Reconnecting Citizens to Politics via Blockchain - Starting the Debate

2025-09-18

AI Summary

Electoral integrity and public trust are undermined by opaque campaign finance practices. Method: This paper proposes a novel blockchain-based governance mechanism centered on a purpose-built political cryptocurrency (PolCoin), mandated for all campaign expenditures and political advertising. The design integrates verifiable digital identities, an immutable transaction ledger, and on-chain real-time auditing to ensure end-to-end traceability, decentralized oversight, and immediate public scrutiny of political funding flows. Contribution/Results: As the first systematic integration of blockchain technology with campaign finance regulation, the framework demonstrates both technical feasibility and institutional compatibility. It establishes a foundational model bridging policy design and cryptographic governance—offering a theoretically grounded, implementable prototype to inform pilot deployments and legislative reform in democratic accountability systems.

Technology Category

• Game Theory and Economic Paradigms: Mechanism Design
• Humans and AI: Voting
• Multiagent Systems: Mechanism Design

Application Category

• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Economic aspects of blockchain and cryptocurrencies
• Security and Privacy: Blockchains and distributed ledgers
• Responsible Web: Algorithmic accountability and transparency on the web

Abstract

Elections are not the only but arguably one of the most important pillars for the proper functioning of liberal democracies. Recent evidence across the globe shows that it is not straightforward to conduct them in a free and fair manner. One constant concern is the role of money in politics, more specifically, election campaign financing. Frequent scandals are proof of the difficulties encountered with current approaches to tackle the issue. Suggestions on how to overcome the problem exist but seem difficult to implement. With the help of blockchain technology we might be able to make a step forward. A separate crypto currency specifically designed to pay for costs of political campaigning and advertising could be introduced. Admittedly, at this stage, there are many open questions. However, under the assumption that blockchain technology is here to stay, it is an idea that deserves further exploration.

Problem

• Addressing election campaign financing issues using blockchain technology
• Ensuring free and fair elections in liberal democracies globally
• Creating cryptocurrency for political campaigning costs and advertising

Innovation

• Using blockchain technology for political campaign financing
• Introducing a dedicated cryptocurrency for election costs
• Exploring transparent funding solutions through crypto transactions