From Broadcasting to Narrowcasting: The Emerging Challenge for Campaign Finance Law

Abstract

The Article introduces and analyzes the campaign finance implications of a recent trend in political campaigning that the Article terms political narrowcasting. Using sophisticated databases of microlevel data on potential voters, political actors have turned increasingly to targeted face-to-face outreach that, at least in the case of nonconnected groups, escapes many campaign finance restrictions. Political narrowcasting not only avoids much campaign finance regulation, it also challenges the usual assumptions underpinning campaign finance regulation. In fact, the Article suggests that political narrowcasting by nonconnected groups may be a welcome development for its encouragement of participatory politics.

Keywords: political campaigning, narrowcasting, microtargeting, campaign finance, 527s, political committees, 2004 elections

JEL Classification: K10