A simple explanation for why campaign expenditures are increasing: The government is getting bigger

This paper shows that most of the large recent increases in campaign spendi ng for federal and state offices can be explained by higher government spen ding. This result holds for both federal and state legislative campaigns an d gubernatorial races and across many different specifications. The irony i s that those who seem most concerned about the level of campaign expenditur es are also frequently the ones who most strongly support increasing the si ze of government. Evidence is also examined on whether it is the compositio n and not just the level of expenditures that determines campaign expenditu res and whether higher government expenditures similarly results in more ca ndidates competing for office. Finally, by focusing on the symptoms and not the root causes of ever higher campaign expenditures, this paper argues th at the current public policy debate risks changing the form in which paymen ts are made rather than actually restricting the level of competition.