• Politics

Politics & corruption

This paper addresses the current public dissatisfaction with democracy in relation to the role played by money in politics. It particularly looks at concerns that the current financing of politics may be violating the basic democratic values of equal opportunity, transparency and accountability.

The author argues that one way to bring funding of political parties and candidates into line with values is to regulate campaign spending through regulation limits. It is pointed out that this is a viable option, but such limits must be implemented with care. Regulation can prevent corruption, increase political transparency and introduce mechanisms that allow the public to make politicians more accountable.

Key conclusions include:

• given the diversity of political systems and democratic development, there is no single, best solution any government can use to combat political finance-related corruption
• over the last decade, citizens and politicians have become much more sensitive to charges of corruption, and now any new scandal seems to initiate demands for stricter sanctions
• the pressure to introduce complex financial restrictions might conflict with differences in the level of party institutionalisation, the distribution of money and wealth, and the principles such restrictions protect.
  

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