International IDEA has recently published a handbook, which investigates the relationship between political finance and election campaigns around the world. The authors address the problems of money in politics by analysing national political finance regulations and providing guidance for reform.
The chapters are divided by region, each assessing the current state of regulations in relation to its challenges and offering a series of recommendations to tackle the identified shortcomings. This contextual approach has the benefit of revealing regional trends and patterns. An additional chapter focuses on gender, reflecting the reality that women remain grossly under-represented in politics, and how the increasing influence of money in politics perpetuates this inequality.
In his endorsement of the publication, Kofi Annan stated that "through sharing global practices in the field of political finance, this handbook is an important step in safeguarding the integrity of elections and of democratic politics."
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