{"id":{"repo_id":"houston","oai_identifier":"oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/5295"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/houston/oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/5295","repository":{"repo_id":"houston","name":"University of Houston","base_url":"https://uh-ir.tdl.org/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The Implications of A Distributed Autonomous Organization On Political Campaign Finance Regulations","abstract":"Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations on the contributions received by political candidates and parties has faced scrutiny over many years due to the fact that certain donors need not disclose their identities. With the rise of “dark money," which refers to “political spending to influence the decision of a voter, where the donor is not disclosed and the source of money is unknown” [1], and the introduction of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology such as smart contracts to the political finance world–a new platform for bad actors to leverage emerges. This paper discusses how blockchain technologies such as distributed autonomous organizations (DAO) and smarts contracts can be leveraged to further cripple the credibility and integrity of the political process and create a wider avenue for foreign interference in political races as seen in the 2016 presidential elections. Four use cases in which smart contracts and a DAO can be used to extend the influence of bad actors and foreign interference in political campaign financing in ways that are anonymous and untraceable are examined.","abstract_html":"Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations on the contributions received by political candidates and parties has faced scrutiny over many years due to the fact that certain donors need not disclose their identities. With the rise of “dark money," which refers to “political spending to influence the decision of a voter, where the donor is not disclosed and the source of money is unknown” [1], and the introduction of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology such as smart contracts to the political finance world–a new platform for bad actors to leverage emerges. This paper discusses how blockchain technologies such as distributed autonomous organizations (DAO) and smarts contracts can be leveraged to further cripple the credibility and integrity of the political process and create a wider avenue for foreign interference in political races as seen in the 2016 presidential elections. Four use cases in which smart contracts and a DAO can be used to extend the influence of bad actors and foreign interference in political campaign financing in ways that are anonymous and untraceable are examined.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ward, Ayzha Tamar 1994-"],"institution":"University of Houston","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"Masters","degree_discipline":"Computer Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Shi, Weidong"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["Verma, Rakesh M.","Conklin, Wm. Arthur"],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-08","date_published":"2019-08","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:32:27Z","subjects":["DAO","Blockchain","Cybersecurity"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["The author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s)."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/10657/5295","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Shi, Weidong"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Verma, Rakesh M.","Conklin, Wm. 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UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s)."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/10657/5295"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations on the contributions received by political candidates and parties has faced scrutiny over many years due to the fact that certain donors need not disclose their identities. With the rise of “dark money," which refers to “political spending to influence the decision of a voter, where the donor is not disclosed and the source of money is unknown” [1], and the introduction of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology such as smart contracts to the political finance world–a new platform for bad actors to leverage emerges. This paper discusses how blockchain technologies such as distributed autonomous organizations (DAO) and smarts contracts can be leveraged to further cripple the credibility and integrity of the political process and create a wider avenue for foreign interference in political races as seen in the 2016 presidential elections. Four use cases in which smart contracts and a DAO can be used to extend the influence of bad actors and foreign interference in political campaign financing in ways that are anonymous and untraceable are examined."]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Implications of A Distributed Autonomous Organization On Political Campaign Finance Regulations"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Shi, Weidong"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Verma, Rakesh M.","Conklin, Wm. Arthur"],"dc:creator":["Ward, Ayzha Tamar 1994-"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2019-11-07T03:14:22Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2019-08"],"dc:description.abstract":["Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations on the contributions received by political candidates and parties has faced scrutiny over many years due to the fact that certain donors need not disclose their identities. With the rise of “dark money," which refers to “political spending to influence the decision of a voter, where the donor is not disclosed and the source of money is unknown” [1], and the introduction of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology such as smart contracts to the political finance world–a new platform for bad actors to leverage emerges. This paper discusses how blockchain technologies such as distributed autonomous organizations (DAO) and smarts contracts can be leveraged to further cripple the credibility and integrity of the political process and create a wider avenue for foreign interference in political races as seen in the 2016 presidential elections. Four use cases in which smart contracts and a DAO can be used to extend the influence of bad actors and foreign interference in political campaign financing in ways that are anonymous and untraceable are examined."],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/10657/5295"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:rights":["The author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s)."],"dc:subject":["DAO","Blockchain","Cybersecurity"],"dc:title":["The Implications of A Distributed Autonomous Organization On Political Campaign Finance Regulations"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Computer Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Houston"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:32:27Z"}