WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT:
INFORMATION EXCHANGE AND EXTENDED
PARTY NETWORKS
Gregory Koger
University of Montana
gregory.## email not listed ##
Seth Masket
University of Denver
## email not listed ##
Hans Noel
UCLA and Princeton
## email not listed ##
Draft version. Comments are welcome, citations are premature.
ABSTRACT
What is a party? We argue that the formal party apparatus is just a
portion of an extended network of interest groups, media, 527s, and candidates.
We systematically measure a portion of this network by tracking transfers of
names between different actors. Our analysis reveals two distinct and polarized
networks corresponding to a more liberal Democratic group and a more
conservative Republican group. Formal party organizations, like the DNC and
RNC, tend to receive information within their respective networks, which
suggests that other groups serve to funnel information toward the formal party.
This paper was prepared for the 2005 Meeting of the American Political Science
Association, Washington D.C. We thank Michael Heaney, Barbara Sinclair, and
John Zaller for their assistance.