Political Party Financing and Corruption Risks in Indonesia: Rethinking Transparency and Accountability in Electoral Democracy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65815/2vwvyd51Keywords:
Political party financing, corruption, transparency, electoral integrity, IndonesiaAbstract
Political party financing represents a persistent governance challenge because political organizations require financial resources to operate while remaining vulnerable to illicit contributions, conflicts of interest, and political corruption. This article examines the relationship between party financing and corruption risks in Indonesia. Using normative juridical and institutional analysis, the study evaluates political party finance regulation, disclosure requirements, public subsidies, private contributions, and enforcement mechanisms. The article argues that limited transparency concerning the sources and use of party funds may create opportunities for political actors to exchange policy influence for financial benefits. The study proposes a party-finance accountability framework based on comprehensive disclosure, independent auditing, standardized reporting, strengthened public financing, and effective sanctions for violations. Particular attention is given to the role of public funding in reducing parties' dependence on private financial interests while maintaining democratic accountability. The article concludes that political finance reform should be treated as a core component of anti-corruption policy because electoral integrity and corruption prevention are closely interconnected. Strengthening transparency in political financing would improve public trust and reduce structural incentives for illicit political funding.
References
Alqarni, Ahmad’Adiyaat, Syofiarti, and Hengki Andora. 2025. “Pengaturan Anggaran Negara untuk Bantuan Keuangan Partai Politik.” Jurnal Niara. https://doi.org/10.31849/7pzq7b91.
Aryana, Ken Paramitha, Annisa Nabila Hasan, and Farhatun Nisa. 2025. “Tinjauan Aspek Transparansi dan Akuntabilitas Dana Kampanye Pemilu 2024 pada Partai Gerakan Indonesia Raya.” Jurnal Ilmu Sosial Humaniora Indonesia 5 (1): 83–92. https://doi.org/10.52436/1.jishi.291.
Casal Bértoa, Fernando, and José Rama. 2022. “Paying for Appeasement: On the Moderating Role of Public Subsidies in East Central European Party Politics.” Party Politics 28 (4): 611–624. https://doi.org/10.1177/13540688211015933.
Casal Bértoa, Fernando, Elin Heapy-Silander, and Halfdan Lynge. 2025. “Can Financial Transparency Help Parties Institutionalize and Save Democracy?” Policy Studies 46: 572–594. https://doi.org/10.1080/01442872.2024.2435380.
Casal Bértoa, Fernando, José Rama, and others. 2021. “The Antiestablishment Challenge.” Journal of Democracy 32 (1): 37–51.
Evertsson, Nubia. 2013. “Political Corruption and Electoral Funding: A Cross-National Analysis.” International Criminal Justice Review 23 (1): 75–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/1057567713476886.
Farhan, Mochammad, and Elan Jaelani. 2025. “Korelasi Keterbatasan Pendanaan Partai Politik terhadap Kualitas Demokrasi di Indonesia: Tinjauan Yuridis-Empiris.” Public Sphere: Jurnal Sosial Politik, Pemerintahan dan Hukum 4 (1). https://doi.org/10.59818/jps.v4i1.1561.
Faturrahman, Muhammad. 2024. “Sistem Akuntabilitas Pendanaan Partai Politik.” Jurnal Administrasi Politik dan Sosial 5 (3). https://doi.org/10.46730/japs.v5i3.191.
Hooghe, Marc, Bart Maddens, and Jo Noppe. 2006. “Why Parties Adapt: Electoral Reform, Party Finance and Party Strategy in Belgium.” Electoral Studies 25 (2): 351–368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2005.05.006.
Hummel, Callen, John Gerring, and Zachary Burt. 2021. “Do Political Finance Reforms Reduce Corruption?” British Journal of Political Science 51 (2): 869–889.
Kölln, Ann-Kristin. 2016. “Does Party Finance Regulation Create a Level Playing Field?” Election Law Journal 15 (1). https://doi.org/10.1089/elj.2015.0335.
La Raja, Raymond J., and Brian F. Schaffner. 2011. “Explaining the Unpopularity of Public Funding for Congressional Elections.” Electoral Studies 30 (3): 525–533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2011.02.006.
La Raja, Raymond J., and Brian F. Schaffner. 2014. “The Effects of Campaign Finance Spending Bans on Electoral Outcomes: Evidence from the States about the Potential Impact of Citizens United v. FEC.” Electoral Studies 33: 102–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2013.08.002.
Lipcean, Sergiu, and Iain McMenamin. 2024. “Rethinking Public Funding of Parties and Corruption: Confronting Theoretical Complexity and Challenging Measurement.” Governance 37 (2): 537–559. https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12782.
Lipcean, Sergiu. 2022. “Direct Public Funding of Political Parties: Between Proxy Measures and Hard Data.” Party Politics 28 (6). https://doi.org/10.1177/13540688211037302.
Mappanyukki, Andi, Thalia Vinny Anggitresia, Resky Oktaviani Sultan, Adinda Maharani, Indah Suci Rahmadani, Abdul Pattawe, Abdul Kahar, and Ernawaty Usman. 2025. “Akuntabilitas dan Transparansi Pengelolaan Keuangan Partai Politik.” Tangible Journal 10 (2). https://doi.org/10.53654/tangible.v10i2.668.
Mietzner, Marcus. 2015. “Dysfunction by Design: Political Finance and Corruption in Indonesia.” Critical Asian Studies 47 (4): 587–610. https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2015.1079991.
