IFES and the Carter Center will host a meeting on campaign finance. The meeting brings together leading experts to discuss global standards for political finance such as campaign finance monitoring and election observation. The meeting will be held at IFES, Washington, DC. Please contact
media@ifes.org
for more information.
IFES and the Carter Center hosted a groundbreaking two-day conference on international campaign finance observation. The event, the first of its kind, was attended by more than 20 top scholars and practitioners in the field of political finance in the world. They discussed what should be the global standards of campaign finance and came up with techniques and methodologies that can be used to monitor money in politics. It concluded with a visit to the United States Federal Elections Commission (FEC).
“This meeting showed us all that organizations that are dealing with electoral observation and assistance need to coordinate their efforts to monitor political finance. IFES and the Carter Center were happy to share their expertise with partner organizations. We are looking forward to new research projects such as producing a manual for international observers and training programs that can be incorporated into the BRIDGE (Building Resources in Democracy and Governance) training program. The fact that the meeting happened during the week of Obama's inauguration has certainly helped. We all left with the feeling that 'Yes we can!',” said Marcin Walecki, Ph.D., senior advisor for political finance and public ethics at IFES.
The terrain explored during this meeting was completely unchartered. Never before had such an illustrious group of experts joined to discuss these issues, share their experience in this arena, and create a practical application to improve the area of campaign finance monitoring across the world. They all agreed that campaign finance should be a core component of international election observation.
The conference was composed of panels headed by experts in various political finance topics. Among the areas examined were how to devise more effective campaign monitoring efforts, the challenges that arise in the effort to establish global standards in political finance, and the role of international and domestic NGOs in the observation of campaign finance.
Among the participants were: David Carroll, the Carter Center; Steven Griner, Organization of American States; Patrick Merloe, National Democratic Institute; Richard Chambers, IFES Chief of Party in Lebanon; Mark Stevens, Commonwealth Secretariat; Denis Kadima, Electoral Institute of South Africa; and Gerald Mitchell, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
The visit to the FEC began with a tour of the building. In the records room, the group was told the history of how the FEC was formed and what its role is. They heard how campaign finance research has changed with evolving technology, and how the Internet and the FEC website have facilitated this research. The group then visited the Commissioners’ Hearing Room. There, Commissioner Ellen Weintraub shared with her audience, many of them foreigners, how the FEC is organized, the work that it does in the U.S. election system and how it strives to bring transparency to the democratic process.
The foundation for this innovative meeting is rooted in the two host organizations’ past experience. Over the last six years, IFES has gained significant expertise in implementing campaign finance monitoring programs, which in turn has contributed to the larger discussion of global standards. In addition, IFES has been conducting a project on Global Standards for Political Finance with support from the United Nations Democracy Fund. In this context, IFES has co-hosted and attended meetings and conferences around the world to discuss and develop global standards.
Separately, in September 2008, the Carter Center hosted a small meeting for experts on international obligations for democratic elections and campaign finance. During the course of that meeting, participants suggested that additional meetings be held in which election observation and campaign finance practitioners and experts could convene to identify and discuss key challenges and lessons learned regarding the international observation of campaign finance and to consider ways to further develop methods and approaches of international campaign finance observation during the electoral period. This two-day meeting is the result of those demands.