NRA Efficacy

In class, we talked about factors that lead to individuals or interest groups contributing to a candidate. This Washington post article shows the NRA's endorsement in congressional candidates and the influence its contribution had on the election results.

"A powerhouse in elections, the NRA has spent nearly $75 million on campaigns in the past 20 years. Lawmakers have come to fear the group's motivated 4 million members, many of whom make gun rights a deciding factor in their vote."

When an individual or interest group is maximizing expected utility, the three factors affecting his/its contribution are the marginal utility of additional consumption expenditures, the difference in utility between the two candidates, and the probability that the preferred candidate will be elected if a person/interest group contributes. According to the article, the latter two factors are very high for the NRA. The republican party is typically in favor of gun rights while the democratic party favors more gun control, so here there is a large difference in utility for the NRA. Of the candidates endorsed by the interest group, 80% won the election, showing a rather high marginal impact for its contributions.