The problem with party finance : theoretical perspectives on the funding of party politics

Hopkin, Jonathan ORCID: 0000-0002-3187-4013 (2004) The problem with party finance : theoretical perspectives on the funding of party politics. Party Politics, 10 (6). pp. 627-651. ISSN 1460-3683

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Abstract

This article presents some theoretical contours for the study of party finance and its consequences. Two broad issues are explored. First, the article develops an account of changes in patterns of party finance, and in particular the move away from the ‘mass party’ model of funding towards ‘elite party’ and ‘cartel party’ models. Party finance is conceptualized as a collective action problem, and four ‘post-mass party’ financial strategies are identified. Second, the article addresses normative issues, assessing how these four financial models perform in terms of ‘liberal’ and ‘populist’ theories of democracy. It is concluded that the mass party model remains closest to the ‘democratic’ ideal, whilst the state-financed (‘cartel’) model is a reasonable pragmatic response to the decline in party membership.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://www.sagepub.co.uk/journal.aspx?pid=105727
Additional Information:	Published 2004 © SAGE Publications. LSE has developed LSE Research Online so that users may access research output of the School. Copyright and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may download and/or print one copy of any article(s) in LSE Research Online to facilitate their private study or for non-commercial research. You may not engage in further distribution of the material or use it for any profit-making activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute the URL (<http://eprints.lse.ac.uk>) of the LSE Research Online website.
Divisions:	Government
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HG Finance J Political Science > JC Political theory
Date Deposited:	20 Feb 2006
Last Modified:	11 Dec 2024 22:50
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/646

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