Policy Position 02/2005: Political finance regulations: bridging the enforcement gap

Political finance regulations have been introduced in a majority of democracies to pro- mote fair political competition and to 'clean up' politics, specifically to limit the influence of business over the political sphere. But all too often political party and campaign finance laws are breached with impunity, in the face of enforcement agencies that are constrained by cumbersome legislation, a lack of independence, insufficient resources or a lack of will. This situation needs remedying because people‘s trust in democracy is eroded when democratically elected leaders fail to comply with laws they themselves design.