The Stagnation of Congressional Elections
In this chapter of Life after Reform: When Bipartisan Campaign Reform Meets Politics, the author examines how House elections have become stagnant, & what impacts the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) will have on the competition & change in House elections. The author agrees with previous research that incumbency advantage is the result of electoral stagnation & is the result of campaign spending. A causal model of campaign spending that advantages the status quo is supported by analysis of campaign spending disparities. The author argues that BCRA will adversely impact electoral competition to further solidify incumbency advantage through their pre-existing hard money support, the limits on soft money, & restrictions on electioneering for new candidates. The author argues that BCRA is inadequate in that it does not change the system that allows incumbents to buy the elections. 4 Tables, 2 Figures. J. Harwell