Who finances election campaigns? And WHY?

As voters in Chile prepared to head to the polls last Sunday, and those in the Netherlands reflect on their recent election, both have at least some insight into who is financing the campaigns seeking their support - and the business or foreign interests that may stand behind them.

- Henry J. Schumacher [e-mail]

Unfortunately, in most countries, voters are left in the dark about who finances election campaigns.

A new research released last week, shows that of 117 countries reviewed across Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 70 per cent have no system for publishing political finance information online.

The global research is equally troubling: in 109 of 157 countries, citizens go to the polls without the same opportunity Chileans and the Dutch have - to know who funds the campaigns vying for their votes. Only 7 countries in Asia and the Pacific, 13 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 28 in Europe, and 1 in Africa make such information publicly available online. Obviously, the Philippines is not doing that.

Where political money flows unseen, democracy ultimately suffers. Hidden donors tilt elections, buy influence and corrode public trust.