MACROPARTY BEHAVIOR IN CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS

In: Politics & policy, Band 22, Heft 3, S. 445-466

Abstract

This paper examines the relative importance of national forces, local forces, and candidate‐related factors on the contribution patterns of national party organizations to congressional candidates. I test two macro‐level models: a Party Resources Allocation model and a Candidate Selection model. The results provide evidence for an indirect as opposed to a direct mechanism—party organizations provide financing based on the candidate‐related factors, whereas local forces strongly affect candidate selection. As a result, while evidence exists that party actors may be employing national maximization strategies, the strategies used serve only to reemphasize local as opposed to national concerns.