Political Finance in Asian Democracies: Reforms for Transparency and Integrity

The term “political finance” is used to describe all funds that are raised and spent for political purposes. Across democratic countries, various models exist based on which political parties and candidates can raise funds for political campaigns and contest for public offices. Regarding the use of political funds, a system of checks and balances is crucial to ensure level of the playing field for all associated actors. In this working paper series, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Taiwan provided an overview of their respective systems of political finance. Through comparing, contrasting, and providing comprehensive feedback of each system, the authors examined viable ways to enhance transparent political finance systems.

In order to address this issue, the Asia Democracy Research Network (ADRN) has been conducting research on the System of Political Finance Across Asian Democracies based on country cases since 2020. As part of this research project, EAI has planned a working papers series composed of four working papers.

1. Ridho Imawan Hanafi, Sri Nuryanti ∣ Indonesian Political Party Finance for a Better Accountability

2. Iman Amran, Aira Azhari ∣ Political Funding in Malaysia: Starting from the Ground Up

3. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob ∣ Regulating the Use of Money in Politics: The Case of Pakistan

4. Chin-en Wu, Yun-han Chu ∣ Campaign Finance in Taiwan