A referendum on changing New Zealand’s parliamentary term to four years would be the third such exercise in under 60 years. Why would the outcome be any different this time?
Donald Trump: social media was one of the former president’s main platforms.
EPA-EFE/Doug Mills/ Pool
Mobile phones across the country are buzzing nonstop with text notifications from both presidential campaigns. A scholar of campaign communications explains why.
Andrew Yang ended his campaign after the New Hampshire primary.
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
When political campaigns end, candidates often are left with a fair amount of money. They have a lot of options about how to spend it.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, the leader of the New Zealand First party, maintains that no laws have been broken in his party’s funding arrangements.
AAP/Paul Braven
The New Zealand First party, a government coalition partner, has received tens of thousands of dollars from a foundation whose trustees include the party’s lawyer and an ex-MP.
These Iowan supporters of Steve Bullock may hope he’ll make good on promises to get ‘dark money’ out of politics.
AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
Congressional midterm election spending will likely hit a record $5 billion. But the spending masks the main problem with US campaign financing: who gives the money and what they may get in return.
Political funding in Australia is governed by different rules for state (some of which do not require disclosure) and federal governments. And both levels suffer significant weaknesses.
The UK has limits on expenditure by political parties and third parties, and doesn’t allow paid advertising in electronic media at all.
Reuters
Our political donations disclosure regime is so opaque, we don’t really know who’s paying how much and what they get in return. But the lengths players go to hide donations gives cause for suspicion.