Cash Flows: Leadership PACs in the U. S. Congress from 1992 - 2008

The Republican leadership in the U.S. Congress pursued aggressive strategies of partisan discipline from 1994-2006, during which they held the majority of seats in the House of Representatives. Anecdotally, the Republican leadership built tight donor networks, demanding and rewarding partisan loyalty from rank and file elected officials. This paper uses Social Network Analysis to explore the structure of those relationships over time and compare them to the Democrats. Specifically, I examine campaign donations from and between leadership political action committees in the U.S. Congress from 1992-2008.