Money, Politics, and Democracy

Have recent party finance reforms destabilized Canadian politics forthe long term?

This revealing volume examines the role of party finance reforms in shaping a period, since 2004, of political instability and successive minority governments in Canada.

In 2004, Jean Chrétien’s Liberals banned unions andcorporations from contributing financially to political parties. In2008, opposition leaders were prepared to defeat the Conservativegovernment over its proposal to eliminate public subsidies toparties.

In Money, Politics, and Democracy, Lisa Young and HaroldJansen lead a distinguished group of political scientists in exploringthe issues that led to the showdown. Are publicly funded partiescompatible with democracy? What effect have campaign finance reformshad on the balance of power between parties and donors, on therelationship between national parties and local organizations, onelectoral competition? This timely volume reveals that the financialcentre of gravity for political parties is shifting between nationaland local organizations as individual donors replace unions andcorporations. To survive financially, parties must now maximize theirseats and votes. Contributors show that campaign finance reforms haveshaped party organization and electoral competition, contributing tosuccessive minority governments.