5. Challenges related to campaign financing This chapter presents some of the key findings from the Part 3 of the EJD, which contains data about institutional oversight of campaign finance, the types of administrative sanctions applied to infractions related to breaches of regulations, and how appeals related to these sanctions are handled in various countries. One of the major contemporary challenges to democracy is the impact of money on politics. In the sphere of elections this largely affects campaign financing. Media reports on growing campaign expenses in both established and younger democracies highlight that the relationship between money and politics requires serious analysis, particularly of the causes and consequences of the involvement of huge financial resources in election campaigns. One of the effective ways of monitoring and controlling campaign finance is the establishment of oversight institutions that have the power and political will to ensure that money does not undermine the integrity of elections. Given the importance of this topic, a specific part of the EJD was dedicated to institutional oversight of campaign finance and the procedures for handling infractions related to breaches of regulations. As mentioned in the introduction, this chapter deals with EDR mechanisms that are punitive in nature. However, it covers only noncriminal or administrative sanctions imposed on campaign finance infractions. It should be noted that campaign finance infractions are also considered criminal acts in many countries. Comparative data on campaign finance infractions that entail criminal sanctions or penalties are covered in Chapter 6 of this report. The questions included in Part 3 of the EJD represent the critical components of the EDR process dealing with campaign finance infractions (see Appendix B). Figure 5.1 models this process in sequential order. It is notable that dispute-resolution processes related to campaign finance can commence only if the decisions of the oversights institutions are subject to appeal. Part 3 of the EJD currently provides comparative data for 170 countries. The findings indicate that the legislation of 49 countries (29 per cent) does not contain provisions for institutional oversight of campaign finance (Figure 5.2). Some of these countries have regulations on the general institutional oversight of political party funding, but these do not specifically target campaign finance and the ways of dealing with campaign finance infractions.5 5 International IDEA’s Political Finance Database contains global data on the institutions that play a formal role in political finance oversight, <http://www.idea. int/political-finance/>. 41