Innovative but feeble
Civil society and political financing accountability in Uruguay
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6434071 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Fernanda Odilla (0000-0003-2229-986X, University of Bologna), Germán Bidegain (0000-0002-4007-4843, Universidad de la República de Uruguay, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 159-179 |
| Publication date | 2024-10-15 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Civil Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1744-8689 • E-ISSN: 1744-8697 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17448689.2024.2413524 |
| OpenAlex | W4403425012 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 37 |
This article examines the impact of civic action on enhancing accountability and combating corruption in political financing, focusing on two civil society initiatives in Uruguay. The initiatives aimed to digitize and map information on funding received by political parties and politicians in the 2009 and 2014 elections, presenting their findings through interactive online platforms. The paper engages theoretically with the literature on the dimensions of accountability and contributes to understanding the challenges faced by civil society organizations in promoting political financing accountability even in full democracies, a topic largely understudied. Findings highlight concerns beyond electoral authorities’ well-known resource constraints in detecting illicit political donations and spending in Uruguay. The paper shows that transparency is not enough to reduce corruption. We argue that for political finance accountability to be effective, it must encompass bottom-up, horizontal, and diagonal dimensions. The analysis suggests the need for complementary measures, such as digital solutions for reporting and disclosing political finance information, along with active horizontal and bottom-up oversight mechanisms. The article draws on qualitative analysis based on documentary research and 19 interviews with activists, academics, journalists, developers of the initiatives, and public officials involved in political finance regulation
Accountability · Civil society · Political science · Politics · Corruption and Economic Development · International Development and Aid · Law · Public Administration
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The Quest for Good Governance
NGOs, civil society and democratization
Money in the 2014 Congressional Elections
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Civil Society after Democracy
Anticorruption frames
Civic hacking as data activism and advocacy
Citizens in Action, What Do They Accomplish? A Systematic Literature Review of Citizen Initiatives, Their Main Characteristics, Outcomes, and Factors
Accountability Theory in Nonprofit Research
Civil society and control of corruption
Social Accountability
Is Transparency the Key to Reducing Corruption in Resource-Rich Countries
The Contingencies of Societal Accountability
Constraining Governments
Gauging the Effects of Social Accountability on Services, Governance, and Citizen Empowerment
Societal Accountability and Grand Corruption
Case Selection Techniques in Case Study Research
Horizontal Accountability in New Democracies
Societal Accountability in Latin America
Do Political Finance Reforms Reduce Corruption
Collegiate Executives and Direct Democracy in Switzerland and Uruguay
Rethinking Civil Society
From data politics to the contentious politics of data
Bureaucratic Quality and Electoral Accountability
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |