As the contest for public office advances, leaders try to persuade the public with their ideas and single out the weaknesses and failures of their opponents. At this point corruption plays a central role in the political rhetoric, through accusations or with promises for the future.

Elections define the political elite who will lead in coming years. But elections also bring with them less visible commitments for future governments. It is not only supporters of a winning party who expect a share of power. Campaign donors also represent an unseen burden for future governments. Public procurement, regulations favouring specific companies, inexplicably lax controls of illicit financial activity or organised crime are all ways by which governments repay financial support during an electoral campaign.

See here for more information on the link between political campaigns and corruption.

During election years, governments apply the bulk of public funds to advertising, many social programs are still used as a reward for the loyalty of its followers, campaign funds serve for expenditures to seduce voters in need of campaign gifts or openly for the purchase of votes. Despite a possible consolidation of electoral procedures in the region, balanced political competition, free of corruption and manipulation, remains a challenge in many countries.

See here for a complete programme of the elections in 2006.

The topic of corruption has long occupied the region’s political agenda. Governments with terms ending in 2006 (Mexico, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, El Salvador, Chile, and Nicaragua) reached office on anti-corruption platforms. Some launched reforms to combat corruption practices in public administration. Nicaraguan president Enrique Bolaños broke with his own party in order to follow through on the process of holding accountable his predecessor Arnoldo Alemán, whose capture has been ordered by Panama due to alleged money-laundering. Nonetheless, serious corruption accusations have been made in Bolaños’ own government. Members of congress in Costa Rica have been investigated for illicit campaign financing, in Brazil a series of continuous accusations have been made against the ruling Worker’s Party and in Colombia, accusations against the former chief of the country’s intelligence service, also imply the purchase of votes Once again, the challenge in 2006 will be to decipher which public project proposals are clearly political rhetoric and which ones are serious plans for which real commitment must be proven.

In order to minimise these risks, different countries sought varying solutions. The three roads followed are not exclusive but Mexico implemented a system to decrease the role of private funds through public subsidies and a similar system was implemented in Colombia for this year’s elections. Brazil applied a system that is tolerant of private contributions but with demanding requirements of transparency and accountability. Argentina, Costa Rica and other countries, established limits to private financing, thereby decreasing the dependency of representatives on donors. No country has been able to rid itself of problems in a sustainable manner, of the problems linked to political financing.

Transparency International advocates for Standards on Political Finance and Favours by developing common principles taking into account the diversity of national cultures while recognising the value of actions that could be supported on a regional level. The standards outline the minimum benchmarks for transparency and integrity of political financing, and a second document, TI's Policy Brief 2/2005 on 'Political Finance Regulations: Bridging the Enforcement Gap', provides key suggestions for how to ensure that recommendations are effectively enforced.

– By, Bruno Speck, TI Senior Analyst for Anti-Corruption Policy in Latin America.

The TI Latin America and the Caribbean launched the Disclosure of Political Finance in Latin America regional project in October 2005. Designed in partnership with the Carter Center, it is a way to assess the degree of transparency in political financing. In its first phase, which runs until January 2007, eight Latin American countries will be participating: Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay and Peru. The project’s findings will be used to advise key players (such as governments, political parties, and watchdog groups) on how to foster transparency in their electoral and party financing systems.

The Central American Task Force on Political Financing is part of the New Allies Programme in Central America funded by DANIDA. The Task Force is made up of TI national chapters and organisations allied with the TI movement in Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua.

These organisations and representatives from TI´s secretariat meet before elections are scheduled to take place in a given country in order to share experiences and good practices in the area of political party finance monitoring, and to provide international support.

To date, three Task Forces have already taken place in Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

See here for a complete listing of the programs and initiatives of TI chapters in the Americas.

The National Integrity System (NIS) consists of the key institutions, laws and practices that contribute to integrity, transparency and accountability in a society. When it functions properly, the NIS combats corruption as part of the larger struggle against abuse of power, malfeasance, and misappropriation in all its forms. The NIS approach provides a framework with which to analyse both the extent and causes of corruption in a given national context, as well as the adequacy and effectiveness of national anti-corruption efforts. By diagnosing the strengths and weaknesses of a particular integrity system, an evaluation based on the NIS can help inform anti-corruption advocacy and reform efforts.

Transparency International has carried out NIS studies in 15 countries in the Americas. To see the NIS studies, click here.

Tool Kit 2002 – 2003:
A section of the Corruption Fighter’s Toolkit details civil society experiences and strategies around political campaigns