Political Finance and Corruption

Abstract

The consensus today is that one of the most important things a political candidate needs to succeed in an election is money. Over the course of the last century, political finance has become an intensively studied subject in social sciences. In 1925, Max Weber noted that while money was one of the key factors determining modern politics, academicians knew very little about how politicians and political parties were funded. A hundred year later, the amount of information we possess on this topic is much larger. Scholars from North America, Western Europe, and other regions have produced journal articles, book chapters, and entire volumes on political finance. From early legal analyses, to small-N comparative studies of selected Western political finance models, the field of political finance study has a truly comprehensive, global reach. This panel focuses on current corrupt or illicit practices in political finance. The papers describe funding scandals pivotal to the development of politics in researched countries. In doing so, they show how financial dealings influence organizational structures and the behaviour of political parties and their members. Findings show that business ties to political parties change the ideological and programmatical foundations of party structures, which threatens the very core of a multi-party democratic rule. Finally, issues of regulations and legal rules are discussed and their practical importance assessed.