Research Reports
Featured Research Reports
Democracy North Carolina is recognized nationwide for our reliable non-partisan research into money in politics, voter participation and political reform. Currently featured reports include:
July 2010: Analysis of Fundraising by North Carolina Candidates for US House of Representatives. Illustrates how Congressional incumbents hold a 5-to-1 advantage over their challengers when it comes to raising campaign cash.
June 2010: Statement from Bob Hall on Video Poker Sweepstakes. Includes links to prior research on the links between the video poker industry and political corruption.
April 2010: Fetzer/Sen. Burr Caught Misleading Public About Wall Street Fundraising. An anaylsis of contributions from the financial services industry to North Carolina's top elected officials.
March 2010: The success of North Carolina’s judicial campaign reform program stands in sharp contrast to the stream of negative news about campaign finance abuses and pay-to-play politics.
March 2010 - NC Counties at the Highest Risk of Losing Funds Because of a Census Undercount: New analysis shows that one fourth of North Carolina’s counties are at a high risk of losing millions of dollars in future federal funding.
January 2010 - New Analysis Shows Dramatic Shifts in NC Voters Over Past Decade: Learn how the voting population in North Carolina has changed since 2000.
December 2009 - Democracy NC Announces Sunshine Awards: Thirty-two state legislators are honored for their exceptional compliance with campaign disclosure rules designed to educate voters and protect the public interest.
December 2009 - New Poll Shows Support for Reform: New poll and co-sponsors for federal reform show growing bi-partisan support among North Carolinians for Voter-Owned Elections.
October 2009 - Amendment to Board of Elections Letter about Mike Easley Committee and Improper Contributions
August 2009 - Healthcare Debate: Follow the Money For NC Members of Congress, 2004-2008
July 2009 - Letter to Board of Elections about Mike Easley Committee and Improper Contributions
June 2009 - NC Budget, Tax Loopholes & Special-Interest PACs
June 2009: Billboard Money Targets General Assembly Allies
March 2009 - New Report on Spending by NC Lobby Groups
Jan 2009 - 2008: Year of the NC Voter
Connect to our Research Library for a list of all of our research reports. You are welcome to download and distribute these reports for all non-commercial purposes.
For more on the philosophy behind our research activities, please visit Research in our What We Do section.
Serving the Public Good
Democracy North Carolina is recognized nationwide for objective, nonpartisan research into money in politics and voter participation.
We use our research skills to identify election- or ethics-related problems as well as needed improvements in each of these areas. We then distribute our findings to the media, the public and our partners.In the past, our research reports have led to BOE and law enforcement investigations of corrupt officials, inspired new legislation to toughen ethics and lobbying laws, highlighted the transparent practices of elected officials who follow the law and do a good job of reporting their campaign donations, and led to electoral reform.
We also use our research to inform our advocacy, organizing and civic engagement strategies, and to evaluate the effectiveness of reforms we have won.
You may download and distribute our research free-of-charge for non-commercial purposes.
$7 Million = $I Billion?
Recent Democracy NC analysis showed that three dozen of North Carolina’s biggest political action committees donated $7 million to state candidates and political parties in the 2008 election – and that the people and companies behind these donations were receiving special tax breaks worth at least $1 billion a year from NC. This research caught the eye of the media as well as lawmakers struggling to draft a fair budget in tough economic times. Reports by others also highlight correlations between specific donors and earmarked projects or special interest breaks. That deals exist is nothing new to most people – but sometimes it takes a stark example and a shocking figure to jolt people into action.
In This Section:
Are You With the Media?
If you are with the media and have questions about any of these reports or would like a comment for a story, please contact Democracy NC’s Executive Director Bob Hall at sprc@mindspring.com or at 919-489-1931. You can also sign up for our research distribution list and receive notification of all future research reports when they are available.
Spotlight on Ethics
Former NC governor Mike Easley came under media scrutiny in early 2009 for a host of problems, including undisclosed and apparent illegal gifts of cars and airplane trips.
Democracy NC conducted its own investigation into possible violations of election law related to a number of in-kind donations by major political donors to the NC Democratic Party for the benefit of Mike Easley Committee.
Our research led us to conclude that the Democratic Party had been illegally used as a conduit for contributions to the Mike Easley Committee. We reported our findings to the state Board of Elections, requested an investigative hearing.
Ten days later, the Democratic Party forfeited more than $24,000 related to the improper donations we had detailed in our report.
After five days of hearings (October 26-30, 2009), the State Board of Elections identified additional violations involving earmarked contributions, fined the Easley Committee $100,000, ordered the Democratic Party to forfeit $9,000 and referred Mike Easley “and others” to the District Attorney for criminal investigation.
Download our report and link to the televised State Board hearings for more on this matter.
Useful Links
- Search campaign donations in state-level politics.
- How to conduct corporate research on-line
- NC Policy Watch offers excellent daily analysis, useful links and background info on the issues affecting our state.
- Visit Facing South for other outstanding research on politics in the South.
- Search for state lobbyists and their disclosure reports.