During each Election Cycle, the City of Seattle, Washington, were I lived from August 1965 to December 1999, Distributes Four $25 Vouchers to every Registered Voter, which may be Donated to and Redeemed by Campaigns for City Office. Through a Difference-in-Differences Research Design, they Study the Causal Effect of Seattle’s Program on Various Outcomes, in City Council Elections, in the First Two Cycles after Implementation, with Two Comparison Groups drawn from other Cities in and Washington. They found that the Program led to an approximately 62%-100% Increase in Total Contributions and a 400% Increase in Number of Unique Donors. The Effects on Dollars and Donors are entirely Driven by Small Donors, defined as those who Contribute less than $200 to a Campaign. They found Statistically Insignificant Evidence of Decreases in Private Donations, although their Point estimates suggest Moderate-to-Substantial Crowd-Out Ratios. They further show that the Program led to a 76%-86% Increase in Candidates for City Council. These Results provide some of the First Causal Evidence on the Effect of Decentralized Public Campaign Ffinance Schemes, while also speaking to Broader Questions Measuring the Effects of Money in Politics, Campaign Regulation, and the Effects of Public Funds on Private Giving.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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