On the Coherence of Political Finance Regulation

What explains the evolution of party funding regimes and what factors shape the legislators’ behaviour? These questions have garnered increasing attention among scholars working on political finance regulation. Different drives underlying political finance reforms have been identified thus far: egalitarian, cartel, or autocratic (Katz and Mair, Norris); revenue maximisation or electoral economy (Scarrow); institutional, strategic, or societal (Koss). Although recognizing that different drives may play a role in different moments in time and under different circumstances, these explanations rely on the assumption that political finance rules are bound together by some coherent rationale. This paper questions this assumption. Based on a comprehensive account of political finance rules in Europe, the paper will show that political finance rules are hardly coherent and internally consistent with regard to a specific type or model of legislators’ behaviour.