Political finance regulation and electoral competition

This article examines how electoral incentives shape political finance regulations across different political systems. In particular, we argue that regulations on political and campaign finance are less restrictive as the volatility of the electoral system increases. Higher levels of electoral uncertainty increases the costs of political campaigning and provides strong incentives for politicians to relax political finance regulations. Using data for 175 countries across the world, we demonstrate that current regulations on private donations, public funding, access to media, and campaign spending are less restrictive in highly competitive electoral contexts.