Working papers 

Legitimizing Political Party Representation? Party Law Development in Latin America

Authors: Fransje Molenaar | Published in: working paper series on the legal regulation of political parties, no. 32, July | Date of publication: 2013

Abstract

Over the last decades Latin American countries have increasingly limited access to the representative process to ideal-typical political parties. This raises the question to what extent parties' exclusive claims over the representative process can be legitimized through legal validation. A discussion of instances of cartelizing party laws shows the limits of this strategy, as these attempts all collapsed under demands for political change. A similar backlash is visible in cases where the rejection of parties' representative claims led to their deregulation. The legal validation of political parties is hence not sufficient for the legitimization of the political status quo in terms of party. Instead, this paper shows that elites that build their power merely on the formal rules of the game risk eating away at the political legitimacy of the system that these rules seek to uphold.

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The World Upside Down: De-Legitimizing Political Finance Regulation

Authors: Fernando Casal Bértoa, Fransje Molenaar, Daniela R. Piccio and Ekaterina R. Rashkova | Published in: working paper series on the legal regulation of political parties, no. 30, July | Date of publication: 2013

Abstract

Political finance regulation is often praised in terms of its ability to introduce equality among political parties, to create more transparent political parties and to lower the influence of affluent donors on the political decision-making process. Little examination exists, however, of the effectiveness of this type of regulation. This article aims to fill this gap by addressing whether and to what extent different types of public funding regulations have improved the legitimacy of political parties by improving their image in terms of corruption. Towards this end, and focusing on both European and Latin American democracies, this article investigates whether a relationship indeed exists between the perceived corruption of political parties and the regulation of political finance. It finds such a relationship does exist, although not in the direction commonly stipulated by the advocates of party finance regulation.

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Latin American Regulation of Political Parties: Continuing Trends and Breaks with the Past

Authors: Fransje Molenaar | Published in: working paper series on the legal regulation of political parties, no. 17, March | Date of publication: 2012

Abstract

This paper looks at the development of the legal regulation of political parties in Latin America, with a focus on the content of the legal changes that have occurred over the last decade. Attention is paid in particular to the development of legal norms related to the registration and dissolution of parties, provisions for internal democracy and candidate selection, and the regulation of private funding, public funding, and access to the media. This comparative analysis identifies general trends across the countries' regulation of political parties, as well as differences between the various legal paradigms as they occur. Rather than treating the development of party law in the Latin American region as one static phenomenon, this paper formulates an answer to the question of how contemporary Latin American states regulate political parties through the identification of continuing trends and breaks with past legal paradigms.

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The Development of European Standards on Political Parties and their Regulation

Authors: Fransje Molenaar | Published in: working paper series on the legal regulation of political parties, no. 04, March | Date of publication: 2010

Abstract

Over the last decade many European countries have increased both the scope and content of national party regulation. This trend is mirrored by an ever-increasing interest within European governmental and non-governmental organizations to guide this process and to determine the direction as regards its content. Little systematic scholarly attention has been paid to this supranational dimension, however. First of all, this working paper focuses on the identification of European normative conceptions of the role of political parties in modern democracies through an analysis of the rise of European standards regarding political party legislation. Secondly, it analyzes the (direct or indirect) impact on the national parties and party systems of the legislation adopted at the European level to determine whether these new norms matter. Towards these ends, this paper analyzes the regulation of political parties by supranational European organizations, concentrating in particular on the regulations, guidelines and recommendations adopted by the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, and the European Court of Human Rights.

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