Financing of political parties: A comparative analysis of Turkey and France

Political parties have been important actors for the sustainability of social life throughout history. In the most general definition, political parties are political communities established around a regular and continuous organisation in order to come to power or to maintain power. In order for these communities to sustain their existence and achieve their goals, they need to manage the electoral process well and be successful in this process. Political parties need financial resources in order to achieve certain goals. The financing of parties, which is one of the basic elements of democracy, is as important as the parties themselves. For this reason, the sources of income of political parties, how these sources are utilised and the methods by which they are audited are important areas of research. In this study, the party formation and financing processes of France and Turkey are examined and the resources of the two countries are compared. There are two main reasons for comparing Turkey and France. These reasons are the different forms of governance and electoral systems of the two countries. The aim of the study is to examine the effects of these two factors on the financing resources of political parties and to compare which institutions and regulations are in place to control the resources.