PARTIES EXPENDITURES AND THE FRAGMENTATION OF THE SYSTEM: THE ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES BY BRAZILIAN POLITICAL PARTIES FROM 1996 TO 2021

Abstract

Political parties play a central role in the allocation of financial resources during elections. Even when corporate donations were allowed in Brazil, parties already acted as intermediaries, receiving donations from companies and distributing them to candidates. With the end of corporate financing and the creation of the Special Campaign Financing Fund in 2017, this became even more evident, and parties began to manage almost all electoral financial resources. The Party Fund, intended for party maintenance, is also managed by the national directory, which concentrates the majority of the resources. This movement is accompanied by the literature, which has been drawing attention to the importance of analyzing spending and resource allocation by political parties as a way to identify their behavior. The present article aims to analyze whether the increase in the fragmentation of the party system changes the pattern of party spending.