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Individual Contributions to State Supreme Court Campaigns: Context and the Impact of Institutional Design

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Brent D. Boyea
Brent D. Boyea*
Affiliation:
The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA
*
Brent D. Boyea, Department of Political Science, The University of Texas at Arlington, 601 S. Nedderman Drive, Arlington, TX 76019, USA. Email: boyea@uta.edu
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Abstract

Building upon existing theories of political fundraising and citizen participation in elections, this study examines contributions from individuals as an essential form of political participation in state high court elections from 2000 through 2012. Specifically, I explore the degree to which candidate characteristics, state political environments, and the attributes of state institutions affect the size of individual contributions. The findings of this investigation indicate the participation of contributors in judicial elections closely resembles the activities of voters. Like voters, contributors respond to contextual forces that increase or decrease salience and the political information available to state citizens. Of particular importance are state decisions to use partisan or nonpartisan election designs. Decisions by states to use partisan elections have important consequences for the generosity of contributors with larger donations directed to candidates seeking office in the most professionalized elective state supreme courts.

Keywords

judicial electionsjudicial politicspolitical participationpolitical behaviorelectoral systemscampaign financecampaigns
Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 17 , Issue 3 , September 2017 , pp. 227 - 250
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2017

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