Political party funding

Political party funding refers to the set of methods that a political party applies to raise money for campaign and routine activities. This subject is also called political finance. In the US, campaign finance is the more frequently used term.

Political parties are funded by contributions from

Funds for party activity (be it campaigning or routine operations) can be solicited via "grassroots fundraising" as party membership dues or other voluntary contributions from individuals (e.g. direct mail fundraising) or as "plutocratic funding" from wealthy people and/ or the business community as corporate donations. Since the 1960s an additional source of political revenue, public subsidies, is spreading among the democracies. Despite such multitude of promising options, political fundraising via political corruption (e.g. influence peddling, graft, extortion, kickbacks, embezzlement) is still around.

Political parties, still called factions by some, especially those in the governmental apparatus, are lobbied vigorously by organizations, businesses and special interest groups such as trade unions. Money and gifts-in-kind to a party, or its leading members, may be offered as incentives. Such donations are the traditional source of funding for all right-of-centre cadre parties. Starting in the late 19th century these parties were opposed by the newly founded left-of-centre workers' parties. They started a new party type, the mass membership party, and a new source of political fundraising, membership dues.

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