№ 2 - 2002
Pshizova S.N.
Financing Political Market: Theoretical Aspects of Practical Problems (II)

It is the problems of public and private financing of political market that are discussed in this second part of the article (for its first part see Polis, 2002, No. 1). The author observes that in the West, the financing of political parties by the State has now become considerable, whereas in Russia, the proportion of the State subsidies is not high. However, both in the West and in Russia, it is neither mass activity of the citizens, nor even corporate participation of interests groups, but private sponsorship that now appears the alternative to the public financing of parties. Since at the political, just like at any other market, contractors’ interests fail to coincide, consumers’ rights require special legislative safeguard, the author stresses. It is no less essential to provide transparency of the political market, for information about the sources of private donations may prove to be of such importance as to seriously influence the elector’s (the consumer’s) choice.