Los costos de la anticorrupción: balanceando libertad e igualdad en la regulación del financiamiento electoral.

Abstract

This paper’s aim is to analyze some common aspects of campaign finance regulation, in light of the tensions that arise between anti-corruption policies and the democratic values of liberty and equality. First, we will analyze the different corruption dynamics that emerge when campaigns are financed exclusively with either public funds or with contributions from the private sector, as a result of which a mixed-sourced financing system might be the most desirable alternative. After that, we will focus on some issues concerning private money in campaign financing, with emphasis in the so-called independent expenditures, which are not regulated under Argentine law. Particularly, we will discuss its very nature, and the legal consequences resulting from their treatment as either speech rights or property rights. Then, we will briefly address the role of corporations in campaign financing. Finally, we will examine the relation between transparency policies and individual liberties as well as egalitarian principles, and the connections between such policies and the rest of the campaign financing regulatory scheme.