Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence that financial support from the health care industry and related interest groups for the campaigns of members of Congress has on congressional voting outcomes in regard to health care related legislation. This study examines this through the lens of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The method used to analyze the voting behavior of fifteen members of the House of Representatives and fifteen Senators was through three multiple regression analyses. Each multiple regression analysis used a different combination of the following four independent variables to determine their level of influence on voting behavior; the House of the member of Congress, the party of the member of Congress, the amount of money received in the electoral process from pharmaceutical companies and associated interest groups, and the amount of money received in the electoral process from health maintenance organizations and associated interest groups. The results showed that the variable that overwhelmingly influenced voting behavior was the party of the member of Congress. The implications of this study are that financial support from the health care industry and related interest groups has a negligible effect on health care related voting behavior. More research must be done to determine whether this is an isolated instance or a part of a larger trend.

Advisor

Valdez, John

Department

Political Science

Publication Date

2020

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

Download

Share

COinS
 

© Copyright 2020 Edward F. Manoli