THE IMPACT OF PUBLIC FINANCING ON ELECTORAL COMPETITIVENESS - EVIDENCE FROM WISCONSIN, 1964-1990

Public financing schemes are often promoted as means of increasing the competitiveness of legislative elections and changing the way that ca ndidates raise campaign funds. We investigate the impact that Wisconsi n's system of public financing of state legislative elections, establi shed in 1977, has had on these variables. Having compared trends in th e pre- and postreform period, we find no evidence that providing chall engers with public money has made elections more competitive, although it has narrowed the spending gap between incumbents and challengers. Most important, public financing has not increased the number of chall engers, as incumbents increasingly face no opposition at all. We argue that challengers consider the overall strategic environment, and not just the question of fundraising, when making the initial decision to run. The availability of public money does little to encourage challen ges to safe incumbents. While some changes in Wisconsin's system might marginally increase the likelihood of challenges, we conclude that pu blic funding, by itself, cannot significantly change the competitivene ss of legislative elections.