Campaign Expenditures in the United States, 1995-1996: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Data (ICPSR 4129)
Version Date: Mar 30, 2006 View help for published
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Federal Election Commission
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https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR04129.v1
Version V1
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These data, comprising five separate files, are made available by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and are taken directly from campaign finance reports filed by candidates, political committees, and others required to file under the federal election laws for the 1995-1996 election cycle. Part 1, Candidate Master File, contains a record for every registered candidate for federal office. Each of these records includes the candidate's name, identification number, address, party affiliation, incumbent/challenger status, and the identification number of the candidate's principal campaign committee. Part 2, Committee Master File, includes a record for every registered political committee, unauthorized delegate filer, independent expenditure filer, and communication cost filer. Included in this file is the identification number, name, address, treasurer's name, party affiliation, report filing frequency, and special interest group category of each of these entities. Part 3, Itemized Record of Contributions to/Disbursements on Behalf of Candidates, comprises records of reported contributions to candidates and disbursements on behalf of candidates by political committees, unauthorized delegate filers, independent expenditure filers, and communication cost filers. Information in this file includes the identification number of the contributing/disbursing entity, type of report, and the date, type, and amount of each transaction. Part 4, Itemized Record of Individual/Candidate Contributions, furnishes records of receipts of contributions from individuals, from candidates to their own campaigns, and disbursements to refund contributions to individuals, as reported by candidates and their committees, other political committees, and persons making independent expenditures. Part 4 also covers the tracking of contributions that individuals earmarked for a specific candidate as they proceeded through intermediaries registered with the FEC. Information in this file includes the identification number of the filer, report type, transaction type, date and amount of the transaction, and the name, address, and occupation of the contributor. Part 5, Itemized Record of Miscellaneous Transactions, contains all transactions (contribution, transfers, etc., among federal committees), all data in the itemized committee contributions file, plus PAC contributions to party committees, party transfers from state committee to state committee, and party transfers from national committee to state committee.
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(1) Researchers using these data should be aware that adjustments continue to be made to this file by the FEC. Please go to the FEC Web site (ftp://ftp.fec.gov/FEC/) to look for any updated files. This ICPSR version of the file was downloaded on 11/02/2004. (2) Starting in 1989-1990, the Detailed Report File began being released by the FEC as a separate study. It was formerly included as part of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) data.
Universe View help for Universe
Part 1, Candidate Master Data: All candidates for federal office registered under the Federal Election Campaign Act (information generally taken from FEC Form 2). Part 2, Committee Master File: All registered political committees, unauthorized delegate filers, independent expenditure filers, and communication cost filers (information generally taken from FEC Form 1). Part 3, Itemized Record of Contributions to/Disbursements on Behalf of Candidates: All contributions to candidates and disbursements supporting or opposing candidates reported by political committees (information taken from FEC Forms 3, 3X, or 3P, Schedule A, B, E, F, A-P, B-P, C-P, D-P, or G-P), persons making independent expenditures (information from FEC Form 5), and communication cost filers (information from FEC Form 7). Part 4, Itemized Record of Individual/Candidate Contributions: All receipts of contributions from individuals or from candidates to their campaigns, disbursements to refund contributions to individuals, and the tracking of contributions that individuals earmarked for a specific candidate as they proceeded through intermediaries registered with the FEC. The transactions in Part 4 were reported by candidates and their committees (FEC Form 3 or 3P, Schedule A, B, A-P, or B-P), other political committees (FEC Form 3 or 3X, Schedule A or B), and persons making independent expenditures (FEC Form 5). Part 5, Itemized Record (Miscellaneous Transactions): All transactions (contributions, transfers, etc.) among federal committees. It contains all data in the itemized committee contributions file plus PAC contributions to party committees, party transfers from state committee to state committee, and party transfers from national committee to state committee.
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Federal Election Commission forms filled out by filers
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2005-07-06
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- Federal Election Commission. CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURES IN THE UNITED STATES, 1995-1996: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA) DATA. ICPSR04129-v1. Washington, DC: Federal Election Commission [producer], 2003. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2005-07-06. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR04129.v1
2006-03-30 File CB04129-ALL.PDF was removed from any previous datasets and flagged as a study-level file, so that it will accompany all downloads.
Notes
These data are freely available to data users at ICPSR member institutions. The curation and dissemination of this study are provided by the institutional members of ICPSR. How do I access ICPSR data if I am not at a member institution?