Location
Thompson 534

Field Clerk

American Politics

Degree

  • Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
  • Master in Public Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard

Bio

Ray La Raja's areas of expertise include political parties, interest groups, campaign finance, elections, political participation, American state and local politics, public policy and political reform. He is co-author with Brian Schaffner and Jesse Rhodes of Hometown Inequality: Race, Class, and Representation in American Local Politics (Cambridge University Press 2020).  He previously co-authored with Brian Schaffner, Campaign Finance and Political Polarization: When Purists Prevail (Univ. of Michigan Press 2015), which was the winner of the Virginia Gray Best Book Award from the American Political Science Association's State Politics and Policy section. He is co-founder and former co-editor of The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics and a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the Campaign Finance Institute. He was past president of the Political Organizations and Parties section of the American Political Science Association. He is co-founder and co-director of the UMass Poll, which conducts public opinion research in Massachusetts and the United States to inform policymaking.  

Grants

2013.  The Effect of Party-Centered Campaign Finance Laws on American Politics. Co-Principal Investigator (with Brian Schaffner). Hewlett Foundation. 

2009. Candidate Emergence for the Connecticut Legislature After Implementation of the Clean Elections Act. National Science Foundation. 

2006  Candidate Emergence in the Connecticut Legislature. Principal Investigator. JEHT Foundation. 

2006  Elections, Policy and Influence in Connecticut Before and After Clean Elections Co-Principal Investigator (with Vincent G. Moscardelli). JEHT Foundation.

Publications

Books

Schaffner, Brian F., Jesse H. Rhodes, and Raymond J. La Raja. 2020. Hometown Inequality: Race, Class, and Representation in Local Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press.

La Raja, Raymond J., and Brian Schaffner. 2015.  Campaign Finance and Political Polarization: When Purists Prevail. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Winner of the 2016 Virginia Gray Best Book Award for the best political science book published on the subject of U.S. state politics or policy in the preceding three calendar years.

La Raja, Raymond J. 2013.  New Directions in American Politics. Editor. New York: Routledge.

La Raja, Raymond J. 2008. Small Change: Money, Political Parties and Campaign Finance ReformAnn Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Articles in Refereed Journals

Tatishe M. Nteta,Jesse H. Rhodes, Gregory Wall, Katherine L. Dixon-Gordon, Raymond J. La Raja, Brian Lickel, Andrea Mah, Matthew MacWilliams, Ezra M. Markowitz, Allecia Reid, and Alexander Theodoridis. 2023. “Rooted in Racism? Race, Partisanship, Status Threat, and Public Opinion Toward Statehood for Washington, D.C.” Political Research Quarterly0(0).

Schaffner, Brian F., Jesse H. Rhodes and Raymond J. La Raja. 2022.  “The Conservative Bias in America’s Local Governments.” Political Science Quarterly. Volume 137(1): 125–154.

Albert, Zachary, and Raymond J La Raja. 2020. “Who Should Decide the Party’s Nominee? Understanding Public Attitudes toward Primary Elections.” Party Politics, First Published March 27, 2020 https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068820913279.

Wiltse J., David, Raymond La Raja and Dorie E. Apollonio. 2019. “Typologies of Party Finance Systems: A Comparative Study of How Countries Regulate Party Finance and Their Institutional Foundations.” Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy. 18(3): 243-261.

Rhodes, Jesse. H., Brian F. Schaffner and Raymond J La Raja.  2018. "Detecting and Understanding Donor Strategies in Midterm Elections." Political Research Quarterly 71(3): 503–516. 

La Raja, Raymond J. and David L. Wiltse. 2015. "Money that Draws No Interest: Public Financing of Legislative Elections and Candidate Emergence."  Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy 14(4): 392-410. Download (pdf) (262.33 KB)

La Raja, Raymond J. 2015.  "Money in the 2014 Congressional Elections: Institutionalizing a Broken Regulatory System".  The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics, Vol 12, Issue 4. Image removed.Download (pdf) (744.63 KB)

Desmarais, Bruce, Raymond J. La Raja, and Michael S. Kowal. 2014.  "The Fates of Challengers in US House Elections: The Role of Extended Party Networks in Supporting Candidates and Shaping Electoral Outcomes." American Journal of Political Science. doi: 10.1111/ajps.12106. Image removed.Download (pdf) (3.53 MB)  Winner of the 2015 Jack Walker Award from the Political Organizations and Parties Section of the American Political Science Association.

La Raja, Raymond J.  2014.  “Political Participation and Civic Courage: The Negative Effect of Transparency on Making Small Campaign Contributions.” Political Behavior 36(4): 753-776. Image removed.Download (pdf) (649.62 KB)

La Raja, Raymond J. and Brian Schaffner. 2014. "The Effects of Campaign Finance Spending Bans on Electoral Outcomes: Evidence From the States about the Potential Impact of Citizens United v. FEC."  Electoral Studies 33:102-14. Image removed.Download (pdf) (528.15 KB)

La Raja, Raymond J.  2014.  “Campaign Finance and Partisan Polarization in the United States Congress.” Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy  9(2): 223-258. Download (pdf)

La Raja, Raymond J.  2013. "Richer Parties, Better Politics? Party-Centered Campaign Finance Laws and American Democracy." The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics 11(3): 313-338. Image removed.Download (pdf) (1.22 MB)

La Raja, Raymond J.  2013. "Why Super PACs: How the American Party System Outgrew the Campaign Finance System". The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics 10(4): 91-104. Image removed.Download (pdf) (1.25 MB)

La Raja, Raymond J., and David L. Wiltse. 2012.  Don’t Blame Donors for Ideological Polarization of Political Parties: Ideological Change and Stability Among Political Contributors, 1972-2008.   American Politics ResearchImage removed.Download (pdf) (516.99 KB)

La Raja, Raymond J., and Brian Schaffner. 2011. “Explaining the Unpopularity of Public Funding for Congressional Elections. Electoral Studies

La Raja, Raymond J. 2009. "Redistricting: Reading Between the Lines." Annual Review of Political Science 12 (1): 203-23.

La Raja, Raymond J. 2008. “From Bad to Worse: The Unraveling of the Campaign Finance System,” The Forum 6 (1): Article 2.

La Raja, Raymond J. 2007. “Sunshine Laws and the Press: The Effect of Campaign Disclosure on News Reporting in the American States,” Election Law Journal 6(3): 236-250.

Apollonio, D. E. and Raymond J. La Raja. 2006. “Term Limits, Campaign Contributions, and the Distribution of Power in State Legislatures.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 31(2): 259-281.

La Raja, Raymond J. 2005. “Will the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act Strengthen the Political System? Negative: BCRA is Not Improving the Political System,” (Point/Counterpoint), Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 24 (3): 604-610.

Apollonio, D. E. and Raymond J. La Raja. 2004. “Who Gave Soft Money? The Effect of Interest Group Resources on Political Contributions.” The Journal of Politics 66(4): 1159-1179.

La Raja, Raymond J. 2004. “Breaking Up the Party: How McConnell Downsizes Partisan Campaigns,” Election Law Journal 3(2): 271-76.

Teaching

Political Science 101 American Politics 

Political Science 791 Political Institutions

Political Science 208 Parties & Elections

Political Science 291 Politics & Ethics

Political Science 391 Political Behavior

Political Science 394 Voting and Political Participation

Political Science 791 Political Institutions

Political Science 797 Political Party Systems