Public Dollars, Private Discontent? Exploring Support for Direct State Funding of Political Parties in Canada

Abstract

Many governments worldwide, including contemporary provincial ones in Canada, provide political parties with direct public subsidies to fund their day-to-day operations and campaigns. While the literature considers the spread, scope, and motivations for party subventions, very little attention has been devoted to assessing its support among the public. We consider this question by examining evidence from the 2015 Canadian Election Study. Our findings reveal that the Canadian public generally opposed the now-defunct federal per-vote subsidy scheme. Simultaneously, we reveal that public trust, partisanship, individual donation habits, and egalitarian economic values are correlated with attitudes towards public funding.