There are common problems in the process of drawing up regulations and implementing them.
Some Common Problems concerning Rule-Making
The problem of controlling the use of governmental powers to gain unfair electoral advantages for the ruling party, see Election Campaigns.
Even if opportunities to show party political advertisements are fairly allocated among the rival parties, the government will often be able to use its influence or control over state-owned media to ensure that it has unfair advantages when it comes to news reports, current affairs programmes, and other types of broadcasts.
When it comes to allocating public contracts, or major expenditures on social welfare, the government may use its prerogatives to concentrate economic benefits on key political areas.
There is considerable scope for any government to gain indirect electoral advantages by using its powers for partisan purposes. It is hard to devise rules concerning elections, parties and candidates that can deal effectively with this problem.
Allocation of broadcasting time to rival parties and candidates.
In view of the great importance of television as a medium of political communication, it is essential to provide fair opportunities for both the governing party and opposition parties to put forward their policies and to present their leaders. It is also important to strike a balance between the rights of large and small, old and new parties. See Level Playing Field, Fairness, Broadcasting Time, Allocation of Time/Resources Issues, Public Broadcasting Allocations and Formulas for Allocating Time.
Fairness versus freedom of expression.
If regulations are to succeed in assuring that rival candidates and opposing political parties have equal financial resources to spend on electioneering ('fairness'), then it will be necessary to restrict the campaigning activities and expenditures of interest groups and other non-party organizations - for these groups may favour one side. Thus it will be necessary to limit freedom of expression in order to guarantee fairness; alternatively, it will be necessary to sacrifice fairness for freedom of expression. This conflict of principles has led to a series of cases tried before constitutional courts in Canada, the United States and elsewhere. See Guiding Principles, Freedom of Speech, Fairness vs.Freedom of Expression, Regulating Campaigns by Interest Groups.
Desirability of disclosure of political donations versus the rights of individuals and institutions to privacy, see Desirability of Disclosure of Political Donations.
Loopholes and unanticipated consequences.
It is extremely difficult to draw up regulations, especially concerning the financing of candidates and political parties, that loopholes can not render ineffective. In country after country, the introduction of new regulations has been followed by the development of new loopholes and new methods of financing politics that escape existing rules. Moreover, regulations frequently have unanticipated consequences. They are like strong drugs with unforeseen side effects: the side effects are sometimes more damaging than the ills the drugs are designed to alleviate. See Regulating Campaigns by Interest Groups.
Common Problems: Implementation of Regulations
Administrative complexity.
Democratic elections are inherently burdensome to administer. If for no other reason, this is because they must permit all (or virtually all) adult citizens to participate. In this respect, the implementation of rules relating to elections are somewhat like those concerning taxation, see Administrative Implications.
High costs.
Some common measures regarding candidates and political parties - such as the financing of their activities from the public purse - can be very costly, see Cost Implications.
Sanctions and punishments.
Good laws are of little or no value if they can be flouted with impunity. Implementation of regulations concerning the conduct of elections and the punishment of misdeeds by candidates and parties pose great difficulties. This is, first of all, because the regulations can often be breached in ways that are subtle and hard to detect. Second, the fact that competitive elections involve powerful people and weighty interests means that investigative bodies are under pressure not to investigate too diligently, and enforcement agencies are under strong pressure not to bring prosecutions. This is a crucial and, unfortunately, common difficulty.
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