Can financial transparency help parties institutionalize and save democracy?

Abstract

Traditional political parties have been in decline for quite some time. In this article, we link the crisis of traditional political parties to the crisis of democracy, pointing to enhanced transparency of political parties’ finances as a response to both crises. In particular, and building on Casal Bértoa and Rama’s (2021a. “The Antiestablishment Challenge.” Journal of Democracy 32 (1): 37–51) work, we propose that by (1) introducing state subsidies, (2) making it a requirement that all funding, whether public or private, is disclosed, and (3) establishing an independent and capable oversight body, political parties will become more financially transparent and institutionalized, which in turn will lead to a deepening of democracy.