“Old Money: Campaign Finance and Gerontocracy in the United States”
Join the Stone Working Group on Inequality and Political Economy (SWIPE) and the Department of Political Science as we host Jake Grumbach, an associate professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. Grumbach studies the political economy of the United States, with interests in democratic institutions, labor, federalism, racial and economic inequality, and statistical methods. His book, Laboratories Against Democracy, investigates the causes and consequences of the nationalization of state politics. This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science.
Before graduate school, Grumbach earned a B.A. from Columbia University and worked as a public health researcher. Outside of academia, he’s a nerd for 70s funk/soul and 90s hip hop, as well as a Warriors fan.
Abstract: “Compared to those of other countries, politicians in the United States are among the oldest. We investigate the role of money in politics in maintaining age inequality in political influence and office-holding. Using record linkage, we create a novel dataset that combines administrative data on the age of voters, donors, and candidates. Descriptively, we find that the median dollar in the U.S. campaign finance system comes from a 66-year-old donor—significantly older than the median voter, candidate, or elected official—and that older donors are much more ideologically conservative than younger donors. We then investigate whether candidate age matters to donors. Results from within-district and within-donor analyses suggest that individuals are more likely to donate and donate more to candidates closer to their age. We conclude with a discussion of how various campaign finance policies might affect the age distribution of money in politics.”
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If you have any questions or require accommodations, please contact Nicole.
