Political Science Commons^™

Prospects For Campaign Finance Reform: The Role Of Policy Narratives, Cultural Predispositions, And Political Knowledge In Collective Policy Preference Formation, Paul D. Jorgensen, Michael D. Jones, Geoboo Song

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: Although campaign finance is a growing concern, pollsters rarely ask the public about reform. We use the variation in public support for campaign finance reform to determine factors important to collective policy preference formation.

Methods: Using a national survey, we factor analyze the latent dimensions of various reforms, and rely on an experimental design to explain the role cultural theory, policy narratives, and political knowledge plays in preference formation.

Results: The reform debate groups along two dimensions: adding or removing limitations, or ending the dependence on money altogether. We show policy narratives are most influential, and cultural theory has …