8.5: Influencing Elections

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Interest groups also attempt to influence the actions of government officials by participating in the electoral process. They do not nominate their own candidates for office, but some endorse, donate to, advertise on behalf of, volunteer for, and otherwise support candidates and parties they expect to act favorably if elected.

Investing in unelected politicians is a somewhat risky strategy. Politicians can’t do much for the interest groups that support them if they lose their elections. This is why most interest groups focus on lobbying rather than electioneering. However, electioneering efforts by interest groups can easily seem bigger than their lobbying efforts, because they happen largely in public (with slick television ads and large events) instead of behind closed doors.

A political action committee (PAC for short) is a special type of interest group established specifically to raise money and spend it on political campaigns. PACs can be formed by candidates, campaigns, parties, other interest groups, or individual citizens. Much of their activity involves advertising on behalf of candidates or parties. PAC contributions are limited by law: an individual voter, for example, may only donate a maximum of $5000 per year to a given PAC.

Related to the PAC is the super PAC. Like PACs, super PACs raise money to spend on political campaigns, mostly on advertising. Fundraising rules for super PACs are much laxer than for PACs: an individual can donate as much money as he or she wants to a super PAC. This allows super PACs to raise and spend far more money than PACs. The catch is that super PACs cannot coordinate directly with candidates or parties, even if they are working toward the same goal.

The precise legal definitions of PACs and super PACs—as well as the laws that govern them—are extremely complex. The main thing to understand here is that political actors choose which type of group to form based on their goals and the abilities and legal limitations of each type.

Super PACs emerged in 2010 as the result of the Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. FEC. Citizens United, a nonprofit organization which produces conservative and pro-Republican documentaries, had attempted to release its film Hillary: The Movie prior to the 2008 presidential primaries. (At the time, Hillary Clinton was challenging Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination.) The Federal Election Commission blocked the release because Citizens United had not abided by campaign finance rules for political advertising. Citizens United contended that, because they were not formally affiliated with any party or candidate, they were exempt from those rules.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Citizens United. In doing so, it made super PACs possible (though it did not coin the term) by establishing that organizations like Citizens United could raise and spend unlimited money on political advertising as long as they did not affiliate or coordinate with a candidate or party. By 2012, super PACs were outspending PACs, as they have in all but one election cycle since (as depicted in Figure 8.2 below).

Skyrocketing campaign spending has raised concerns about the influence of money in politics. Critics claim that Citizens United v. FEC opens a loophole for the wealthy to purchase political influence through super PACs, exacerbating political inequality. Supporters argue that overturning it would give the government too much power to stifle political expression, jeopardizing free speech.

Figure 8.2: Total PAC and super PAC spending by election cycle, 1990–2024 (Source: Open Secrets)

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