By Dr. Asyll Warner

CAMPAIGN FINANCE refers to the means by which money is raised for election campaigns. And campaigns have many expenditures ranging from travel cost to the purchasing of radio and TV time, campaign paraphernalia and billboards. As such, many candidates devote too much time and effort raising money and little or no time discussing the issues of the day.

Although most contributors give to support candidates whom they support, there is that wide perception that donors expect illegitimate or illegal and unethical favours in return. The larger the contribution the bigger are the favours expected. Some may, if not all, have come to equate campaign finance with corruption and bribery.

Campaign finance is and will always be a controversial issue, as this brings out concerns over free speech as against concerns for corruption and inequality on the part of those accepting donations.

For most countries of the world, and in particular the underworld, campaign financing is unregulated. Even in the US, where numerous attempts have been made such as the Hatch Act up to the 2002 congressional act campaign, contributions still raise its ugly head.

PRIVATE FINANCING
In most countries, political parties rely exclusively on private financing for their campaigns, and as such fundraising is a significant activity for most candidates. In private financing there are four basic formulas:
• Hard Money;
• Soft Money;
• Hidden Money; and
• Bundling.

Hard Money
Hard Money is money contributed directly to a campaign by big donors, or those who can give over the hundred thousand dollars, depending on the strength and health of the economy. In over 90 percent of the countries which use the democratic process, hard process is not regulated by law. Therefore, big businesses, or the money class in a small undeveloped society, can and do buy elections and ultimately buy a government. Remember that the larger the hard money contribution the bigger the favour. It is also true that the larger the hard money the more exposed politicians are to corruption.

Hard Money is usually offered in cash to maintain anonymity, and in bills not bigger than $100. Cheques written to a political campaign is very rarely done, as paper leaves a trail and donors lose their anonymity. Another danger to Hard Money is that it very often makes circuitous routes, or what is called passing the money or cleaning the money, better known as money laundering. In this way, a big contributor gives the money in cash to a small business person who deposits it into his business, then doles it out in a number of smaller amounts over time. Most of the time, this money is not given to the party treasurer but to the candidate or party leader. The party leader then is the main depository of hard cash, and this is the perfect case for corruption as there is no accountability. In this scenario, all of the intermediaries can steal from the suitcase full of hard cash. The supporters of hard cash say that it gets past action, less cumbersome to manage and fewer people to be indebted to.

Soft Money
Soft Money in undeveloped countries refers to money collected at rally, fundraisers and small donations from grass-root supporters. This process is time consuming and needs committed campaign workers who are often far and few between. This process does not bring in big money. Many political parties earmark their members for monthly or annual contributions, and this depends on the size of the supporters’ pocketbooks. This process serves to involve the grass-roots and make them a part of the process. With little money one cannot realistically buy votes, as votes are expensive and with long range consequences. It also lessens the chances of corruption and bribery.

One of the consequences of it is that contributors will feel that the party/government owes them a favour and the will be lots of people to give favour too.

Bundling
Bundling is a consequence of laws and restrictions in some countries. In countries with restrictions on donations from individuals, they bundle their money in an organisation which in turn contribute the donations to a political party as an organisation and not as individuals. This is most prevalent in circumstances where there are restrictions on contributions.
However, in underdeveloped countries, clubs and organisations often bundle their money and give equal amounts to the respective parties. In this way, the group will remain in the good graces of whichever party wins the election.

Bundlers often donate money under other peoples’ name and so protect their anonymity. Most bundlers operate legally and this helps to eliminate and reduce the cost of fundraising for candidates.

Hidden Money
Hidden Money is simply money which is either laundered money or money kept by the leader to keep his candidates in check. This is dangerous, as the leader always seem to have a bottomless money pit. He hides the money and doles it out in dribs and drabs to candidates, thus making them beholden to him. This is especially true where the leader and not the party holds the money bag.

Alternatives to Financing
The concept of public financing is now taking a front seat in electioneering. This is due to the fact that too many private funding is holding the country to ransom. This type of funding and financing is widespread in South America and Europe. The mechanism for this is quite varied from direct donations to matching funds by government.

This system has many advantages:
• It decreases corruption;
• Promotes civic participation;
• Greater faith in the political process;
• Forces the candidate to discuss issues;
•  Forces candidates to work hard for support, thus bringing them closer to people; and
• It affords all parties access to the public media at reduced rates.

On the other hand, it is time consuming, it is expensive for government, and the government should not subsidise political speech.

Clean Elections
Clean elections or clean money or voter-owned elections is the term used to describe a particular system of government financing totally. Under a clean election system, candidates must collect small donations from registered voters. In return, they are paid a flat sum by the government to run their campaign and agree not to raise money from private source.

Clean elections differ from more traditional systems in a number of ways:
1. It places campaign donation caps on the donors and supplements the qualified candidates with money to run their campaign;
2. They are required to prove that they have legally collected small donations before they are qualified to receive government’s funding;
3. It allows for private funding, but the candidates are subjected to severe scrutiny and restrictions on their level of funding;
4. Publicly financed candidates who are outspent by privately financed candidates receive additional “rescue funds”;
5. There is a cap on the amount which can be used in any election;
6. It increases candidates competiveness ;
7. Incumbents who are there too long cannot be creative and often lose to those with new ideas;
8. Minorities are much more visible in elections;
9. The number of donors increases substantially across the board, as people feel that they are part of the system; and
10. Clean elections are more representative of the people.