Muhtar, Said. 2020. “Transparansi Keuangan Dalam Partai Politik.” Indonesian State Law Review 2 (2). https://doi.org/10.15294/islrev.v2i2.38528.
Oktaviana, Sonya, Fitriani Amarullah, Viska Anggraita, and Emil Bachtiar. 2025. “Akuntabilitas dan Transparansi Laporan Keuangan Partai Politik di Indonesia.” Akuisisi: Jurnal Akuntansi 21 (1): 44–63. https://doi.org/10.24127/akuisisi.v21i1.2352.
Rodríguez López, Ángel, Gustavo Rodríguez Gutiérrez, and Gracia-María Rubio Martín. 2022. “Anti-Corruption Barriers, Financial Transparency and Accounting Quality in Political Parties: Evidence from Spain.” Revista de Contabilidad – Spanish Accounting Review. https://doi.org/10.6018/rcsar.464091.
Sari, Indah Permata, and Khairul. 2024. “Akuntabilitas dan Transparansi Bantuan Keuangan Partai Politik di Kabupaten X.” Media Mahardhika 23 (1). https://doi.org/10.29062/mahardika.v23i1.1213.
Scarrow, Susan E. 2007. “Beyond the Scandals? Party Funding and the 2005 German Elections.” German Politics 15 (4): 376–392. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644000601062501.
Scarrow, Susan E. 2007. “Party Subsidies and the Freezing of Party Competition: Do Cartel Mechanisms Work?” West European Politics 29 (4): 619–639. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402380600842148.
Scarrow, Susan E. 2007. “Political Finance in Comparative Perspective.” Annual Review of Political Science 10: 193–210. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.10.080505.100115.
Smirnova, Valeria. 2018. “Why Make Political Finance Transparent? Explaining the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO)'s Success in Reforming National Political Finance Regulation.” European Political Science Review.
Smulders, Jef, and Bart Maddens. 2016. “Political Parties' Annual Accounts and the Impact of the Group of States against Corruption in 18 European States: Towards Enhanced Transparency?” Election Law Journal 15 (2). https://doi.org/10.1089/elj.2016.0369.
Su, Yen-tu. 2019. “To What Extent Do We Know about Money in Politics? An Assessment of the Political Finance Disclosure Law in Taiwan.” Journal of Electoral Studies 26 (1): 1–30.
Tambunan, Derwin. 2021. “Democracy under Threat: The Politics of Corruption and Party Financing System in Indonesia.” Journal of Social Political Sciences 2 (3). https://doi.org/10.52166/jsps.v2i3.69.
Tonhäuser, Valeria, and Torill Stavenes. 2020. “Why Change Party Finance Transparency? Political Competition and Evidence from the ‘Deviant’ Case of Norway.” European Journal of Political Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12369.
Usriani, Dwi Siti Syarifah, Selmita Paranoan, Muhammad Din, and Chalarce Totanan. 2025. “A Compliance of Campaign Finance Reporting in the Democratic Era.” Jurnal Akademi Akuntansi 9 (1). https://doi.org/10.22219/jaa.v9i1.43437.
vanHeerde-Hudson, Jennifer, and Justin Fisher. 2013. “Parties Heed (with Caution): Public Knowledge of and Attitudes towards Party Finance in Britain.” Party Politics 19 (1): 41–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068810393268.
Wood, Thomas. 2022. “Campaign Finance Transparency Affects Legislators’ Election Outcomes and Behavior.” American Journal of Political Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12676.
Yamin, Muhammad, Slamet Rosyadi, Agus Ganjar Runtiko, Denok Kurniasih, Shadu Satwika Wijaya, Arif Darmawan, Darmanto Sahat Satyawan, Wahyuningrat, Alizar Isna, Adhi Iman Sulaiman, and Wiwik Novianti. 2024. “Analysis of Political Party Accountability and Financial Assistance in the Context of Indonesian Democracy.” Bestuurskunde: Journal of Governmental Studies 4 (1): 73–86. https://doi.org/10.53013/bestuurskunde.4.1.73-86.
Legal Sources
Republic of Indonesia. 2011. Law No. 2 of 2011 concerning the Amendment to Law No. 2 of 2008 concerning Political Parties. Jakarta: Government of the Republic of Indonesia.
Republic of Indonesia. 2017. Law No. 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections. Jakarta: Government of the Republic of Indonesia.
Republic of Indonesia. 2023. Law No. 7 of 2023 concerning the Stipulation of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1 of 2022 concerning Amendments to Law No. 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections into Law.
Republic of Indonesia. 2018. Government Regulation No. 1 of 2018 concerning the Second Amendment to Government Regulation No. 5 of 2009 concerning Financial Assistance to Political Parties.
General Election Commission of the Republic of Indonesia. 2023. KPU Regulation No. 18 of 2023 concerning Campaign Funds.
General Election Commission of the Republic of Indonesia. 2023. KPU Regulation No. 15 of 2023 concerning General Election Campaigns.
Republic of Indonesia. 1999. Law No. 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption.
Republic of Indonesia. 2001. Law No. 20 of 2001 concerning the Amendment to Law No. 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption.
Republic of Indonesia. 2008. Law No. 14 of 2008 concerning Public Information Disclosure.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All writings published in this journal are the personal views of the authors and do not represent the views of this journal or the authors’ affiliated institutions. Authors retain copyrights without any restriction under the license of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).








