Replication Data for: Policy Feedback and the Polarization of Interest Groups

We use the case of education interest groups to examine how and when the passage of new state policies leads interest groups to polarize in their support for political parties. Using over 145,000 campaign contributions from all 50 states from 2000 to 2017, we test whether the passage of private school choice, charter laws, and labor retrenchment policies led to the polarization of education interest groups over time. In 2000, teachers unions were the dominant group and mostly aligned with Democrats. Meanwhile, Republicans lacked support from any education groups. This pattern was consistent across states. Over time, coalitions in some states became polarized, meaning unions grew even more aligned with Democrats and reform groups with Republicans, while other states did not experience such polarization. We show that private school choice programs, but not labor retrenchment or charter laws, contributed to this changing partisan alignment. Our findings demonstrate that policy feedback can shape both the electoral mobilization and party alignments of interest groups.

本研究以教育利益集团（education interest groups）为研究案例，考察州级新政策的出台会以何种方式、在何时促使利益集团在政党支持立场上产生极化现象。本研究采用2000年至2017年间全美50个州的逾14.5万笔竞选捐款数据，检验私立学校择校政策（private school choice）、特许学校法案（charter laws）以及劳工紧缩政策（labor retrenchment）的出台是否会随时间推移引发教育利益集团的立场极化。2000年时，教师工会是占据主导地位的教育利益集团，且大多与民主党（Democrats）阵营保持一致；与此同时，共和党（Republicans）未获得任何教育利益集团的支持，这一态势在全美各州均普遍存在。随着时间推移，部分州的教育利益联盟出现了立场极化：教师工会进一步向民主党靠拢，而教育改革团体则转向支持共和党；其余各州则未出现此类极化现象。研究表明，唯有私立学校择校政策推动了这种党派支持立场的转变，劳工紧缩政策与特许学校法案均未产生此类影响。本研究结果证实，政策反馈（policy feedback）效应能够同时影响利益集团的选举动员（electoral mobilization）能力与政党结盟倾向。