Optimally allocating campaign expenditures

✍ Scribed by Stuart S. Nagel

• Publisher: Springer US
• Year: 1981
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 273 KB
• Volume: 36
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0048-5829
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00163779

✦ Synopsis

The purpose of this note is to present some general principles with regard to rationally allocating campaign expenditures across activities and places. The article is particularly concerned with describing how modern methods of operations research and management science can be used to make campaign allocations more effective in winning votes and more efficient in saving money, while at the same time satisfying legal and political constraints.

These methods are applicable at the national, state, or local level. National and statewide campaign committees, however, may be in the best position to put these methods to good use since they generally have better access to a broader data base, more knowledgeable researchers, and better research facilities. The article avoids technical discussion as much as possible by approaching the subject from a consumer's perspective rather than from the perspective of one who is likely to be doing the data gathering and processing.