On Jul 11, 2006, at 1:52 PM, Jerry Monaco wrote:
> Doug or anyone else on this list,
>
> I was wondering if anyone has read _Golden Rule : The Investment
> Theory of Party Competition and the Logic of Money-Driven Political
> Systems_ by Thomas Ferguson.
>
> If so what do you think of it? Any criticisms?
I haven't read the book, but I've read a lot of Ferguson's other stuff, and am familiar with his argument. I think he underestimates the degree to which big givers follow the polls; in his model, the givers lead the electorate. There was a big shift in campaign contribs to the Republicans *after* the 1994 sweep, and previously Democratic houses like Goldman Sachs went Republican in the early Bush years (i.e., not in 1998 or 1999).
Doug