ABSTRACT
The past decade has seen substantial legislative and judicial activity in the regulation of campaign finance. This was at least partly in response to changes in the ways parties, groups, and individuals raised and spent money in federal elections. The 1996 election marked an important turning point, with a substantial increase in parties’ and groups’ spending on elections apart from money they contributed to candidates. The changing policy and political environments, including federal legislation and court decisions, call for new and creative research strategies. Research on campaigns and elections over the past half-century has documented how radio, television, consultants, and new media like the Internet have changed American electoral democracy (Magleby 2010). When Woodrow Wilson first used radio to communicate with the nation in 1919, many Americans saw the new technology as something akin to magic (Douglas 2004; Loviglio 2005; Campbell 2006). Radio was supplanted by television in the 1950s and 1960s, but remains an important medium for targeted advertising (Magleby forthcoming(b)). By the 1970s, television had become the major means of communicating with voters in federal elections and it remains central today. With the advent of cable television, candidates now assume they need to also advertise on at least some cable stations. As with radio, some cable stations, such as the Golf Channel or Home and Garden TV, may reach a particular demographic segment of interest to a candidate. One reason money has become even more critical in recent years is that advertising on television is expensive. Candidates, party committees, and interest groups, all of whom are bidding for advertising time in a limited period, have seen costs of advertising rise, sometimes dramatically (Gross and Miller 2000: 1871-92). It is too soon to know how the Internet will impact upon campaign communications across the full range of federal elections. Prior to 2008 the Web was seen as a reinforcing tool more than a persuasion tool, but some campaigns in 2008, as we will discuss below, found ways to expand the impact of the Internet. One area in need of further research is how the Internet will impact upon fundraising and campaigning in the future.
