Money In the House: Campaign Funds and Congressional Party Politics (Transforming American Politics)

This book provides a compelling and in-depth examination of how the drive to raise campaign money has come to dominate congressional party politics. Author Marian Currinder examines the rise of internal fundraising as part of a broader campaign finance and institutional reform process that encourages ambitious members to raise and contribute money to the party and its candidates. Today, fundraising success is largely equated with electoral success; the party that raises the most money is at a distinct advantage. If party leaders require their ambitious members to service the financial needs of the party and its political candidates in order to advance in the chamber, the party as a whole benefits from its members’ individual pursuits. Currinder argues that the new “rule of money” is fundamentally altering the House.

Focusing on internal fundraising as a way to understand the broader consequences of campaign finance activities in Congress, Currinder offers a provocative and distinctive look at how money has transformed the way in which members and their parties pursue power.

Contents

1. Introduction: Redistributing Campaign Funds and Congressional Party Politics
2. Pursuing Ambition in a Parties Framework
3. The 1970s Reform Era: The Money Chase Begins
4. The 1980s: New Directions in Campaign Funding
5. A Republican Revolution in Politics and Money
6. Redistributing Campaign Money in a New Era