ElectionFinance.net

In the world’s democracies, campaign finance regulations are varied and complex. Regulatory environments vary from the laissez-faire to the strict and highly-regulated, and may include provisions on contribution and spending limits for competitors and donors, direct and indirect state subsidies for parties and campaigns, disclosure and reporting requirements, sanctions, and more. These regulations are not only nuanced, they are changing all the time. Reforms occur with some regularity in nearly all democracies - “developed” or “developing” - as legislators and regulators seek to fine tune or overhaul regulations to respond to changes in campaigns and emerging technologies, to close existing regulatory loopholes and fix campaign finance scandals, to pursue political advantage or financial gain, or to continue the global trend towards (at least partial) public funding of campaigns.

Keeping track of these changes is the primary reason I started ElectionFinance.net. A dynamic forum like a blog is the perfect space in order to track and comment on the ever-changing world of campaign finance. In the process, it can serve to help compile data on current cross-national campaign finance regulations and practice. In my own work — I am pursuing my doctorate in political science at the University of California, San Diego — I have experienced firsthand how difficult it is collect cross-national data on campaign finance regimes and practice. There are a few excellent databases of campaign finance regulations (e.g. IDEA), but since regulations change frequently, the information is not always up-to-date. This blog complement these resources by tracking what’s new as well as keeping a record of the old.

Of course, I have limited time I can devote to blogging and can do better at covering some democracies and regions than others. In time, however, I hope the site expands in both breadth and depth. I thus encourage you to send me news relating to campaign finance practice, regulation, and reform from any of the world’s democracies. Please also notify me regarding errors, corrections, and updates to data or links as well as to send me any comments or suggestions you may have about the site.

Thanks for visiting ElectionFinance.net!

Joel W. Johnson
jwjohnson@electionfinance.net
My page at UCSD here.