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Donald Trump has often sought to damage Hillary Clinton with allegations that she's trying to spend her way to victory, backed by Wall Street donors. But every firebrand has to sell out some time, and this month, Trump began airing his first ads. In the American system, where there are limits on donations but not on spending, a cash-based arms race between candidates is probably inevitable.
It got us thinking about how rules governing election spending affect a country's politics. There are different systems in the U.K., across Europe and elsewhere, each with their upsides and downsides for voters.
So what's the best system for managing the relationship between politics and money? Where should public funds come into play? And can changing spending regulations really change underlying political cultures?
Newsweek's Josh Lowe and Mirren Gidda discuss this and more with Katie Ghose, the chief executive of the U.K.-based Electoral Reform Society think tank, and Mark Bergman, an American corporate lawyer who has fundraised for the Democrats over the last three election cycles.
Catch up on all the previous episodes of our podcast here.
Newsweek's Foreign Service is recorded and edited by Jordan Saville.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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