POLITICAL-ACTION COMMITTEE CONTRIBUTIONS AND US CONGRESSIONAL VOTING ON SUGAR LEGISLATION

This study examines the simultaneous relationship between Political Ac tion Committee (PAC) contributions and congressional votes on U.S. sug ar legislation. We extend the conventional analysis by specifying a th ree-equation system in which each congressman's vote depends on contri butions received from pro-sugar and anti-sugar coalitions, while the p ropensity of each of these coalitions to contribute depends simultaneo usly on the congressman's anticipated voting decision and the contribu tions of the opposing coalition. Logrolling is also accommodated by co nsidering the effect that contributions from other coalitions have had on voting decisions. We find evidence of a three-way linkage between votes and competing campaign contributions and conclude that the effec tiveness of PAC contributions reflects the dominance of political pres sure over ideological concerns.