DOI: 10.3886/icpsr04129.v1
title: Campaign Expenditures in the United States, 1995-1996: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Data
title: Version 1

description: 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.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Candidate Master File
DS2: Committee Master File
DS3: Itemized Record of Contributions to/Disbursements on Behalf of Candidates
DS4: Itemized Record of Individual/Candidate Contributions
DS5: Itemized Record of Miscellaneous Transactions
description: 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.
description: (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.