Public opinion toward non-party campaign spending in the UK and Canada

ABSTRACT

There has been no shortage of literature that has focused on the role of money in politics. While the majority has focused squarely on the fundraising activities and spending preferences of parties and candidates, far less has paid attention to the spending habits of corporations, unions and interests that often register as non-parties. Yet these actors have gained prominence across general elections and referendum campaigns in the past decade owing to the increase in funds spent to influence election outcomes. Little is known about what the public thinks about the participation of these actors in campaigns. Yet public opinion toward non-party campaign spending is important to the degree that it effects perceptions of electoral integrity and might compel policy change. This paper uses new survey data collected from Canada and the UK to answer questions about how citizens perceive non-party campaign spending and what informs attitudes toward non-parties. We find that the public in both countries have mixed views on the participation of non-parties, but that there is some evidence that core concerns about electoral interiority and perceptions toward the role of money in politics drives opinion.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Data still incoming to Elections Canada.

2 Not reflective of trade union membership rates in both countries: as of 2017, the proportion of employees who were trade union members in the UK was 23.2% (Department for Business 2018), while union membership rates sat at 30.4% in Canada (Statistics Canada 2020).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [grant number 430-2015-00167].

Notes on contributors

Andrea Lawlor

Andrea Lawlor is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at King's University College at Western University.

Erin Crandall

Erin Crandall is an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics at Acadia University.