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Key Text Aspects of Party Finance and Political Corruption

Author: R Williams
Date: 2000
Size: 18 pages (91.9 KB)

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Summary

A common problem for most political organizations is how to find sufficient financial resources to fund the activities they wish to pursue. Money buys the access, favours, skills, goods and services that are essential for effective party activity. It is a transferable resource which helps mobilize support for, and secures influence with, political parties.

This chapter from 'Party Finance and Political Corruption' explores the different dimensions of the complex interrelationship of party finance and political corruption. The introduction serves as a theoretical framework to address three major issues: (1) The current problems of party finance and political corruption in a specific country or region (UK, USA, Italy, Germany, Russia, Southeast Asia); (2) the nature and impact of previous reform efforts; and (3) the prospects for and obstacles to future reform. The chapter goes on to discuss the increasingly important debate on party finance and political corruption.

Corruption and party finance are inextricably linked. It is obvious that whatever the origins, structure, character and ideology of a political party, and irrespective of the prevailing party system, political parties solicit funds over and above those received from their members or, where available, from state subsidies. The sources, scale, forms and distribution of party finance all have profound political implications. Other conclusions include:

Patterns of party development depend on economic and cultural variations, the nature of the pre-democratic polity and the actual process of transition to democratic rule
There is no automatic protection against corruption
Party funding is dependent on multiple forms of funding
Reliance on state funding may provide a means to deny entry to new parties
Parties vary considerably in terms of membership, organisation, funding, activity, and electoral salience. They may be vehicles for personal ambition or expressions of communal sentiment, but they serve as bridges between society and the political system, between the electorate and the government.

There is a need to identify and illustrate the diverse forms of party finance and the ways in which corruption manifests itself. While the contexts vary, the complaints and charges in party finance and the associated problems are remarkably similar worldwide. In addition:

There is a lack of openness and transparency in party finance
Government regulation is ineffective and inadequate
There is an undesirable closeness between large financial contributors and the leadership of political parties, leading to subversion of the democratic process.

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Source: Williams, R., 2000, 'Aspects of Party Finance and Political Corruption', in Williams, R. ed. Party Finance and Political Corruption, Palgrave, London
Author: Department of Politics, University of Durham, http://www.dur.ac.uk/politics.department
Organisation: Palgrave Macmillan Ltd, http://www.palgrave.com/