Ideology, Electoral Incentives, PAC Contributions, and the Agricultural Act of 2014

This paper examines the effects of interest group Political Action Committee (PAC) spending on the passage of the Agricultural Act of 2014. I use a mixed-process model to examine correlations between ideology, constituent characteristics, and PAC contributions by agricultural and environmental interests and the probability that a legislator voted in favor of the act. I find a positive association between agricultural and environmental PAC contributions and the probability that a legislator voted in favor of the act. Further, I find that legislators representing relatively large rural populations were more likely to vote in favor of the act.