Academic publications

Legitimising Political Party Representation: Party Law Development in Latin America

Authors: Fransje Molenaar | Published in: International Political Science Review, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 324-338 | Date of publication: 2014

Abstract

This study traces the development of party law from its first appearance in the early 20th century to its re-appearance in post-transitional Latin America and demonstrates how legislators frequently use party law to legally validate the participation of political parties in the electoral process. Through an analysis of instances of cartelising party laws and party deregulation, this article shows that the cartelising use of party law is often followed by a backlash when society and new elites contest parties’ monopolisation of representation. The legal validation of political parties is hence not sufficient for the legitimisation of the political status quo in terms of party. Instead, this article shows that elites that build their power merely on formal rules risk diminishing the political legitimacy of the system that these rules seek to uphold.

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The World Upside Down: Delegitimising Political Finance Regulation

Authors: Fernando Casal Bértoa, Fransje Molenaar,Daniela R Piccio, and Ekaterina R Rashkova | Published in: International Political Science Review, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 355-375 | Date of publication: 2014

Abstract

Political finance regulation is often praised in termsof its ability to introduce equality among political parties, to create moretransparent political parties and to lower the influence of affluent donors onthe political decision-making process. Little examination exists, however, ofthe effectiveness of this type of regulation. This article aims to fill thisgap by addressing whether and to what extent different types of public fundingregulation have improved the legitimacy of political parties by improving theirimage in terms of corruption. Towards this end, and focusing on both Europeanand Latin American democracies, this article investigates whether arelationship indeed exists between the perceived corruption of politicalparties and the regulation of political finance. It finds such a relationshipdoes exist, although not in the direction commonly stipulated by the advocatesof party finance regulation. 

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The Europeanization of Party Politics? Competing Regulatory Paradigms at the Supranational Level

Authors: Ingrid van Biezen and Fransje Molenaar | Published in: West European Politics 35(3), pp. 632-656 | Date of publication: 2012

Abstract

This paper explores the process of Europeanisation of party politics by examining the regulation of political parties by supranational European organisations. Despite the increased relevance of the regulation of the activity, behaviour, organisation and finances of political parties in European democracies, the supranational dimensions of this phenomenon have hitherto received relatively little systematic scholarly attention. This paper adopts an interdisciplinary perspective, combining approaches from the Europeanisation literature with legal theory and party scholarship. For the purpose of this paper, the rulings and regulations of the European Union, the various organs of the Council of Europe, and the European Court of Human Rights are analysed. The paper highlights the horizontal and vertical patterns of norm creation and diffusion and demonstrates that, despite a certain convergence of European standards, conceptions of democracy and corresponding regulatory paradigms have not become so similar as to be virtually indistinguishable from one another.

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