Topic Guide: Political Finance

Funding of Political Parties and Election Campaigns: A handbook on Political Finance. International IDEA, 2014. www.idea.int/parties/funding-o...  

This handbook provides a global overview of the area of political finance in theory and practice. It focuses on the central issues in this field in relation to the political situation and challenges specific to each of the world’s regions. The content of the handbook has been developed through combining comparative research using a number of country examples and building on data from International IDEA’s database. Regional studies included in the publication cover Asia, Latin America, established Anglophone democracies, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Africa.  

Money in Politics: Sound Political Competition and Trust in Government. Speck, B., 2013. OECD Background Paper. http://www.oecd.org/gov/ethics...  

This recent paper offers an in-depth discussion of the question of political finance. It analyses the issue of party finances and its relationships to political competition, trust and integrity, linking this with a series of practical guidelines such as strengthening democracy within party organisations, fighting undue influence and closing the gap between law and practice. It also offers a useful overview of past initiatives and related publications by a number of organisations that are active in the field of electoral integrity, including the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), the Carter Center, the Council of Europe (GRECO) and the United Nations (UNCAC).  

Political Finance Regulations around the World: An overview of the International IDEA Database. Ohman, M., 2012. www.idea.int/publications/poli...  

This report by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) summarises some of the key findings of the International IDEA database. The database analyses 180 countries and regions based on the integrity of their political financing framework. Political financing frameworks are analysed by answering questions related to bans on donations, limits on donations, provision of public funding, bans on expenditure, limits on expenditure, financial disclosure and enforcement and sanctions.  This report looks in particular at the methodology behind the database and explores several key findings related to the database. This resource is valuable for comparing political funding across countries and for understanding what is the current situation of political funding legislation around the world.