Papers by Paul D Jorgensen
The U.S. presidential election of 2016 featured frontal challenges to the political establishment... more The U.S. presidential election of 2016 featured frontal challenges to the political establishments of both parties and perhaps the most shocking election upset in American history. This paper analyzes patterns of industrial structure and party competition in both the major party Thomas Ferguson is Professor Emeritus at
We bring together thousands of thinkers and doers-from a new generation of leaders in every state... more We bring together thousands of thinkers and doers-from a new generation of leaders in every state to Nobel laureate economists-working to redefine the rules that guide our social and economic realities. We rethink and reshape everything from local policy to federal legislation, orienting toward a new economic and political system: one built by many for the good of all.
Objective. We use the variation in public support for campaign finance reform (CFR) to determine ... more Objective. We use the variation in public support for campaign finance reform (CFR) 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 policy narratives, cultural theory (CT), and political knowledge play in preference formation. Results. The reform debate groups along three dimensions: (1) strengthening limitations and regulations, (2) deregulating campaign finance, or (3) ending the dependence on private money altogether. We show policy narratives are most influential, and CT has more explanatory value, among those with higher levels of political knowledge. Certain policy narratives tend to increase support for CFR across all cultural types, including those who most oppose reforms that seek to end the dependence on private money. Conclusion. As awareness of campaign finance increases, and as particular narratives become salient, we would expect increasing support for public financing, free media time, and/or public matching funds among those with higher levels of general political knowledge.
Handbook of Policy Formulation
This paper analyzes whether money influences election outcomes. Using a new and more comprehensiv... more This paper analyzes whether money influences election outcomes. Using a new and more comprehensive dataset built from government sources, the paper begins by showing that the relations between money and major party votes in all elections for the U.S. Senate and House of
This paper analyzes patterns of industrial structure and party competition in the 2012 presidenti... more This paper analyzes patterns of industrial structure and party competition in the 2012 presidential election. The analysis rests on a new and more comprehensive database that catches more of the myriad ways in which businesses and major investors make political contributions than previous studies do. By drawing on this unified database, the paper is able to show that both major parties depend on very large donors to a greater extent than past studies have estimated. The paper outlines the firm and sectoral bases of support for the major party nominees, as well as for republican candidates who competed for their party's presidential nomination. The paper shows that President Barack Obama's support by big business was broader than hitherto recognized. A central conclusion is that the sectors most involved in the recent controversies over surveillance were Thomas Ferguson is a professor of political science at
International Journal of Political Economy, 2013
• Existing data sources used for studies of campaign finance have a variety of serious flaws.
The Journal of law, medicine & ethics : a journal of the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 2013
Why, when confronted with policy alternatives that could improve patient care, public health, and... more Why, when confronted with policy alternatives that could improve patient care, public health, and the economy, does Congress neglect those goals and tailor legislation to suit the interests of pharmaceutical corporations? In brief, for generations, the pharmaceutical industry has convinced legislators to define policy problems in ways that protect its profit margin. It reinforces this framework by selectively providing information and by targeting campaign contributions to influential legislators and allies. In this way, the industry displaces the public's voice in developing pharmaceutical policy. Unless citizens mobilize to confront the political power of pharmaceutical firms, objectionable industry practices and public policy will not change. Yet we need to refine this analysis. I propose a research agenda to uncover pharmaceutical influence. It develops the theory of dependence corruption to explain how the pharmaceutical industry is able to deflect the broader interests of ...
Journal of Political Marketing, 2012
Do political television advertisements influence congressional election results? We test a hypoth... more Do political television advertisements influence congressional election results? We test a hypothesis that candidates increase their vote share by increasing their advertisement airings relative to their opponent's airings (i.e., “mind the gap”). Using aggregate advertising data over three election cycles, we employ a two-stage least squares estimation with a rank-order instrumental variable, finding that the advertisement gap explains shifts in
Explaining strategies of political action committee (PAC) contributions to candidates takes two f... more Explaining strategies of political action committee (PAC) contributions to candidates takes two forms. Scholars emphasize either PAC or candidate characteristics as having more explanatory power over variation in PAC contributions, and this choice results in different expectations for PAC contribution patterns. Using California fruit, nut, and wine PACs, this research revisits a much-debated question: Why do PACs give to some candidates and not others?
Policy Studies Journal, 2009
Understanding the influence of policy knowledge (analysis, evaluation) on policy change represent... more Understanding the influence of policy knowledge (analysis, evaluation) on policy change represents a long-standing quest in the policy sciences. Despite attempts of Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) scholars, the first to embark systematically on this quest, utilization and policy process literatures still run parallel. Through a critique of ACF and utilization studies, we argue that the inability of policy theory to include how and which information decision makers use is the foundational issue hindering efforts to link process and substance in policy theory. Situating utilization studies in the policy design approach offers an improvement in conceptualizing relationships between policy knowledge, process, and change.
Review of Policy Research, 2008
While scholars developed an understanding of the processes moving issues from the systemic to the... more While scholars developed an understanding of the processes moving issues from the systemic to the institutional agenda, we know little about the inner workings of the institutional agenda. Winnowing theory addresses this gap by examining the leadership, bill sponsor, and contextual factors helping bills move through the institutional agenda. By expanding winnowing theory to incorporate a fragmented policy domain, the environment, we find that multiple referral status actually helps a bill's chances of receiving attention and passing through the committee.
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Papers by Paul D Jorgensen