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Campaign financealso called election finance, political donations, or political financerefers to the funds raised to promote , political party, or policy initiatives and . Donors and recipients include individuals, , political parties, and charitable organizations.
Political campaigns usually involve considerable costs, travel, staff, political consulting, and advertising. Campaign spending depends on the region. For instance, in the United States, television advertising time must be purchased by campaigns, whereas in other countries, it is provided for free. The need to raise money to maintain expensive political campaigns diminishes ties to a representative democracy because of the influence large contributors have over politicians.
Although the political science literature indicates that most contributors give to support parties or candidates with whom they are already in agreement, there is wide public perception that donors expect government favors in return (such as specific legislation being enacted or defeated), so some have come to equate campaign finance with political corruption and bribery. These views have led governments to reform campaign financing in the hope of eliminating big money influence.
The causes and effects of campaign finance rules are studied in political science, economics, and public policy, among other disciplines.
Fundraising from private donors is often a significant activity for the campaign staff and the candidate, especially in larger and more prominent campaigns. For example, one survey in the United States found that 23% of candidates for statewide office surveyed say that they spent more than half of their scheduled time raising money. Over half of all candidates surveyed spent at least 1/4 of their time on fundraising.
Supporters of private financing systems believe that, in addition to avoiding government limitations on speech, private financing fosters civic involvement, ensures that a diversity of views are heard, and prevents government from tilting the scales to favor those in power or with political influence. Critics of private campaign financing claim that it leads to votes being "bought" and producing large gaps between different parties in the money they have to campaign against. One study finds that political donations gives donors significantly greater access to policymakers. Most countries that rely on private donations to fund campaigns require extensive disclosure of contributions, frequently including information such as the name, employer and address of donors. This is intended to allow for policing of undue donor influence by other campaigns or by good government groups, while preserving most benefits of private financing, including the right to make donations and to spend money for political speech, saving government the expense of funding campaigns, and keeping government from funding partisan speech that some citizens may find odious. However, in countries such as the United States, "dark money" spent on political campaigns is exempt from disclosure, and dark money spending has mushroomed in recent years in US state and federal elections, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars in each U.S. presidential election.Brennan Center for Justice, New York University Law School, 26 Jun. 2016, "Secret Spending in the States"
In many countries, such as Germany and the United States, campaigns can be funded by a combination of private and public money. In the United States, public financing systems include democracy vouchers, matching funds, and lump sum grants, among other system types. Governments, international organizations and scholars are concerned about the funding of campaigns from foreign sources.
In some electoral systems, candidates who win an election or secure a minimum number of ballots are allowed to apply for a rebate to the government. The candidate submits an audited report of the campaign expenses and the government issues a rebate to the candidate, subject to some caps such as the number of votes cast for the candidate or a blanket cap. For example, in the 2008 election, candidates for the Legislative Council of Hong Kong were entitled to a rebate up to HK$11 per vote.
Their study also affirmed the perspective laid down by the Council of Europe, when discussing the concept of effective regulation of campaign financing: "We convinced that raising public awareness on the issues of prevention and fight against corruption in the field of funding of political parties is essential to the good functioning of democratic institutions."
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Further reading
(2004). 9780300101492, Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300101492
Malbin, Michael J. (2006). 9780742538702, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.. . ISBN 9780742538702
(2025). 9780754670469, Ashgate Press. ISBN 9780754670469
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