Public Financing: What's the Return on Investment at the Voting Booth?
The key discussion topic for our conference in July was a big one: “How do we restore voters’ faith in elections and get them back to the polls?” Part of the answer may well be encouraging more voters to invest in candidates by contributing to their campaigns, according to research presented by John Mollenkopf, distinguished professor of Political Science and Sociology and the director of the Center for Urban Research at the CUNY Graduate Center.
Mollenkopf’s research showed that registered voters who contributed to a 2013 New York City campaign were far more likely to vote in those elections than voters who did not make a contribution. Indeed, in the Democratic primary that year, registered voters who made a contribution were nearly three times as likely to vote.
“Clearly, the act of contributing is an extension of political engagement,” Mollenkopf said. “It’s something that people do on top of bothering to go to the polls. The very substantial public match really incentivizes people to contribute and therefore, importantly, incentivizes participation in the political process.”
This suggests encouraging more people to contribute is a possible response to the trend towards lower voter turnout rates in New York City and elsewhere. Through the city’s voluntary matching funds program, which provides public funds for the first $175 a city resident contributes, a $10 contribution is worth $70 to the candidate. The matching funds helps give everyday citizens confidence that their voice will be heard in the election, not drowned out by big money. Mollenkopf’s research suggests convincing voters to make these small contributions also may help motivate them to cast a ballot.
Still, there is room for improvement. Mollenkopf noted that many contributors are not registered voters. Conversely, a significant number of individuals contribute to campaigns but do not turn up to the polls even though they are registered. Clearly, more can be done to ensure that these voters, in addition to their financial contributions, also contribute their votes.
“We clearly have a lot of work to deepen the culture of making political contributions in our African-American and Latino and immigrant neighborhoods,” Mollenkopf added. “To the extent that political contributions have weight in the political system, as we all know they do, we need to democratize the culture of giving to campaigns as well as extend the culture of political participation.”