To Influence Elections or Ensure Access to the Elected Politicians? The Dilemma of the Companies that Fund Election Campaigns

ABSTRACT

Popular wisdom suggests a strong connection between campaign finance and political corruption. In this view, money buys both elections and elected officeholders, thus corrupting both political competition and the system of repesentation. This text focuses on campaign finance from the donor perspective. The final part combines the theoretical model and the empirical data and draws conclusions on the preferences of Brazilian firms engaging in making campaign donations.

KEYWORDS:
campaign finance; party finance; lobbying; interest groups; political influence; elections