Journal Article

Political Participation and Civic Courage: The Negative Effect of Transparency on Making Small Campaign Contributions

La Raja, Raymond J.

2014

Overview

This study assesses whether public disclosure of campaign contributions affects citizens' willingness to give money to candidates. In the American states, campaign finance laws require disclosure of private information for contributors at relatively low thresholds ranging from $1 to $300. The Internet has made it relatively easy to publicize such information in a way that changes the social context for political participation. Drawing on social influence theory, the analysis suggests that citizens are sensitive to divulging private information, especially those who are surrounded by people with different political views. Using experimental data from the 2011 Cooperative Congressional Election Studies, it demonstrates how individuals refrain from making small campaign contributions or reduce their donations to avoid disclosing their identities. The conclusion discusses the implications of transparency laws for political participation, especially for small donors.

• Publisher: Springer Science+Business Media LLC,Springer US,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Campaign contributions / Campaigns / Candidates / Citizen participation / Citizens / Congressional elections / Contributions (Donations) / Cooperation / Disclosure / Disclosure of Information / Donations / Donors / Elections / Identity / Influence / Information / Internet / Law / Money / Original Paper / Political behavior / Political Campaigns / Political factors / Political Finance / Political Participation / Political Science / Political Science and International Relations / Political Science and International Studies / Social behavior / Social costs / Social environment / Social influence / Social participation / Sociology / Thresholds / Transparency / Voting / Voting behavior