Lesson 10 min 15 XP
Money in Politics
Campaign finance, PACs, dark money, donor influence across democracies.
The 2020 US election cycle cost $14.4 billion — the most expensive in history. The presidential race alone: $5.7 billion. That's more than the GDP of some small nations.
But the US is an extreme case. Most democracies regulate campaign spending far more tightly:
| Country | Rules |
|---|---|
| UK | Parties can spend ~£30M in the year before an election. Individual candidate limits too. |
| France | Presidential candidates capped at €22.5M. State reimburses up to 47% of spending. |
| Canada | Party spending capped. Third-party advertising tightly limited. |
| Germany | No spending limits, but public funding based on vote share. Full transparency. |
| US | After Citizens United (2010), effectively unlimited spending by outside groups. |
The question isn't whether money matters in politics — it always has. The question is whether money distorts democratic outcomes.