- Email: [email protected]
Gold-plated politics: The 1992 congressional races
488
Reviews
the UN helped promote negotiations to end apartheid and assisted in the first nonracial elections of April 1994. Each of the two sections of this volume has a good separate index, even though each appears to have been compiled by different people, because their formats and subject terms do not match. This arrangement is likely to cause initial confusion. It would have been more useful to have one combined index with standardized terms, perhaps with some designation of documents versus text entries. However, each index does include good crossreferences. Section one is written in typical dry UN style with numbered paragraphs. The narrative describes events but does not try to provide analysis. Considering the large general potential audience for this work, it is unfortunate that the UN did not use a more popular straightforward format. Besides the title page and one small paragraph in the introduction, the work lacks introductory matter concerning the format and arrangement of its contents. At the very least, a much more detailed title page would have been of great benefit. Given the great volume of material presented, including large lists of documents, it is surprising that the work lacks a list of previous UN bibliographies on South Africa. More attention might have been paid to the documents issued by the UN Unit on Apartheid (1967-1976) and its successor, the UN Centre Against Apartheid (1976-1994). For example, this reviewer compiled a Publications List and Comprehensive Indexes (1967-1982) for the Unit and Centre’s publications (UN Centre Against Apartheid, Notes and Documents Series, Special Issue, October 1983). Another example is: Sanctions Against South Africa:A Selective Bibliography, 1981-1986 (UN Centre Against Apartheid, Notes and Documents Series, 1987.) See also: Elna Schoeman, South Africa and the United Nations: A Select and Annotated Bibliography (Bibliographical series no. 8), Braamfontein: South African Institute of International Affairs, 1981, 244 p. Another important UN compilation is: E.S. Reddy, ed., The Struggle for Liberation in South Africa and International Solidarity: A Selection of Papers Published by the United Nations Centre Against Apartheid. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, ~1992. 330 p. These documents supplement and
do not overlap the work reviewed. To conclude, this is an impressive compilation that presents a wealth of information and primary documents. There are some minor shortcomings, especially the confusing format; however, the serious researcher will not be disappointed. ALFRED KAGAN University Library 328 University of Illinois Urbana, IL 61801 USA
Politics: The 1992 Congressional Races. By Dwight Morris and Murielle E. Gamache. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1994. 262~. ISBN 0-87187-998-O (paper) LCCN 93-50218 $21.95. Gold-Plated
Gold-Plated Politics compares campaign expenditures in the 1992 congressional election cycle with those in the 1990 election round. Candidates in 1992 were contending with redistricting, antiincumbent sentiment, and campaign reform proposals. The authors, hypothesizing that the incumbents would alter their spending habits from the 1990 races, summarized the (FEC) Federal Election Commission reports for 933 candidates covering 524,024 different expenditures. The reports covered expenditures during the period 1991 to December 31, 1992 for candidates for the House and 1987 to 1992 for candidates for the Senate. Extracted from a database compiled from campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Gold-Pluted Politics is a condensed edition of Handbook of Campaign Spending: Money in the 1992 Congressional Ruces [ 11. Campaign spending data were allocated to the following categories: (I) overhead, including furniture, taxes, travel; (2) fund-raising including events, direct mail, telemarketing; (3) polling; (4) advertising; (5) other campaign activities such as voter contact mail, campaign staff, and volunteers; (6) constituent gifts/ entertainment such as flowers and holiday cards; (7) donations to other campaigns, parties, and civic organizations; and (8) unitemized expenses (under $200). Several analytical chapters discuss some of the findings. One chapter outlines how the House freshmen were settling in, finding that the rookies quickly adapted to the permanent mode of nonstop
Reviews
489
fund raising. Morris and Gamache found that in 1992 outsiders’ spending for communicating with the voters differed very little from that of incumbents. Further, the incumbents’ war chests negated the efforts of their opponents, despite the supposed angry electorate. Despite the presence of more women candidates, the authors found that most money went to experienced politicians, regardless of gender, and that while spending for women candidates increased, the same percentage of incumbents lost to women as lost to men. Political consultants were again the real winners; media consultants (pollsters) billed campaigns 42 percent more than in 1990. The authors found that again in 1992: (a) television ad rates are not responsible for the rising costs of campaigns, (b) the two-party system is not being revived by the influx of money, and(c) that the rules on election contributions are not adequately enforced. Morris and Gamache present the data in 33 accompanying tables listing the top 15 or 25 candidate spenders or in some cases recipients in these spending categories. A very informative guide to the tables is provided, and a lucid name and organization index refers the user to both text and table references. Tables list ihe top 90 consultants employed by the candidates for management, direct mail, and promotional mail, and media advice. To investigate how campaign funds are actually spent, the authors set themselves several goals. The first was to determine what the funds bought and, thus, why political campaigns cost so much. The tables ranking those expenditures by category answer that question in great detail. Secondly, the authors describe cases in which campaign funds were used to build and maintain a permanent political machine, set up as a small business operation with expenditures for buildings, computers, investment portfolios, etc. Their study leads them to conclude that the flood of campaign funds into a smooth-running political organization enables incumbents to scare off challengers, although this factor is more important in Senate than House contests. Another chapter demonstrates that the burgeoning political consulting industry has a vested interest in free-flowing campaign funds. Finally, their work continues the research of the 1992 version for comparative purposes. This iteration of Gold-Plated Politics once again exemplifies the usefulness of making the Federal Election Commission’s data machine-readable and readily accessible to the public for analysis. A well thought-out contribution to the debate over campaign financing reform, this timely book is of interest both to students of the electoral process as well as to the general reader.
