Running out of oxygen: the financial condition of Italian political parties

Electoral competition is quite expensive. The prevalent idea in Western countries is that public funding may contribute to and preserve the system’s fairness and pluralism, defending political parties from the influence of big money. However, the Italian reform of political funding approved in 2014...

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Main Author: Chiara Fiorelli
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Firenze University Press 2022-11-01
Series:QOE-IJES
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Online Access:https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/qoe/article/view/12899
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author Chiara Fiorelli
author_facet Chiara Fiorelli
author_sort Chiara Fiorelli
collection DOAJ
description Electoral competition is quite expensive. The prevalent idea in Western countries is that public funding may contribute to and preserve the system’s fairness and pluralism, defending political parties from the influence of big money. However, the Italian reform of political funding approved in 2014 appears to move in an opposite direction, encouraging political players to extract private sources while discarding public support. Such a choice entails hazards associated with several current phenomena, including system transparency, financial appeals from competing players and the rising personalization of politics. This article describes the financial status of the major Italian political parties in 2013 and 2018, with an emphasis on the allocation of private funds. Unfortunately, political parties’ responses to the new regulation came late, resulting in significant variations and disparities. Private money needs regulation and restrictions before being established as the primary source of revenue for political competition. At present, Italian political parties are left with few guidelines and appear to be navigating by sight.
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spelling doaj-art-20f5e52c5e904d22a1555e62d41a6be12025-07-18T12:53:56ZengFirenze University PressQOE-IJES0392-67532724-46792022-11-0185210.36253/qoe-12899Running out of oxygen: the financial condition of Italian political partiesChiara Fiorelli0University of Bologna Electoral competition is quite expensive. The prevalent idea in Western countries is that public funding may contribute to and preserve the system’s fairness and pluralism, defending political parties from the influence of big money. However, the Italian reform of political funding approved in 2014 appears to move in an opposite direction, encouraging political players to extract private sources while discarding public support. Such a choice entails hazards associated with several current phenomena, including system transparency, financial appeals from competing players and the rising personalization of politics. This article describes the financial status of the major Italian political parties in 2013 and 2018, with an emphasis on the allocation of private funds. Unfortunately, political parties’ responses to the new regulation came late, resulting in significant variations and disparities. Private money needs regulation and restrictions before being established as the primary source of revenue for political competition. At present, Italian political parties are left with few guidelines and appear to be navigating by sight. https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/qoe/article/view/12899Political FinancingParty’s OrganizationPersonalisationPrivate Political FinancingFinancial Appeal
spellingShingle Chiara Fiorelli
Running out of oxygen: the financial condition of Italian political parties
QOE-IJES
Political Financing
Party’s Organization
Personalisation
Private Political Financing
Financial Appeal
title Running out of oxygen: the financial condition of Italian political parties
title_full Running out of oxygen: the financial condition of Italian political parties
title_fullStr Running out of oxygen: the financial condition of Italian political parties
title_full_unstemmed Running out of oxygen: the financial condition of Italian political parties
title_short Running out of oxygen: the financial condition of Italian political parties
title_sort running out of oxygen the financial condition of italian political parties
topic Political Financing
Party’s Organization
Personalisation
Private Political Financing
Financial Appeal
url https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/qoe/article/view/12899
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