Super PACs and the 2012 Elections
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Victoria A. Farrar-Myers
Victoria A. Farrar-Myers is Professor of Political Science & Distinguished Teaching Professor at The University of Texas at Arlington. Her scholarship includes numerous publications in the areas of presidential-congressional politics, campaign finance, reform politics, and the democratic nature of U.S. elections.
and
Richard Skinner
Richard Skinner teaches political science at the New College of Florida. He is author ofMore Than Money: Interest Group Action in Congressional Elections (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007) and has published inThe Forum, Perspectives on Politics, the Journal of Politics, Political Science Quarterly, Presidential Studies Quarterly , andAmerican Politics Research .
Abstract
This article examines a number of potential concerns about unlimited donations to, and independent expenditures by, Super PACs. More specifically, how have Super PACs and other independent organizations acted in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United? What effects did they have during the 2012 electoral season? What implications might their activities have for the conduct of American democracy going forward?
About the authors
Victoria A. Farrar-Myers is Professor of Political Science & Distinguished Teaching Professor at The University of Texas at Arlington. Her scholarship includes numerous publications in the areas of presidential-congressional politics, campaign finance, reform politics, and the democratic nature of U.S. elections.
Richard Skinner teaches political science at the New College of Florida. He is author of More Than Money: Interest Group Action in Congressional Elections (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007) and has published in The Forum, Perspectives on Politics, the Journal of Politics, Political Science Quarterly, Presidential Studies Quarterly, and American Politics Research.
©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction
- If I Could Hold a Seminar for Political Journalists…
- Sorting the American States into Red and Blue: Culture, Economics, and the 2012 US Presidential Election in Historical Context
- The Miserable Presidential Election of 2012: A First Party-Term Incumbent Survives
- The Presidential Election of 2012 by the Numbers and in Historical Perspective
- Campaign Effects and Dynamics in the 2012 Election
- How the Romney Campaign Blew it
- Negative, Angry, and Ubiquitous: Political Advertising in 2012
- Interest Groups in Electoral Politics: 2012 in Context
- Barking Louder: Interest Groups in the 2012 Election
- Why Super PACs: How the American Party System Outgrew the Campaign Finance System
- Super PACs and the 2012 Elections
- The Primary End Game and General Election Outcomes: Are they Connected?
- Red State/Blue State Divisions in the 2012 Presidential Election
- The Roberts Court in an Era of Polarized Politics
Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction
- If I Could Hold a Seminar for Political Journalists…
- Sorting the American States into Red and Blue: Culture, Economics, and the 2012 US Presidential Election in Historical Context
- The Miserable Presidential Election of 2012: A First Party-Term Incumbent Survives
- The Presidential Election of 2012 by the Numbers and in Historical Perspective
- Campaign Effects and Dynamics in the 2012 Election
- How the Romney Campaign Blew it
- Negative, Angry, and Ubiquitous: Political Advertising in 2012
- Interest Groups in Electoral Politics: 2012 in Context
- Barking Louder: Interest Groups in the 2012 Election
- Why Super PACs: How the American Party System Outgrew the Campaign Finance System
- Super PACs and the 2012 Elections
- The Primary End Game and General Election Outcomes: Are they Connected?
- Red State/Blue State Divisions in the 2012 Presidential Election
- The Roberts Court in an Era of Polarized Politics
