Political Finance in Africa (POLFINA)

In many countries, political corruption undermines the delivery of public services and hurts electoral accountability. The high costs of election campaigns are often a primary motivator for politicians' engagement in corruption. Accordingly, the Political Finance in Africa Project (POLFINA) seeks to understand the role that tighter political finance regulation can play in reducing corruption and enhancing the resilience of democratic institutions. POLFINA focuses on political finance in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)—the continent with the lowest levels of political finance regulation. The project considers why countries adopt reforms and the impact of changes in legislation. The project's overarching aim is to generate new knowledge to promote the adoption of stricter political finance regulations to help reduce political corruption.
POLFINA consists of three interrelated work packages, adopting a multi-faceted approach that combines qualitative and quantitative research methods, cross-national data analysis, and in-depth country case studies. POLFINA will answer the following questions: 1. How does political finance legislation vary over time and across countries in SSA? 2. What triggers political finance reforms? 3. What are the consequences of reforms? To answer these questions, POLFINA will construct the first-ever longitudinal dataset (1990–2024) on political finance legislation across SSA countries, collect standardised survey data from both elected politicians and citizens, and rich interview data from various stakeholders.
POLFINA is designed to benefit four key groups: practitioners, policymakers, scholars, and citizens. For practitioners, POLFINA offers unique cross-national data that can help identify countries that have made progress and those that are lagging in terms of regulation. Policymakers will find evidence-based insights and the opportunity to learn from the experiences of their peers in other countries. Scholars across various disciplines will gain...