Study
| EST. READ TIME 2 MIN.Election Finance Regulation in Canada
The aim of this book is to examine the consequences of regulating election campaign finances at the federal level in Canada. Such regulation usually comes in three forms: limits on election-time spending by candidates, parties, and private citizens; limits on contributions to politicians; and public funding of campaigns. Canada already has these regulations in some measure, but the debate continues on whether they need to be strengthened. This book describes the arguments in favour of regulation, and then suggests some dangers. A popular view is that spending and contribution limits, along with public subsidies, increase competition in elections and allow ordinary citizens to better participate, both as informed voters and as candidates. The author suggests that these measures may actually hinder competition, entrench incumbents, and leave the electorate poorly informed of their choices.
The intent here is not to argue against the need for election finance regulation, but to bring attention to its hidden costs and to the narrow motives behind it. Most of what is known about the effects of regulation on public welfare comes from the study of economic markets where regulation often harms those it is meant to protect. For example, competition laws that break up large enterprises keep firms at small, inefficient levels of production, and lead to higher prices. Also, the almost complete blackout on advertising in the medical profession leaves patients ignorant of their best choices, and protects doctors from the consequences of hav ing a bad record. To see if similar results carry over to election finance regulation, the author borrows the economic notion of competition and applies it to politics. The analogy is not perfect but it helps to put together a coherent view of how campaign activities enable voters and candidates to exchange ideas and why it is important that they do so. The consequences of laws that interfere with the flow of election information can then be analyzed.
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Filip Palda
AuthorFilip Palda was a full professor at the École nationale d'administration publique. He earned his Ph.D. in economics at the Universityof Chicago. He wrote two books for the Fraser Institute (Election Finance Regulation in Canada: A Critical Review, and Home on the Urban Range: An Idea Map for Reforming the City) as well as co-authored three Tax Facts books and pioneered for the Fraser Institute, along with Isabella Horry, the survey method of estimating tax incidence. He was also the editor of five Fraser Institute books (Essays in Canadian Surface Transportation, Its no Gamble: The Economic and Social Benefits of Stock Markets, L'État interventionniste : le gouvernement provincial et l'économie du Québec, Provincial Trade Wars: Why the Blockade Must End, and The New Federalist), and the author of over a hundred Fraser Forum articles as well as the author of the Public Policy Source paper The History of Tobacco Regulation: Forward to the Past. He has written a dozen articles in the National Post, has published with the World & I, as well as being cover author for the Next City magazine. In addition to his work for the Fraser Institute, professor Palda was the author of more than 20 articles in refereed economic journals and was a high-scoring author on the RepEc website of economic working papers. He is best known for his work on exposing the self-interest politicians hold in crafting election finance laws and for his discovery of the displacement deadweight loss of tax evasion.Filip Palda, professeur titulaire à lÉcole nationale dadministration publique, a obtenu son doctorat en économie à lUniversité de Chicago. Auteur de deux livres de lInstitut Fraser (Election Finance Regulation in Canada: A Critical Review et Home on the Urban Range: An Idea Map for Reforming the City) et coauteur de trois livres de la série Tax Facts, il a en outre conçu, avec Isabella Horry, sa méthode denquête par sondage pour lestimation de lincidence fiscale. Il est également responsable de cinq livres de lInstitut Fraser Essays in Canadian Surface Transportation, Its no Gamble: The Economic and Social Benefits of Stock Markets, LÉtat interventionniste : le gouvernement provincial et léconomie du Québec, Provincial Trade Wars: Why the Blockade Must End et The New Federalist et auteur de plus de 100 articles de la revue Fraser Forum, de même que de larticle de la série Public Policy Sources intitulé The History of Tobacco Regulation: Forward to the Past. Il a par ailleurs signé une douzaine darticles parus dans le National Post, publié un article dans The World & I, et fait la couverture de la revue The Next City, dans laquelle il a publié deux articles. Plus de 20 articles de M. Palda non liés à son travail pour lInstitut Fraser ont été publiés dans des revues économiques à comité de lecture, et il est très lu selon les statistiques recueillies par la base de données en ligne RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) darticles en économie. Il est surtout connu pour avoir exposé lintérêt des politiciens à élaborer des lois sur le financement électoral et découvert la perte de poids mort causée par lévasion fiscale.… Read more