Funding Of Political Parties And Election Campaigns

This handbook provides a general description of the different models of political finance regulations and analyses the relationship between party funding and effective democracy. The most important part of the book is an extensive matrix on political finance laws and regulations for about 100 countries. Public funding regulations, ceilings on campaign expenditure, bans on foreign donations and enforcing an agency are some of the issues covered in the study. Includes regional studies and discusses how political funding can affect women and men differently, and the delicate issue of monitoring, control and enforcement of political finance laws.

All political parties need funding to play their part in the political process, yet the role of money in politics is arguably the biggest threat to democracy today. This global threat knows no boundaries, and is evident across all continents from huge corporate campaign donations in the United States and drug money seeping into politics in Latin America, to corruption scandals throughout Asia and Europe. Attempts to tackle these challenges through political finance laws and regulations are often undermined by a lack of political will or capacity, as well as poorly designed and enforced measures. This Handbook addresses the problems of money in politics by analysing political finance regulations around the world and providing guidance for reform. The chapters are divided by region; each assesses the current state of regulations in relation to its challenges and offers a series of recommendations to tackle the identified shortcomings. This contextual approach has the benefit of revealing regional trends and patterns. An additional chapter focuses on gender, reflecting the reality that women remain grossly under-represented in politics, and how the increasing influence of money in politics perpetuates this inequality.

The recent debate on the role of money in politics has shed the light on the challenges of political finance regulations. What are the risks associated with the funding of political parties and election campaigns? Why are existing regulatory models still insufficient to tackle those risks?

This book explores the problems associated with regulating the funding of political parties and election campaigns in a timely assessment of a topic of great political controversy. From interest in Obama's capacity to raise vast sums of money, to scandals that have rocked UK and Australian governments, party funding is a global issue, reflected in this text with case studies from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States. Taking an interdisciplinary approach with leading scholars from politics, geography and law, this text addresses key themes: contributions, spending controls, the role of broadcasters and special interests, and the role of the state in funding political parties. With regulatory measures apparently unable to change the behaviour of parties, why have existing laws failed to satisfy the demands for reform, and what kind of laws are necessary to change the way political parties behave? The Funding of Political Parties: Where Now? brings fresh comparative material to inform this topical and intractable debate, and assesses the wider implications of continuing problems in political funding. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, political theory, policy and law.

Scrutinizing a relatively new field of study, the Handbook of Political Party Funding assesses the basic assumptions underlying the research, presenting an unequalled variety of case studies from diverse political finance systems.

Comprises 11 contributions exploring issues in the political finances of emerging democracies. The contributors look at funding issues in Brazil, Russia, South Africa, Spain, and the regions of east Asia and east-central Europe. Several contributors also explore what can be learned from the history of political finance in the established democracies of western Europe and North America. Of interest to students of political parties, electoral politics and democratization studies, as well as researchers and specialist observers of the countries and systems covered. Distributed by St. Martin's Press. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This review of the funding of political parties has eight principal recommendations: the status quo, with no caps on donations, is unsustainable therefore donations to parties should be limited; there should be measures to prevent breaches to the new regulations; expenditure in general election campaigns should be reduced; controls on expenditure by third parties should be strengthened; there may be an increase in public funding of political parties; this funding should be linked to a measure of public support and should encourage democratic engagement; the public should have better information on the funding of political parties; the Electoral Commission should have the necessary powers to regulate the new funding settlement.

This book is an in-depth exploration of political finances in and among mature and developing democracies of the world of politics in most continents: Japan and South Korea in Asia; Brazil in South America; Mexico and the United States in North America; and Italy, Germany, and Spain in Europe.