NOTES 1. Handbook
of Campaign
Spending:
Money
in the 1992 Congressional
Races
(Washington, DC: Congressional
Quarterly Books, 1994).
HELEN HEITMANN IVES American University Library American University Washington, DC 200161 USA
European
Environmental
Statistics Handbook. Compiled by Oksana Newman and Allan Foster. International, 1993.436~. ISBN 1-873477-60-O $90.00 and European EnvironSourcebook. Compiled by Oksana Newman and Allan Foster. London: Gale
London: Gale Research mental Information
Research
International,
1994. 358~. ISBN 1-873477-20-l. $128.00.
Two new works compiled by Oksana Newman and Allan Foster of the Manchester Business School provide easy access to information on the state of the European environment and environmental agencies operating in Europe. The first, the European Environmental Statistics Handbook, as a “comprehensive presentation of statistical materials drawn from governmental and private sources” (introduction) offers a wide range of environmental data for western Europe, as well as some global figures. Depending on the topic, the statistics generally date from the mid-1980s through 1991-1992. Selected tables give earlier data that is useful for comparison. The volume begins with a “Guide to the Subject Matter,” which briefly discusses the relationship between pollution and technology, economics, politics, and institutional issues providing a broad
Reviews
the UN helped promote negotiations to end apartheid and assisted in the first nonracial elections of April 1994. Each of the two sections of this volume has a good separate index, even though each appears to have been compiled by different people, because their formats and subject terms do not match. This arrangement is likely to cause initial confusion. It would have been more useful to have one combined index with standardized terms, perhaps with some designation of documents versus text entries. However, each index does include good crossreferences. Section one is written in typical dry UN style with numbered paragraphs. The narrative describes events but does not try to provide analysis. Considering the large general potential audience for this work, it is unfortunate that the UN did not use a more popular straightforward format. Besides the title page and one small paragraph in the introduction, the work lacks introductory matter concerning the format and arrangement of its contents. At the very least, a much more detailed title page would have been of great benefit. Given the great volume of material presented, including large lists of documents, it is surprising that the work lacks a list of previous UN bibliographies on South Africa. More attention might have been paid to the documents issued by the UN Unit on Apartheid (1967-1976) and its successor, the UN Centre Against Apartheid (1976-1994). For example, this reviewer compiled a Publications List and Comprehensive Indexes (1967-1982) for the Unit and Centre’s publications (UN Centre Against Apartheid, Notes and Documents Series, Special Issue, October 1983). Another example is: Sanctions Against South Africa:A Selective Bibliography, 1981-1986 (UN Centre Against Apartheid, Notes and Documents Series, 1987.) See also: Elna Schoeman, South Africa and the United Nations: A Select and Annotated Bibliography (Bibliographical series no. 8), Braamfontein: South African Institute of International Affairs, 1981, 244 p. Another important UN compilation is: E.S. Reddy, ed., The Struggle for Liberation in South Africa and International Solidarity: A Selection of Papers Published by the United Nations Centre Against Apartheid. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, ~1992. 330 p. These documents supplement and
do not overlap the work reviewed. To conclude, this is an impressive compilation that presents a wealth of information and primary documents. There are some minor shortcomings, especially the confusing format; however, the serious researcher will not be disappointed. ALFRED KAGAN University Library 328 University of Illinois Urbana, IL 61801 USA
Politics: The 1992 Congressional Races. By Dwight Morris and Murielle E. Gamache. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1994. 262~. ISBN 0-87187-998-O (paper) LCCN 93-50218 $21.95. Gold-Plated
