Abstract:

The improvement of the conditions designed to facilitate the political parties access to the political competition is made for the improvement of the electoral reform started in 2016 and includes new options for financing their activity and electoral campaigns. Against the backdrop of accelerated growth in the use of social networks and the online environment, and the need to modernize and ensure the transparency of political parties' funding, there is an option to introduce crowdfunding as a way of financing the political parties’ activity. The aim of the research is to analyse the diversification of the existing methods used for financing the various political projects and electoral campaigns in Romania, including crowdfunding. The research is based on the review of the international scientific literature and case studies. At the national level, the opportunity of using crowdfunding in Romania is analysed from the perspective of political parties and is based on current national legislation, international practice in the financing of political parties and the interests of various NGOs and civil society as a whole. The crowdfunding can be a viable alternative to funding political parties in Romania if transparency and legality are respected by donors and political parties also.