Training in Detection and Enforcement (TIDE) Program

The Need for Enforcement Enhancement
Issues surrounding political finance are emerging as a problem in many democracies. Scandals related to party and election funds have gained widespread negative publicity over the last 25 years in the world's long-established democracies. These scandals have led to public disappointment with democracy in some countries and to profound institutional reforms in others. Emerging democracies confront the same challenges, but the stakes are higher as olitical democracy is only taking root.

IFES' Training in Detection and Enforcement (TIDE) Program is a global initiative designed to enhance detection and enforcement of political finance abuses, thereby increasing accountability. The program grew out of IFES' institutional expertise and analytical and comparative research in the field. IFES works with local partners to identify and target the needs of each project country and to apply internationally accepted standards and best practices with a focus on enforcement. IFES is conducting a series of TIDE pilot projects with support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

TIDE Program Objectives
IFES seeks to accomplish the three main objectives through its TIDE Program. First, IFES increases the capacity of political finance regulators in such areas as investigation techniques, auditing skills and money laundering detection mechanisms. Second, IFES establishes new methodologies to monitor such activities as compliance and enforcement patterns. Third, IFES monitors, analyzes and develops enforcement mechanisms to retard the impact of cross-border political finance transactions.

Programmatic Approach

IFES will conduct training for political finance regulators in the investigation, detection, and enforcement of the political finance laws and regulations. The training will be based on a set of training materials that will be tailored for the needs of each specific country. IFES is producing a best-practices information package on how enforcement has been successfully enhanced by public agencies and civil society around the world. Based on these materials, IFES is developing enforcement enhancement training tool kits for public agencies and civil society with the following core curricula topics and subject areas:

• Campaign spending limits;
• Public official and candidate financial disclosure;
• Political organization financial reporting;
• Political organization assets and liabilities;
• Campaign period financial disclosure;
• Contributor and donor loans and in-kind contributions.
• Audit methodologies;
• Evidence collection and organization;
• Fraudulent practices;
• Financial statements and records;
• Compliance standards and penalties;
• Forms review; and
• Case description and procedure writing.

Programmatic Outcomes
Through a pilot training conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina and future initiatives in places such as Kosovo and Nigeria, IFES fully expects to achieve three primary outcomes. First, IFES will establish a web-based repository of best practices for enforcement and monitoring of political finance reporting compliance, thereby raising the level of information. Second, create a training program that improves the investigation and detection skills for political finance enforcement by PFRs. Third, increase the capacity to conduct transnational studies of political finance and to link regulatory agencies and civil society organizations into regional and global political finance networks.

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