Money and Democratic Politics Workshop

Press Release

Senior academics, government ministers, parliamentarians, representatives of civil society and others from the Commonwealth countries will gather in New Delhi, India, 21-24 November for a workshop entitled Money and Democratic Politics. The workshop is organized by the Commonwealth Secretariat and International IDEA in co-operation with the Election Commission of India and the Confederation of Indian Industries.

The workshop will explore issues around three main themes:

• Money and Political Parties
  
  What are the arguments for and against state funding of political parties? Others issues include the regulation of political donations and how funding regulations can affect women and men differently.

• Money and Elections
  
  How should political broadcasting time be paid for? Rules for incumbents prior to and during elections, election expenditure/limits for parties and candidates and informal payments ('vote-buying') will be discussed in this session.

• Money, Parliament and the Executive
  
  This session will address ways of increasing transparency and maintaining high standards in parliament and government.

The overall objective of the workshop is to ensure that through an exchange of information, views and expert knowledge, the participants distil current thinking on the agenda items, highlight best practices and, after consideration of past and present experiences, make practical proposals for future action.

The workshop is part of the Commonwealth's 'Deepening Democracy' series and will also present the forthcoming International IDEA Handbook on Funding of Parties and Election Campaigns.

The fourth day of the workshop is called The Role of Money in Indian Democratic Politics and will give a more local focus. It will share the outcomes of the first days' discussions with a broader group of Indian participants, and continue the discussion on the basis of the Indian context.

A report from the four-day workshop will subsequently be produced for wide dissemination.

For more information, contact:

Maja Tjernström
Assistant Project Officer
International IDEA

Additional contact email: idea_comsec@hotmail.com