Funding Democratization

Democracy is expensive. Political parties and election campaigns cost money. Where does the money come from? What influence does it have on the contenders for power and the nature of political competition, in countries that are seeking to embrace, often for the first time, the rules of the democratic game? In what ways can the politicians help make democracy affordable? These and other issues in political finance are significant but often neglected aspects of the process of democratization. Funding Democratization compares important democratizing countries including Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Spain and the regions of East Asia and East/Central Europe. The book also investigates the lessons that emerging democracies can learn from the history of political finance in today's more established democracies.