By Christina Crawley — April 19, 2014.
Global Integrity is embarking on a partnership with the Sunlight Foundation and the Electoral Integrity Project to launch the Money, Politics and Transparency Project. Our goal for this multi-year effort is to promote transparent and effective political finance regimes in countries through evidence-based policy reforms. In parallel, we aim to frame political financing as an integral part of the broader global transparency and accountability movement.
In our initial research phase, we’ll be working to identify and share good (and poor) practices, and successful reform efforts while simultaneously conducting in-depth research and case studies to document, at a granular level, what’s working and what’s not in a variety of countries. We aim to then use that evidence to co-create, working with stakeholders around the world, a set of transparency norms that can be used to improve political finance systems in any country, fostering accountability and combating corruption.
As a part of the initial research phase of Money, Politics and Transparency, Global Integrity is conducting research aimed at assessing the state of political finance transparency safeguards in roughly 50 countries using our traditional “Integrity Indicators” model of expert assessment methodology. The questions we will field will combine de jure assessments of the state of national legislation and the legal framework with de facto assessments of actual enforcement and implementation. The results of this research will tell us:
A) What practices and institutional frameworks are common or unique to countries around the world (along with shared or unique successes or challenges in implementation);
B) What current models and practices could be considered good and poor practice; and,
C) Which countries are outperforming others and could be identified as potential models of outstanding political finance transparency and regulation/oversight.
This effort will require a global team of contributors around the world to conduct original research and gather data. For information on the requirements and how to apply, please see the Fact Sheet below.
FACT SHEET
Who We Are Looking For: Professionals with experience in political finance from the fields of journalism, non-governmental organization, academia and the private sector with a proven record in performing high-quality interviews and desk research, managing deadlines, and promptly responding to queries as part of a large research team. Interested candidates, including those colleagues who have worked with us before, should apply online by visiting the Call for Contributors no later than May 15, 2014.
Project Roles:
1. Lead Researcher: A journalist, researcher, or analyst with proven experience combining desk research with original interviews of key informants to assess political, social and economic issues. The indicators to be scored for the project will involve specific technical questions related to political finance transparency, and prior experience in this area is required. Lead researchers must be working in the country of study, be independent of government (having not served in a government position for at least three years), and have at least 5 years of relevant professional experience. A strong command of English is required.
2. Reviewers: Expert Reviewers play a key role in the data quality control process by reading and providing commentary on the accuracy, relevance and integrity of the information submitted by the Lead Researcher. They will also provide supplementary information to complete the data. Detailed knowledge on political finance in the country of study is required. Reviewers must be independent of government (having not served in a government position for at least three years) and have at least 5 years of relevant professional experience. A strong command of English is required.
Timing and necessary availability: Lead Researchers’ fieldwork will be conducted between April and August 2014, with exact dates still being finalized. Lead Researchers must be available to promptly clarify any aspect of their research through September 2014. Reviewers must be available to perform their review of the data between July and September 2014.
Compensation: We compensate all of our contributors for their efforts. Compensation for Lead Researchers will be US$1,000 for scoring the assigned indicators and responding to queries and requests for feedback. Compensation for Reviewers will be US$500 per country reviewed. All contributors to the project will be publicly acknowledged.
Country coverage: We are currently receiving applications for Lead Researchers and Reviewers in all countries. [Note: We will ultimately be selecting only 50 diverse countries for our initial research sample. When applying, you may wish to provide detail if you believe your country to be a particularly strong fit for this research.]
Who We Are:
Global Integrity is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that champions transparent and accountable government around the world by producing innovative research and technologies that inform, connect, and empower civic, private, and public reformers seeking more open societies.
Sunlight Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that uses the power of the Internet to catalyze greater government openness and transparency.
The Electoral Integrity Project is an independent academic study launched by the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Photo Credit: Tax Credit (Flickr: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)
