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TI policy position
Transparency International
Transparency International
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Abstract
"The need to clean up political finance Corruption in political party and campaign finance damages democracy because it undermines elections and distorts political competition. But the damage is not confined to the electoral process. The quality of government is marred when subsequent decisions by elected politicians are taken to pay back those who funded their ascent to power, rather than for the benefit of the population as a whole. Equally, when a political party resorts to paying for votes rather than focusing on the quality of its campaign message, democracy suffers. Corruption in political finance erodes trust in the institutions of democracy, when scandal after scandal reveals politicians sharing the spoils of power with their financial backers. Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2004 found that in 36 out of 62 countries polled, political parties were considered to be the most corrupt institution, followed by parliaments. Faced with evidence that voters do care about the ways in which electoral politics is financed, governments around the world have taken steps to regulate political party and campaign financing. Many have introduced disclosure laws, whereby parties must publish details about who gave them money, how much, and what they used it for. Others have banned certain types of donations that are considered more prone to corruption, such as corporate donations. Another route taken by countries is to lessen the need for money by providing state subsidies, shortening campaigns, providing subsidised access to the media or curbing the amounts parties may legally spend. International IDEA has complied a detailed list of regulations in 111 countries."
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Preprint
Date
2005
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With permission of the license/copyright holder