· One characteristic of Central and Eastern European democracies in transition is the lack of stability in terms of accountability and transparency in practices of political party financing. This key volume provides a thorough and well-structured post-communist study of political finance, election campaign and party funding issues within this region, focusing specifically on Central and Eastern European countries. It outlines best practices for political party and election campaign financing, discusses the shortcomings of political funding schemes and highlights the scandals that emerge under investigation.
Providing an illuminating analysis of how current regulations of political finance succeed in controlling the rise of political corruption, the volume will be indispensable for anyone interested in the efficiency of regulation in party funding.
· Contents: Introduction: party funding, campaign finance and corruption in Eastern Europe, Daniel Smilov; Campaign finance in Bulgaria, Dobrin Kanev; Party and campaign financing in Croatia, Josip Kregar, Djordje Gardaševic, Viktor Gatovac; Party funding in the Czech Republic, Císar Ondrej and Tomáš Petr; Party funding in Hungary, Zsolt Enyedi; Party funding and campaign finance in Macedonia, Renata Treneska; Political finance in Poland, Marcin Walecki; Party funding in Russia, Jeff Gleisner; Party finance in Serbia, Vladimir Goati; Party funding in Slovenia, Jurij Toplak; Party funding in Ukraine, Oleh Protsyk and Marcin Walecki; Bibliography; Index.
· About the Editor: Daniel Smilov is Programme Director at the Center for Liberal Strategies, Bulgaria. Jurij Toplak is from the Faculty of Law at the University of Maribor, Slovenia.
· Reviews: '…brings scholarship and public debate in Eastern Europe to another level. The national studies in this volume reveal a rich diversity of practices, mechanisms and innovations in funding democratic activity in emerging democracies. As political finance and corruption issues get primacy in comparative academic literature and public policy discussion, this book will be a major comparative reference volume.'
Menachem Hofnung, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel and International Political Science Research Committee on Political Finance and Political Corruption
'Daniel Smilov and Jurij Toplak have assembled a valuable set of case studies on political financing in Central-Eastern Europe (CEE), an important measure of political maturity and public accountability among the new democracies. Moreover, they provide an indispensable introduction that structures the key arguments developed by country analysts who examine specific regulations and practices in ten states…'
The Russian Review