Big business influences politicians in many ways. One little-recognized channel is the money companies and their foundations give the nonprofits politicians like.
NRA volunteer shooting instructors Vern Marion and Brian Beck, firing at targets in 2002.
AP Photo/Debra Reid
The nation’s biggest gun advocacy group operates as a bundle of distinct organizations. It’s a fairly common arrangement, followed also by the likes of Planned Parenthood and the ACLU.
The cost of election campaigns in Kenya runs into billions of shilling.
Daniel Irungu/EPA
In Kenya, the overwhelming majority of political contributions come from a tiny number of individuals. This model of financing turns politics into a high-stakes game that very often turns violent.
A campaign for Los Angeles Unified School District school board candidates.
SEIU Local 99 | Education Workers United Follow
As the rest of the world watches the circus that has been the 2016 US presidential campaign, questions about how the elections and candidates are being financed continue to be raised.
An integrated reform blueprint for federal and state politics could comprise eight elements.
Chris Wilson/Flickr
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.
Political finance is an issue where there is a lot of agreement in Australia among people who vote for different parties.
AAP/Joel Carrett
Every time there’s a scandal involving political finance, politicians from unaffected parties talk about the public’s outrage. But how much do people actually care?
Australia’s system of political donations was the subject of a recent Senate inquiry.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
The struggle for political equality has shaped Australian democracy. This is undermined by a fragmented political donations system that can be easily evaded.
I don’t care if it’s national or local, it’s blocking my drive.
PA/Chris Radburn
The Greens are set to play a significant role in the election campaign and the new parliament. They are looking for gains in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Arthur Sinodinos has declined to attend a Senate inquiry into political donations and associated entities.
Dean Lewins/AAP
Vast majorities of Americans espouse “socialist” views, which has helped propel Bernie Sanders in the polls. Yet our system of campaign finance makes it next to impossible for him to win.
House Republicans apparently want to keep us in the dark on where their money’s coming from.
Blindfold Franklin via www.shutterstock.com
Charles Lewis, American University School of Communication
This week’s news brings an important “ah hah” moment. The conservative billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch of Koch Industries and their political network of donors and opaque outside groups are…
Congress raised the cap on how much an individual can donate to political parties in its spending bill that just passed last week, giving wealthy Americans a greater voice in elections.
Shutterstock
The political system’s indifference to the needs of the American people could not have been made clearer in recent days. At a time when economic inequality is increasing and the US racial divide is ever…
To find a revolution in campaigning comparable with micro-targeting you have to look back beyond the ‘Kevin 07’ online pitch to Gough Whitlam’s 1972’s TV-driven ‘It’s Time’ triumph.
AAP/Dan Peled
Australian election campaigns are facing another revolutionary change, which has the potential to transform the electoral contest, redefine campaign funding and even revive political parties. The “micro-targeting…
Clive Palmer was criticised by Tony Abbott for ‘trying to buy seats’ in federal parliament through a huge advertising spend at the recent WA Senate election.
AAP/Dave Hunt
The issue of political party spending featured prominently during the Western Australian Senate re-election in a manner that we are rarely, if at all, accustomed to in Australian politics. This time, it…
It’s set to be a big few months for the High Court of Australia. What are the key cases to watch?
petelawley
In coming months, the High Court – the highest court in Australia and the final arbiter on the meaning of the Constitution – will decide several high-profile cases. These decisions, which may result in…