Module Specifications
Academic Year 2026 - 2027
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Description This module aims to discuss some of the most sensitive topics affecting the functioning of contemporary democracies: the tension between the democratic ideal of political equality with the unequal distribution of resources, the disproportionate influence of the most affluent social groups on the decision-making process and policy outcomes, and the relationship between political financing, political competition, and corruption. Throughout the classes, students will get accustomed to a broad range of concepts, approaches and analytical tools aimed to connect the normative and theoretical debates on the role of money as a tool of political association and participation with different regulatory options designed to address the nefarious effects of political financing on the quality of democratic governance. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Learning Outcomes 1. LO1 Understand how political money might impinge on the representativeness, responsiveness, and accountability of democratic governments towards different sections of society. 2. LO2 Analyze different policy options, goals, and tools concerning the regulation of political financing regimes across the key regulatory dimensions such as private funding, public funding, spending, transparency, oversight, and sanctions. 3. LO3 Assess the implications of different political finance rules for party/candidate competition, political participation, and corruption. 4. LO4 Propose alternative solutions of how to mitigate the negative impact of money on the democratic process. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml |
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Indicative Content and Learning Activities
Money – politics nexus: political equality and political/electoral participation and freedom of speech The impact of money-politics interplay on political equality, participation and representation. We will focus on how the inequality of economic resources may affect the likelihood of political/electoral capacity to run for public office at the individual (candidates) and collective (political parties) levels. Freedom to spend as freedom of speech. Freedom to contribute as freedom of association. Research design, methodological and empirical issues in studying the linkage between money and politics Examination of the key issues hampering the systematic comparative research on political financing, including data collection, aggregation and standardization, and the relationship between regulations and actual financing practices. We will also look at several ways to build up indexes and make data on political finance comparable across nations and time. These exercises will be performed across different areas of political financing, including private contributions, public funding, spending, transparency, oversight and sanctions. Trade-offs and shortcomings. Party and campaign contributions and political influence Discussion of several approaches on why individuals and businesses make political contributions and the potential effects on democratic politics. Does the business have a structural power compared to other social groups? Political financing as a problem of collective action. Are there any optimal limits to balance the tension between the freedom of association and undue political influence? Public funding of parties and election campaigns Public funding as a regulatory option. Types of public funding: direct (direct subsidies) and indirect funding (free and subsidized access to media, tax breaks etc.) Pros and cons for the provision of public funding to political parties and candidates. Political parties between cartels and public utilities. Variation in the size of state funding, eligibility, and allocation rules. Campaign spending and political competition Regulatory tools to limit campaign spending: limits on total spending vs limits on individual spending items (e.g., media ads). The effect of spending rules on electoral competition. The variation in spending caps. Determinants of spending. Relationship between spending and electoral outcomes. Transparency of party and campaign spending Relationship between reporting and disclosure. The variation in the scope and stringency of transparency obligations. Is transparency the best disinfectant? Disclosure of donors’ identity – between public interests and privacy: risks and challenges. Oversight and sanctions of political financing Features of an effective oversight: institutional autonomy and extensive powers. The variation in supervision arrangements. The balance between the graveness of financing related breaches and the severity of sanctions. When sanctions are ‘dissuasive and proportional’? The variation in oversight and sanctions. Drivers of political financing reforms Why and when political parties are more likely to draft and pass political financing reforms? Potential factors affecting the propensity of political funding reforms: corruption scandals, robustness/intensity of political competition, collusion rationales, international conditionality, pressure from below, normative considerations. Political finance and political corruption The peculiarities of political corruption concerning political financing. Types of corrupt exchanges: governmental favouritism in the allocation of public/procurement contracts, favourable legislation. Party finance and state capture. Problems in assessing political corruption related to party and campaign funding. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Indicative Reading List Books:
Articles:
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Other Resources None | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||