Party Funding and Corruption
1st Edition
Published on 2. April 2020
XVII, 251 pages
978-3-030-37580-5 (ISBN)
Description
This book systematically explores the relationship between party funding and corruption, and addresses fundamental concerns in the continued consideration of how democracy should function. The book analyses whether parties funded primarily through private donations are necessarily more corrupt than those funded by the state, and whether different types of corruption are evident in different funding regimes. Drawing on a comparison of Great Britain and Denmark, the author argues that levels of state subsidy are, in fact, unrelated to the type of corruption found. Subsidies are not a cure for corruption or, importantly, perceived corruption, so if they are to be introduced or sustained, this should be done for other reasons. Subsidies can, for example, be justified on grounds of public utility. Meanwhile, anti-corruption measures should focus on other regulations, but even then we should not expect such measures to impact on perceptions of corruption in the short term.
Reviews / Votes
"This well-written book constitutes the 'state of the art' in a field that is increasingly important for the understanding of the challenges confronting democracy in the age of populism and widespread political apathy. Though the study focuses on Europe , the book is important not only for readers seeking to understand the complexities of state funding of parties but for anyone interested in the effort to shore up democratic regimes all over the world." (Jonathan Mendilow, Professor, Political Science, Rider University, USA, and Chair, IPSA Research Council, Political Finance and Political Corruption) "Sam Power has done a brilliant job of capturing, unraveling and explaining the complex nature of party funding and its impact on the very foundations of democracy. In this era of seemingly endless upheaval - from the emergence of a 'new right' populism to declining rates of participation, this book gives the context and framing necessary to understand the role of financing in this period of democratic uncertainty." (Kyle Taylor, Founder and Director of Fair Vote UK, Secretariat for the APPG on Electoral Campaigning Transparency) "This is a fascinating book, which makes an excellent contribution to the study of party finance, both by useful international comparison, and by carefully showing why discussions of party finance and corruption need careful and precise definitions in order to be analytically meaningful. This book marks a real advance in both the party finance and corruption literatures." (Justin Fisher, Professor of Political Science, Brunel University London, UK)More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cham
Switzerland
Publishing group
Springer International Publishing
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Reflowable
Illustrations
XVII, 251 p. 23 illus.
File size
2,64 MB
ISBN-13
978-3-030-37580-5 (9783030375805)
DOI
10.1007/978-3-030-37580-5
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Sam Power
is Lecturer in Corruption Analysis at the University of Sussex, UK. Previously he was Associate Lecturer in Politics at the University of Exeter and Research Associate at the Sir Bernard Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics, University of Sheffield. Sam has written extensively on issues related to the financing of politics in both academic and non-academic publications and regularly provides expert interviews and analyses on TV, on the radio, and online.
Content
1. Introduction: party funding and corruption in advanced industrial democracies.- 2. The relationship between corruption and the funding of party competition.- 3. New institutionalism: towards a consolidated approach.- 4. Analysing corruption and party funding.- 5. Great Britain and Denmark: party funding regimes and party accounts.- 6. The institutional evolution of the party funding regime in Great Britain.- 7. Party funding and corruption in Great Britain.- 8. The institutional evolution of the Danish party funding regime.- 9. Party funding and corruption in Denmark.- 10. Conclusion: money, power and representation.
