Stephen K. Medvic, "The Impact of Party Financial Support on the Electoral Success of U.S. House Candidates," Party Politics, 7 (March 2001), 191-212.

First Paragraph:
The campaign finance function of political parties in the United States has been enhanced in recent years. Rather than hand fund-raising and spending over to interest groups and candidates, the two major parties have asserted themselves as major players in the campaign money game. Whether raising soft money, and finding ways to influence federal elections with it, or using constitutionally protected 'independent expenditures' to expressly advocate the election or defeat of federal candidates, the parties have found clever ways to make their marks.

Figures and Tables:
Table 1: Direct contributions from party committees to House candidates p. 198
Table 2: Coordinated expenditure by party committees on behalf of House candidates p. 200
Table 3: Effect of party financial support on Democratic House challengers' share of the vote, 1990 and 1992 (OLS regression) p. 201
Table 4: Effect of party financial support on Republican House challengers' share of the vote, 1990 and 1992 (OLS regression) p. 202
Table 5: Effect of party financial support on Republican House open seat candidates' share of the vote, 1990 and 1992 (OLS regression) p. 203
Table 6: Efect of party direct contributions and coordinated expenditures on House challengers' share of the vote, 1990 and 1992 (OLS regression) p. 204
Table 7: Effect of party financial support on house challengers' share of the vote, 1990 and 1992 (TSLS regression) p. 205
Table 8: Effect of party financial support on House open seat candidates share of the vote, 1990 and 1992 (TSLS regression) p. 206

Last Paragraph:
As always, more research on this topic is warranted. Specifically, future work should examine the impact of party financial support in 1994 and since. Have the traditional forms of party monetary support continued to significantly benefit some types of candidates, or has the focus on other forms of financial activity (e.g. independent spending) crowded out the effects estimated in this study? Indeed, what is the effect of independent spending (something which has only been around for two cycles as of this writing)? Has the party differential found herein disappeared or been reversed (assuming a case could be made that the Democrats now face systematic disadvantages in House races)?26 Finally, work on party spending in congressional elections may wish to explore the timing of spending decisions and the effects thereof. Does party money serve as 'seed money,' helping to increase the amount of money raised later in the campaign from other sources? Or does party money itself follow the lead of individuals and PACs and their contributions (see n. 15)? The findings in this study and answers to many of these questions will not only help us better understand the role of parties as a source for campaign resources, but will provide information about the place of parties in the American political system.