Transforming Democracy: Legislative Campaign Committees and Political PartiesThis book examines the emergence of state-level legislative campaign committees (LCCs) and their relationship with traditional political party organizations. Now found in 40 states, LCCs provide extensive campaign services and are quickly becoming the dominant force in state politics. But where do these new organizations fit in the party rubric? Whereas most scholars suggest they are evidence of party evolution and growth, Shea disagrees, forcing a rethinking of precisely what we expect political parties to do. Are state LCCs part of, and do they act like, party organizations? To answer this question, Shea examines surveys of over 300 state and county party leaders from around the nation and numerous sources of aggregate data. Using a mix of empirical and anecdotal information, the author looks at formal linkages, project interdependence, goals and activities, and general perceptions of party leaders. He concludes that LCCs are best conceived as independent campaign consulting firms rather than "party organizations" and that these new units may be contributing to party atrophy rather than party resurgence. |
Contents
Some Background on State Legislative Campaign Committees | 17 |
Possible Explanantions for the Growth of State LCCs | 31 |
The State of Party Organizations Decay or Resurgence? | 47 |
Theory Data and Method | 69 |
New York State A Case Study | 83 |
The StateLevel Relationship | 113 |
The CountyLevel Relationship | 137 |
Conclusion | 165 |
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Common terms and phrases
Albany American Parties appear areas Assembly Campaign assistance candidate-centered Candidate-Directed caucus leadership Chapter Clinton County conducted Congressional contributions cooperation Cotter county chairs county committee county party chairs DACC Democratic dependent variable direct mail districts Eldersveld elec electoral functions fund-raising funds Gierzynski 1992 goals gubernatorial House important incumbents institutional support interactions involved lative LCC activities LCC operatives LCC resources legislative campaign committees legislative campaign organizations legislative candidates legislative elections legislative leaders legislative professionalization legislative races legislature linkages noted Ohio overall PACS paign party activities party committees party leaders party organiza party structure partylike perceived percent perspective Plattsburgh political action committees Political Parties R-Square rational-efficient reelection refused/dk relationship Republican respondents role scale scholars seats Senate simply split-ticket voting state-level strategic strong party suggest tees telephone banks tions tive traditional party organizations units winning elections York
Popular passages
Page 9 - ... protection of their interests. A loose factionalism gives great negative power to those with a few dollars to invest in legislative candidates. A party system provides at least a semblance of joint responsibility between governor and legislature. The independence of candidacies in an atomized politics makes it possible to elect a fire-eating governor who promises great accomplishments and simultaneously to elect a legislature a majority of whose members are committed to inaction.
Page xiv - GREEN is professor of political science and director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron.
Page 11 - III. THE PARTY COMMITTEES Quartered in the House and Senate Office Buildings are the principal party vehicles for funding Congressional and Senatorial campaigns — the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee1 (DCCC), the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). Since available space in the House Office Buildings is inadequate for the sizable staff of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the House Republican group...
Page xiv - Chairman of the Department of Political Science at the State University of New York at New Paltz, enjoyed the confidence of the Governor.