Financing party politics in Italy

A case of systemic corruption

Bibliographic Data

ID6406576
AuthorsMartin Rhodes (0000-0001-9540-5470, European University Institute, corresponding author)
Year1997
Volume20
Issue1
Pages54-80
Publication date1997-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueWest European Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0140-2382 • E-ISSN: 1743-9655
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01402389708425175
OpenAlexW2023051340
LanguageEN
Citations received22
References cited6

Party finance in Italy has been regulated by law since 1974. But the introduction of regulation did little to restrain the expansion of well established practices of financing from bribes and kickbacks. Indeed, there are good reasons to suggest that the form of regulation actually fuelled the rapid growth of corruption throughout the Italian political system in the 1970s and 1980s which led, eventually, to the collapse of the traditional parties in the early 1990s. This collapse, and the ground‐swell of popular anti‐party sentiment that accompanied it, provided an opportunity for reform, but only after a referendum banned all public subvention of parties and political campaigns. A new law on party finance introduced at the end of 1993 breaks with 20 years of tradition and public funding is now restricted to reimbursement of candidates and lists of candidates ‐ rather than parties ‐ for campaign expenditure only. Whether this will prevent the re‐emergence of widespread illicit party financing has yet to be seen

Business · Campaign finance · Economic policy · Economics · Language change · Political corruption · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public finance · Referendum · Reimbursement · European Political History Analysis · Finance · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society · Italy: Economic History and Contemporary Issues · Law · Public Administration

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