E-Disclosure of Campaign Finance Information

In the United States, disclosure has long been a primary tool for fighting the corruptive influence of money in politics. Recent scandals have helped place disclosure back on the agenda of many the 50 states. Because of the move to electronic governance, many new laws regulating disclosure have taken the form of e-disclosure. Agenda setting theory suggests that interest groups, political context, policy entrepreneurs, focusing events, and state resources influence the ability of issues to reach the institutional agenda (Baumgartner & Jones, 1993; Kingdon 1995). This study uses panel corrected cross-sectional time series analysis to explore which of these factors are motivating increased interest in e-disclosure laws at the state level from 2005-2009. The number of electronic filing laws proposed in state legislatures is the dependent variable (National Council of State Legislatures). © 2012, IGI Global