1. Comparing Notes across Borders: American and Canadian Interest Groups' Adaptations to Campaign Finance Reform.
- Author
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Boatright, Robert
- Subjects
- *
PRESSURE groups , *FINANCE laws , *LABOR unions , *ELECTIONS - Abstract
Over the past four years, the United States and Canada have both implemented new campaign finance laws that sharply restrict the influence of organized interests, particularly businesses and labor unions, in elections. In both nations, these new laws restrict groups' ability to contribute to politicians and air political advertisements on radio or television. In the United States, interest groups have responded by increasing their direct communication with their own members about politics. There is some evidence, as well, that Canadian groups have done this. This project explores the degree to which American and Canadian organized interests have learned political strategies from each other, either directly and indirectly, and it explores the applicability of groups' adaptations to campaign finance reform in each country. Through interviews with major American and Canadian interest groups and analysis of campaign finance data, it explores the degree of direct and indirect coordination by groups in the two countries. This project will help to researchers to understand the effects of campaign finance reforms in both countries, and it will assess the degree to which groups in the two countries share political information. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2008