Content area
Abstract
This study examines the impact of the largest corporate network in Nebraska on Unicameral elections and roll call votes. A corporate network is a set of corporations connected by directorship exchanges. The study traces the impact of the money donated by these corporations as it flows through the political process, ending with senators' recorded votes. The second goal is to determine the influence of various concepts regarding corporations connected to each other on the questions posed. The study assumes that the decision steps examined are sequential in nature, and not simultaneous.
The study's analysis is split into four chapters. The analysis begins with a general introduction in one chapter. A second chapter is devoted to an introduction to the network measures used in the analysis. The dissertation concludes with a chapter summarizing the main conclusion.
The first analysis chapter examines why and how much corporations donate to campaigns. These questions are examined using regression analysis. The second examines the similarity of donations made by the connected corporations. The concept of similarity is first examined through matrix algebra and then through regression techniques. The third examines the impact of money on election results. This is done through regression techniques. The fourth examines the impact of money on senators' unicameral votes. This is done through regression techniques recorded votes.
Whenever possible the major focus of the analysis is to examine the usefulness of network related concepts, both previously available and newly created, in explaining the questions delineated above.
The main conclusion of the study is that the relative amount of spending by a candidate is important in gaining election. However, money donated does not buy senators' votes. Finally, several network concepts were found to be important in explaining the questions in the first two analysis chapters.
