000			01216pab a2200157 454500
008			180718b2016 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100			_aBarber, Michael
245			_aDonation motivations: testing theories of access and ideology
260			_c2016
300			_ap.148-159.
362			_aMar
520			_aUnderstanding why donors give money to legislative candidates is vital for assessing how money influences politics. In this paper, I test theories of why political action committees (PACs) and individuals, the two largest sources of campaign money, contribute to legislative candidates. Using a variety of data at the state and federal level, I show dramatic differences between individual and PAC contribution patterns. An original survey of donors in the 2012 election cycle shows that individuals consistently rank ideological concerns as highly important when deciding where to give. Finally, using two different within-legislator designs, I show a causal relationship between incumbency, ideology, and contributions. These results provide the most direct and comprehensive test of contributor motivations to date.
650			_aElections
773			_aPolitical Research Quarterly
909			_a110989
999			_c110984 _d110984