illustration for the drivers of inequality

Driver Category 6.3

Lack of mechanisms that prevent corruption, and the formal and informal use of excessive power and influence by specific groups

This driver covers regulation and enforcement related to ensuring appropriate checks and balance mechanisms, including the effective separation of powers, appropriate rules on the financing of political parties and political campaigns, rules on lobbying, concentration and control of the media, as well as on the prevention of ‘revolving doors’ between the public and private sectors. It also relates to any other informal practices that could allow political and economic elites to exert excessive power for their advantage at the expense of the rest of population.

Guiding Questions

General questions

  • How concentrated is the elite’s political and economic power?
  • Has there been any social network analysis to investigate the networks and relationships that exist amongst the elite?
  • What informal mechanisms are in use that enable elites to work together to influence political or legal decisions or resource allocations?
  • Has there been any research looking at specific cases of elite capture such as in relation to procurement contracts, budget allocations, tax incentives or the nature of tax and regulatory reforms?

Financial political parties and campaigns

  • How are political parties funded?
  • What % comes from party members/individual supporters and public funding compared to the % that comes from private donations?
  • What % comes from corporate donations?
  • Is international aid financing political parties as part of good governance programmes?
  • What is the nature of the legal framework in relation to political party financing?
  • What are the rules regarding receipt of public funding by political parties (e.g. equal to all parties or dependent on a variable such as number of votes, number of candidates elected, party membership or some combination of these)?
  • Is due consideration given to the equality of chances for smaller parties and political newcomers?
  • What rules exist regarding private donations?
  • Are there any restrictions on amounts per donor or the total sum of donations per year?
  • Are there conditions on the qualification of donors?
  • What loopholes exist in current rules that can be circumvented?
  • Are there any tax incentives for private donations?
  • What is the nature of existing rules related to the disclosure of political finance?
  • Do parties have to disclose all aspects of their funding, including the specific identification of donors who provide donations exceeding a certain value?
  • Are the financial accounts of political parties made available to both the regulator and the public?
  • Is there an independent audit authority that has investigative powers and can enforce rules around political financing?
  • Are there meaningful sanctions for parties/candidates who violate the rules?
  • Is there evidence of links between donated money (from wealthy individuals or businesses) and specific political decisions?

Public sector integrity and parliamentary regulations

  • What laws and regulations exist regarding parliamentary behaviour and the ethical standards and integrity of public officials?
  • Is there a code of conduct for public officials and parliamentarians?
  • What is the mechanism to receive and investigate complaints about violations of standards?
  • What are the potential sanctions that can be applied?
  • Are investigations handled by a special ethics committee within parliament or by an external regulator (e.g. anti-corruption agency)?
  • Is the mechanism in place working appropriately?
  • If there is an external body to combat state corruption, is it adequately staffed and resourced?
  • Is it able to conduct effective investigations and prosecutions for corruption?
  • What are the rules and mechanisms for the disclosure of financial information and potential conflicts of interest?
  • Do politicians have to register ‘paid outside positions’, gifts, previous employment, assets and sources of income?
  • Are parliamentarians’ expenses and allowances recorded?
  • How is this data monitored by parliament and is all information publicly disclosed?

Rules on lobbying

  • Is there a clear definition in law for who is a lobbyist and what lobbying is?
  • Is a lobbying register maintained?
  • Are non-profit organisations, charitable and religious organisations included or exempted from the definition of a lobby organisation?
  • What information is provided in the lobbying register?
  • Do lobbyists have to provide the names of their clients, the subject matters they lobby on, their income from lobbying and lobbying expenses?
  • Do they have to report any contributions to political campaigns?
  • What lobby activities are recorded (contacts with government agencies, description of legislative proposals, meetings)?
  • Are financial transactions (e.g. gifts, reimbursement for travel, hospitality) between lobbyists and public officials legal?
  • What government body is charged with oversight of lobbying?
  • Is it adequately staffed and resourced?
  • What sanctions are there for breaching standards or codes of conduct?
  • What analysis is available on the impact of corporate lobbying?
  • Is there evidence of links between lobbying efforts and specific political decisions?
  • Is there evidence of links between the regulation of markets (such as for water, energy and transport) and lobbying activities?
  • What are the links between lobbying and political financing?
  • Do government officials make information publicly available regarding their meetings with lobbyists?
  • Is it possible to access information about the content of meetings between senior public officials and lobbyists under freedom of (access to) information acts?

Revolving doors

  • Is there evidence that former politicians, advisors and other parliamentary staff become lobbyists, or vice versa that lobbyists enter government?
  • Are there any restrictions on personnel moving between regulatory posts, government advisory posts and related private sector posts?
  • Are there any restrictions in place on public officials engaging with a lobbying firm, or taking up private sector appointments where they may lobby their previous colleagues, after leaving the public sector?
  • Are there any restrictions on hiring lobbyists to fill regulatory or advisory posts in government?

Control of the media

  • What is the existing level of concentration of media ownership in your country?
  • What is the balance between public and private ownership across different types of national media and how is this reflected in market shares?
  • Is the media dominated by a very small number of large private firms or an individual using control of the media for their own political interests?
  • How is media ownership regulated in your country?
  • Are there limitations to private ownership, including with regard to cross-ownership of different media types (such as owners of newspapers purchasing interests in television)?
  • Are companies/individuals restricted from owning a major newspaper and television station in the same market?
  • Are there limitations on the number of licenses held (across radio, television, newspaper), or ceilings for market share, or limitations on ownership shares across mediums?
  • What standards are in place for commercial broadcasters and privately owned newspapers?
  • Are there regulatory requirements related to balanced content and journalistic ethics?
  • Is the regulator able to effectively monitor the sector and sanction violations and abuses?

Indicators

Potential indicators to monitor the drivers of inequalities in this main driver category

  • % of political party/electoral funding from public funding
  • % of political party/electoral funding from corporate donations (total, by party)
  • Existence of an effective, adequately funded and independent electoral commission
  • Number of violations recorded/sanctions applied in relation to political party financing rules and other violations recorded of electoral legislation
  • Number of violations recorded/sanctions applied in relation to parliamentary ethics and standards
  • Number of staff employed by anti-corruption agency (or parliamentary ethics body) and annual budget
  • Number of staff employed by lobbying regulator and annual budget
  • Amounts spent by corporations on lobbying (total, per sector/issue, per lobby firm)
  • Number of ministerial meetings with lobbyists (total, per sector/issue, per lobby firm)
  • % of retiring politicians and parliamentary staff who become lobbyists
  • Breakdown of media ownership (by audience share, by type of media)
  • Number of staff employed by media regulator and annual budget
  • Number of violations recorded/ sanctions applied by media regulator

Candidate Policies

To see related Candidate Policies in this main driver category please click here.