Enforcement Program

This Capstone project is structured around New York City Campaign Finance Board’s (NYCCFB) official proposal for an evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness oft he program’s enforcement mechanisms .NYCCFB requested an analysis of the violations incurred by candidates who had participated in the program since it inception in 1988, as well as the relationships between public funds payments, penalties and candidate behavior. Additionally, the proposal called for an analysis of the actual and optimal level of NYCCFB’s resources expended on enforcement. The Capstone team investigated trends in violations and penalties, factors or conditions predictive of program violations, and whether the penalty system has a deterrence effect on program participants. The project includes an analysis of the monetary costs of enforcement and penalty collection (for assessed penalties of less than five thousand dollars). These estimated costs are weighed against the penalties imposed, the amount of public funds paid out, and the costs expended by candidates for compliance.