DOI: 10.3886/icpsr08939.v1
title: Campaign Expenditures in the United States, 1985-1986: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Data
title: Version 1

description: These data 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 who are required to file under the 
 federal election laws. The files are essentially copies of the FEC's 
 on-line computer files for the 1985-1986 election cycle. The Candidate 
 Master File (Part 1) contains a record for each registered candidate 
 for federal office. It includes the candidate's name, address, party 
 affiliation, incumbent/challenger status, the identification number of 
 the principal campaign committee, the office sought, and the election 
 year. The Committee Master File (Part 2) contains a record for each 
 registered committee for federal office. The information provided 
 includes the committee's identification number, name, address, 
 treasurer's name, committee designation and type, party affiliation, 
 report filing frequency, special interest group category and connected 
 organization's name, and multicandidate committee status. The Itemized 
 PAC Contribution File (Part 3) presents all transactions (contributions 
 or disbursements) by a political committee for or on behalf of/in 
 opposition to a candidate for federal office or his/her authorized 
 committee occurring during the 1985-1986 election cycle. Items include 
 whether the transaction was made in connection with a 1985-1986 
 primary, general, special or runoff election, or with a prior or future 
 election, the date and amount of transaction, and identification number 
 of the filer on whose behalf the transaction took place. The Detailed 
 Report File (Part 4) contains one record for each separate reporting 
 period for each FEC committee and, as such, is the source for 
 longitudinal information about committee financial activity during the 
 1985-1986 election cycle. Information presented in the file includes 
 the political committee identification number, the report year and 
 type, the time period covered by the report, total receipts and 
 disbursements, beginning and end cash balances, debts owed by and to 
 the committee, individual, political, and candidate contributions, 
 transfers from affiliated committees, loans received and payments made, 
and refunds.
description: Complete information is provided for all members of the 
sampling universe.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Candidate Master Data
DS2: Committee Master Data
DS3: Itemized PAC Contribution Data
DS4: Detailed Report Data
description: (1) All candidates for federal office registered with the 
 FEC under the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). (2) All political 
 committees, unauthorized delegate filers, independent expenditure 
 filers, and communications cost filers registered. (3) All transactions 
and reports occurring during the 1985-1986 election cycle.
description: The records in Parts 3 and 4 are derived from original 
 filings and incorporate changes from amendments to reports received by 
 the FEC prior to December 1987. The Candidate and Committee Master 
 Files (Parts 1 and 2) are FEC reference files, and are needed to find 
 the name of each committee or candidate associated with the 
identification numbers that appear in Parts 3 and 4.