2012 Regional Policy Paper #2: Political party integrity: More accountable, more democratic
Political parties in European countries suffer from the lowest levels of integrity registered among all national institutions and sectors – even worse than the judiciary, executive and legislature. Instead of serving as beacons of democracy, the lack of integrity among political parties creates opportunities for undue influence, ethics violations and corruption. In European countries like Greece, Ireland, Italy and Spain, over 80 per cent of those surveyed view political parties in their countries as “corrupt” or “very corrupt.” Such high levels of perceived corruption can be linked to the increasingly negative influence that unregulated party and campaign financing have had on countries’ political processes and decisions. Political leaders, their parties and the public must respond to these integrity deficits by building the transparency and accountability of political parties.
