'Sunlight is the best disinfectant,' declared the celebrated Justice of the United States Supreme Court Louis D. Brandeis. According to this policy, forcing knowledge of who is giving how much into the system can best control the possible infection of corruption through political donations. The most common regulatory device for political contributions is to regulate that gifts above a certain threshold must be declared.
Administrative Implications
If the regulations are to be effective, it is necessary to require detailed information that identifies each donor clearly. In countries where many people have the same surname, such as Smith in Britain or the United States, the disclosure that 'J. Smith' has donated $100 will show little without an address. Yet, donor lists that provide such information have the negative side effect of intruding on the privacy of citizens, especially those wishing to support an unpopular party.
Comments
The Effects of Disclosure Regulations are Unclear
- In the United States, the regulations provide a great deal of detailed information that is processed in a way that makes it easy for interested members of the public and journalists to use the donors' lists. This is because addresses must be appended to names and because the information is computerised. The shortcoming of the regulations is that they cover only one category of donations - to federal election campaigns. The lists are thus incomplete and potentially misleading.
- In Germany, the opportunities to evade the disclosure rules are even greater. A wealthy donor who wishes to give undisclosed political donations, may divide his gifts into a series of payments each slightly under DM 20,000 - from himself, his wife, each family member, and each separate business corporation he owns. Another method of evasion is to pay excessive rates for 'services' provided by the party, which count legally as business transactions rather than donations. For instance, business supporters frequently pay high rates for advertising in relatively obscure party publications.
- In Canada,as in the United States, the low disclosure threshold means that a great amount of information is available. However, the following complaint was raised during the public consultations held by the Lortie Commission:
'The intention [of the disclosure laws] is laudable, but for all practical purposes the Canada Elections Act does not allow the identity of party backers to be revealed. In fact, the Act does not require backers' addresses to be disclosed. ...it's meagre information and difficult to use'.55
- In some countries, such as Italy, disclosure rules are regarded by some officials as even more defective than those of Canada.
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