Brought to you by Democracy Reform Oregon
Democracy Reform Oregon is a non-partisan, non-profit group that works to increase accountability and participation in politics in Oregon. Please note that Democracy Reform Oregon changed its name from the Money in Politics Research Action Project in 2007.
There are two main categories of political spending--money spent on lobbying and money spent on political campaigns.
In lobbying, there are two main players, the lobbyist individual and the lobbyist employer. The lobbyist employer often is an organization or industry, and, the lobbyist employers that have the most money to employ the most lobbyists, also have the most influence over legislators and how they vote to determine our laws.
In political campaigns, there are also two main players--individuals and groups, each with various special interests. Contributions to political campaigns can be given directly to political candidates, or they can be given to political aciton committees (or PACs), which are comprised of a variety of groups that have a similar interest in electing a candidate who will support their issues. Just as in the lobbying system, the candidates who receive the most money have the most political influence and the highest probability of being elected.