Money and Elections
A key component of electoral integrity is the equitable access to campaign funds and their transparent and fair usage. The Electoral Integrity Project has identified the Campaign Finance stage of the electoral cycle as one of the lowest mean scores among stages of the electoral cycle.
Projects addressing these issues:
Campaign Finance: Implications for Local Representation
PEI Director Holly Ann Garnett is leading a SSHRC-funded project on campaign finance in local campaigns in Canada. Campaign finance regulations are crucial if the sources and recipients of money magnify existing inequalities in representation. Donors may have unequal influence on candidates, politicians and policy decisions. Those who can donate may have better access to political networks, and greater feelings of political efficacy. The unequal allocation of money among parties and candidates may create an uneven electoral ‘playing field’. Parties and candidates with full coffers may be better able to get their message out and entice citizens to vote for them through well-organized and flashy campaigns.
For these reasons, the challenge of regulating the role of money in politics remains a critical issue to the health of elections around the globe. This project considers following questions, with a particular eye to considering how money in politics influences the equality of representation in Canada. I
1. What are the characteristics and motivations of citizens who donate to political campaigns? Are there patterns in individual political donations over time?
2. Which candidates receive the greatest amounts of money from donors? How is this money used?
3. What is the impact of money for electoral success in local races?
Money Politics and Transparency
Money, Politics and Transparency (MPT) is a collaboration between the Electoral Integrity Project, the Sunlight Foundation, and Global Integrity. It will generate research, analysis and global norms that civic organizations, elected officials, regulators and the media can use to build more effective political financing regulations in any country.
The project is made possible by generous support from the Hewlett Foundation and Open Society Foundations. The project’s Reference Group is made up of political finance experts from around the world who offer guidance and expertise. More information here.
On July 16 2015 the project released new evidence, available here and on http://moneypoliticstransparency.org/.
The project research design included three main methods:
Gathering detailed data from 50 countries to explore the current state of affairs with respect to political finance transparency and related regulatory safeguards, including actual implementation and enforcement of existing rules;
Publishing in-depth case studies exploring the political-economy drivers of more and less effective political finance regulatory regimes, including transparency measures; and
Building a global community that will use that new information to identify possible global norms to guide future political finance transparency efforts.
The results of these efforts has been released. New evidence is available from a comparative report Checkbook Elections and new Campaign Finance Indicators, available here and on http://moneypoliticstransparency.org/.