Driving Support: Workers, PACs, and Congressional Support of the Auto Industry
The presence of auto workers in a congressional district, not just PAC contributions, strongly predicts legislative support for auto industry bailouts and targeted aid, but this influence does not extend to broader legislation.
Why It Matters
The publication begins with a motivating question: How and when does the auto industry garner political support in Congress, and what roles do the presence of auto workers and PAC contributions play in influencing legislative votes on industry-related bills?
Its central contribution is to show that the presence of auto workers in a congressional district, not just PAC contributions, strongly predicts legislative support for auto industry bailouts and targeted aid, but this influence does not extend to broader legislation.
It matters because the findings connect institutional choices to the way authority, public responsibility, and political behavior are experienced in practice.
Key Findings
- The presence of auto workers in a congressional district is strongly associated with support for the 2008 auto bailout and the 2009 cash for clunkers program, even after controlling for ideology and PAC contributions.
- PAC contributions from the Big Three automakers and the AFL-CIO are also associated with support for these bills, but the effect of worker presence is independent and robust.
- For over 250 other bills on which the auto industry lobbied or took a public position, there is no systematic relationship between worker presence or PAC contributions and legislative support.
- Industry influence is strongest on particularistic, industry-specific legislation and is attenuated on broader bills where other interests are involved.
Research Design
- Design
- Article
- Data
- US Census data on auto industry employment by county and congressional district; Center for Responsive Politics data on PAC contributions; MapLight data on industry public positions on legislation; Lobbying reports from the Center for Responsive Politics
- Geography
- United States (U.S. House of Representatives districts)
- Time Period
- 2008–2009 (main analysis); 110th and 111th Congresses
- Unit of Analysis
- U.S. House member/district roll call vote
- Methods
- Quantitative analysis of House roll call votes on the 2008 auto bailout and 2009 cash for clunkers program.; Logistic regression models controlling for party, ideology, district partisanship, and PAC contributions.; Analysis of over 250 bills on which the auto industry lobbied or took a public position, using regression models to test associations with worker presence and PAC contributions.
Full Abstract
In 2008 and 2009, the House of Representatives directed billions of dollars to the auto industry by passing a bailout and the “cash for clunkers” program. Moving beyond corporate influence via campaign contributions, we demonstrate that the presence of auto workers in a district strongly predicts legislative support for both bills. In addition to this critical legislation, we also analyze over 250 bills on which the auto industry either lobbied or took a public position. We find no patterns relating a district’s workers or corporate campaign contributions to these votes on broader legislation where other groups, such as environmental advocates or labor unions, are at the table. Instead, the auto industry garners consistent support only on quasi-private, particularistic legislation. Thus, we contend that on particularistic legislation the presence of workers (not just campaign contributions) drives legislative support; however, when legislators expand the scope of conflict, the influence of a single industry is attentuated by other interests.
Citation
Business and Politics 15 (2): 137-162.
- Venue
- Business and Politics
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 137–162
- DOI
- 10.1515/bap-2013-0005