Does Public Disclosure Chill Campaign Contributions?

The argument that disclosure requirements chill political speech and discourage campaign contributions has been countered by a study conducted by researchers from the University of Southern California law school and the University of Connecticut.

In the study of 175,000 individual contributions to campaigns for governor and state legislatures from 2000‒2008, the researchers compared the contributions in 14 states that strengthened their disclosure rules to a control group of five states that did not. The objective was to test the theory that individuals’ contributions go down as disclosure regulations are tightened and the identity of contributors and amounts of contributions can face public scrutiny.

“We find that contributors to state-level campaigns opt out to a very small degree in the wake of increased contribution visibility,” Abby Wood and Douglas M. Spencer write. “On average, contributors are about two to five percentage points less likely to contribute in subsequent elections in states that increase the public visibility of campaign contributions relative to contributors in states that do not change their disclosure laws or practice” over the same period.

Of course, two to five percentage points might not mean much to academics, but that range is often the margin of victory or defeat for state candidates. And, though the impact may seem minor, opponents of disclosure rules will still argue that such laws violate First Amendment protections of anonymous speech.

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Contact Hannah Wesolowski, associate director, political engagement.