Abstract
This essay compares interest group activity in the 2012 federal elections with the previous two cycles. We examine the role of interest groups in financing campaign activities and influencing voters. Coming in the wake of the Citizens United case and other court decisions that relaxed campaign finance restrictions, the 2012 election marked an explosion of outside spending by organized interests, particularly independent expenditure advertising. While outside spending may not have produced the outcomes some expected in 2012, it blurs the distinction between candidates and outside groups and may be shifting the balance of power in campaigns away from candidates and toward organized interests. We conclude with a series of predictions about the nature of interest group activity in future election cycles.
About the authors
Jeff Smith is Assistant Professor in the Urban Policy graduate program at The New School. His academic interests include campaigns, public policy, and legislative strategy. A former Missouri state senator, he is the author of a forthcoming book about his experience in politics and prison, where he spent 2010 after his US House campaign illegally coordinated with an outside group.
David C. Kimball is Professor of Political Science at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He is the co-author or co-editor of four books and several articles. His research and teaching interests include voting and elections, election administration, political parties, and interest groups.
©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
