Introduction from Money, Parties, and Democracy

Abstract This chapter introduces the book by illustrating a few examples of political finance scandals from such diverse countries as the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Japan, and the way in which these countries have implemented reforms to respond to them. The goal of the chapter is to show that such scandals can have different roots, some related to private funding and the risk that parties may be captured by a few wealthy ‘fat cats’, others to public funding and the opposite risk that parties may themselves capture a ‘big government’. The chapter also discusses specific factors that can incentivize (or disincentivize) parties to implement political finance reforms. Finally, the chapter provides an outline of the book structure, summarizing the key arguments developed in each of the subsequent chapters.