Tg. Shields et Rk. Goidel, Who contributes? Checkbook participation, class biases, and the impact of legal reforms, 1952-1994, AM POLIT Q, 28(2), 2000, pp. 216-233
The changing demographic trends of voter turnout have been a Focus of great
debate. Nevertheless less, voter turnout is only one avenue through which
citizens participate in electoral politics. Although the number of citizens
voting may have declined since the 1960s, other forms of participation suc
h as financial contributions, have increased in terms of the number of citi
zens engaging in such activity. We find that although class biases in finan
cial conditions are great within each election, these biases demonstrate no
consistent trend toward increased or decreased class biases in financial c
ontributions. The extent to which any specific election is skewed along eco
nomic class lines results largely from the behavior of those at the highest
income levels. Finally, we find little empirical support that legal reform
s designed to increase the base of campaign contributions have had any sign
ificant impact on who contributes.