Impacts of public funding on diminishing economic disparity in the Federal Deputy elections

Abstract

Has the adoption of direct public funding for Brazilian electoral campaigns had an impact on the inequality of resources between candidates for federal deputy? In this article I analyze the consequences of using only public funding and banning corporate donations to finance political campaigns for the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies. The goal was to assess whether these changes impacted the concentration of financial resources among candidates. To this end, I used descriptive statistics and measures of income inequality such as the Gini Index and percentile concentration. The results point to an improvement in the general distribution of resources upon the exit of companies and the implementation of the Special Campaign Fund (FEFC). However, this improvement is still insufficient for those at the bottom of the financing pyramid. I posit that institutional factors (such as quotas for minorities and electoral spending caps) combined with party-related factors have contributed to the decrease in inequality, but they are still insufficient to reduce the vast enduring disparities among candidates.