Some of you might be interested in a paper that I co-authored on donors buying their way into the UK House of Lords: http://www.theguardian.com/global/commentisfree/2015/mar/22/house-of-lords-reform-donors-peerages <http://www.theguardian.com/global/commentisfree/2015/mar/22/house-of-lords-reform-donors-peerages>
best, Simon