Allocating Unlimited Money: What Explains Super PAC Spending in Congressional Elections?

How do Super PACs allocate their resources? The question is both timely and relevant, particularly as we reflect on the ten-year anniversary of the Citizens United ruling. Super PACs now outspend – sometimes by huge margins, as in the 2016 presidential election – all other groups’ independent expenditures including those of parties, unions, and 501(c) organizations. The issue is especially important in congressional politics, where Super PACs have an opportunity to shape the institution every two years through congressional elections. Utilizing outside spending data from the Center for Responsive Politics, we analyze four U.S. House election cycles since the Supreme Court’s landmark 2010 Citizens United ruling (2012–2018). The likelihood that Super PACs invest in a race is strongly determined by the electoral context, even after controlling for the legislative influence of the incumbent member of Congress.

Purchasing negativity: public opinion on "Super PAC" advertisements during the 2012 American presidential election

This major research paper is a qualitative study of American “Super PAC” advertising during the 2012 American presidential election. Super PACs, a type of “political action committee,” have the ability to collect unlimited funds to advertise on behalf of candidates and parties. Super PACs have attracted criticism from scholars due to the Super PACs’ negativity against opposing candidates. Using Albert Bandura‘s Social Cognitive Theory of Mass Communication, and existing literature on political advertising, this study explores public opinion on negative television commercials. It employs data collected by The Super PAC App – a mobile application that recorded individual reactions to political advertising. It also employs qualitative content analysis on 20 negative Super PAC advertisements using codes created by political scientist John Geer. The results suggest that users of the App generally disliked negative Super PAC advertisements. Furthermore, the results indicate there are certain characteristics within negative advertisements that make them more liked or disliked by users of the App.

Purchasing negativity: public opinion on "Super PAC" advertisements during the 2012 American presidential election

This major research paper is a qualitative study of American “Super PAC” advertising during the 2012 American presidential election. Super PACs, a type of “political action committee,” have the ability to collect unlimited funds to advertise on behalf of candidates and parties. Super PACs have attracted criticism from scholars due to the Super PACs’ negativity against opposing candidates. Using Albert Bandura‘s Social Cognitive Theory of Mass Communication, and existing literature on political advertising, this study explores public opinion on negative television commercials. It employs data collected by The Super PAC App – a mobile application that recorded individual reactions to political advertising. It also employs qualitative content analysis on 20 negative Super PAC advertisements using codes created by political scientist John Geer. The results suggest that users of the App generally disliked negative Super PAC advertisements. Furthermore, the results indicate there are certain characteristics within negative advertisements that make them more liked or disliked by users of the App.

Political Campaigning by Super PACs in the Computer Age

Video communication during political campaigns is undertaken on television and on the internet. The landscape of videos on television is familiar to all – a sprawling field of brief ads. The differences between television and the Internet mean that different sources of video communication might be favored depending on the medium. In this chapter, the sources of the most popular videos in contemporary political campaigns on the internet will be examined. Specifically, the study examines the sources of the most visible campaign videos on YouTube during the 2018 Senate elections in the United States. Special attention is paid to the relative prominence of Super PACs as a source of campaign videos.