Gold-Plated Politics compares campaign expenditures in the 1992 congressional election cycle with those in the 1990 election round. Candidates in 1992 were contending with redistricting, antiincumbent sentiment, and campaign reform proposals. The authors, hypothesizing that the incumbents would alter their spending habits from the 1990 races, summarized the (FEC) Federal Election Commission reports for 933 candidates covering 524,024 different expenditures. The reports covered expenditures during the period 1991 to December 31, 1992 for candidates for the House and 1987 to 1992 for candidates for the Senate. Extracted from a database compiled from campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Gold-Pluted Politics is a condensed edition of Handbook of Campaign Spending: Money in the 1992 Congressional Ruces [ 11. Campaign spending data were allocated to the following categories: (I) overhead, including furniture, taxes, travel; (2) fund-raising including events, direct mail, telemarketing; (3) polling; (4) advertising; (5) other campaign activities such as voter contact mail, campaign staff, and volunteers; (6) constituent gifts/ entertainment such as flowers and holiday cards; (7) donations to other campaigns, parties, and civic organizations; and (8) unitemized expenses (under $200). Several analytical chapters discuss some of the findings. One chapter outlines how the House freshmen were settling in, finding that the rookies quickly adapted to the permanent mode of nonstop
Reviews
489
fund raising. Morris and Gamache found that in 1992 outsiders’ spending for communicating with the voters differed very little from that of incumbents. Further, the incumbents’ war chests negated the efforts of their opponents, despite the supposed angry electorate. Despite the presence of more women candidates, the authors found that most money went to experienced politicians, regardless of gender, and that while spending for women candidates increased, the same percentage of incumbents lost to women as lost to men. Political consultants were again the real winners; media consultants (pollsters) billed campaigns 42 percent more than in 1990. The authors found that again in 1992: (a) television ad rates are not responsible for the rising costs of campaigns, (b) the two-party system is not being revived by the influx of money, and(c) that the rules on election contributions are not adequately enforced. Morris and Gamache present the data in 33 accompanying tables listing the top 15 or 25 candidate spenders or in some cases recipients in these spending categories. A very informative guide to the tables is provided, and a lucid name and organization index refers the user to both text and table references. Tables list ihe top 90 consultants employed by the candidates for management, direct mail, and promotional mail, and media advice. To investigate how campaign funds are actually spent, the authors set themselves several goals. The first was to determine what the funds bought and, thus, why political campaigns cost so much. The tables ranking those expenditures by category answer that question in great detail. Secondly, the authors describe cases in which campaign funds were used to build and maintain a permanent political machine, set up as a small business operation with expenditures for buildings, computers, investment portfolios, etc. Their study leads them to conclude that the flood of campaign funds into a smooth-running political organization enables incumbents to scare off challengers, although this factor is more important in Senate than House contests. Another chapter demonstrates that the burgeoning political consulting industry has a vested interest in free-flowing campaign funds. Finally, their work continues the research of the 1992 version for comparative purposes. This iteration of Gold-Plated Politics once again exemplifies the usefulness of making the Federal Election Commission’s data machine-readable and readily accessible to the public for analysis. A well thought-out contribution to the debate over campaign financing reform, this timely book is of interest both to students of the electoral process as well as to the general reader.
NOTES 1. Handbook
of Campaign
Spending:
Money
in the 1992 Congressional
Races
(Washington, DC: Congressional
Quarterly Books, 1994).
HELEN HEITMANN IVES American University Library American University Washington, DC 200161 USA
European
Environmental
Statistics Handbook. Compiled by Oksana Newman and Allan Foster. International, 1993.436~. ISBN 1-873477-60-O $90.00 and European EnvironSourcebook. Compiled by Oksana Newman and Allan Foster. London: Gale
London: Gale Research mental Information
Research
International,
1994. 358~. ISBN 1-873477-20-l. $128.00.
Two new works compiled by Oksana Newman and Allan Foster of the Manchester Business School provide easy access to information on the state of the European environment and environmental agencies operating in Europe. The first, the European Environmental Statistics Handbook, as a “comprehensive presentation of statistical materials drawn from governmental and private sources” (introduction) offers a wide range of environmental data for western Europe, as well as some global figures. Depending on the topic, the statistics generally date from the mid-1980s through 1991-1992. Selected tables give earlier data that is useful for comparison. The volume begins with a “Guide to the Subject Matter,” which briefly discusses the relationship between pollution and technology, economics, politics, and institutional issues providing a broad