns to demonstrate who is donating and how the internet and campaign finance law have contributed to significant change. This book will be of value to students, scholars, campaign professionals, and journalists and anyone interested in US campaign and elections.

Details