TY  - GEN
AU  - Regens, James L
AU  - Gaddie, Ronald Keith
TI  - Economic realities of political reform: elections and the U. S. Senate
SN  - 9780521023511
U1  - 324.780973 
PY  - 2005///
CY  - Cambridge
PB  - Cambridge University Press
KW  - United States. Congress. Senate - Elections
KW  - Campaign funds - United States
KW  - Political campaigns - United States
KW  - Politics
KW  - Practical - United States
N2  - A central political issue in American politics during the 1990s is the need for political campaign reform. The authors examine US Senate elections to determine the role money plays in Senate elections; their analysis indicates that the system of campaign finance resembles a market,  with legislators as the recipients of financial largesse based on their institutional positions and political vulnerability. This rent-seeking relationship between economic interests and legislators has transformed the dynamic of Senate elections. The authors assess the potential impact of several electoral reform proposals. Spending limits and public funding proposals,  they argue,  will not have the impact expected by reform advocates. Term limit and public funding proposals would disrupt the rent-seeking relationship between legislators and economic interests. These proposals also face political and constitutional barriers to implementation.
ER  -