Political Parties and Candidates

A fundamental characteristic of electoral laws is how they regulate the activity of political parties and candidates.   The regulation of political parties and candidates is fundamental for any electoral system. 

Political Parties can participate either on their own or associated to others.  Sometimes independent candidates run on their own.   Some countries authorize the existence of other political organizations including associations of individuals to participate in the election either on their own or in partnership with traditional political parties (as it happens in Mexico). However, the current state of affairs, suggests that for a democracy based on the existence of political parties, the role play by such organizations and their relations with other organizations are fundamental.

The regulation of the activities of political parties and candidates within an electoral process, especially in respect to the selection of candidates and electoral campaigns, is a fundamental of any electoral system.  To begin with, electoral laws must establish who and how are authorized to run and under which conditions.  Usually, such topics are regulated by the Constitution (the fundamental right to be voted is involved).  However, in some countries the fundamental rules are established on the law.  The important thing, however, is to highlight that every single aspect of political organizations and political parties have to be regulated.  Such a regulation has to do a detailed work in order to include the funding regime, the rights and privileges of members, the relations between the organizations and the candidates, and the electoral participation, among other things. 

Political Parties and Other Organizations

Broadly speaking, a political organization is an institutional expression of a particular ideology of a people, or an institutional expression of some political interests of some social groups.   Such an ideology is related to specific public affairs of general interest and is can affect both politics and governments. 

Every single political organization is derived from a particular reality and it is expressed through subjective and objective devices.  Structural topics can be seen as subjective devices, while normative realities understood also as instruments, can be seen as objective ones.

Objective devices have a more important role to play to build-up a legal framework.  Objective devices will affect the society in which they exist as long as they are publicly recognized, regulated, and funded.

The foundation of political organizations is derived from specific rules and general principles aim at ensuring the achievement of general objectives derived from the law or from decisions made by such organizations on their own. 

As a matter of fact, political organizations are not capable to ensure a permanent existence on their own.  That is the reason why their aims, objectives, powers and legal existence have to be legally established.   Without a legal support, political organizations’ existence would be unstable, anarchic, and disordered. 

Besides, a legal system has to recognize that internal regulations applied on political organizations and which affect their structure, relations, composition, scope of action, discipline, and other topics, must be enacted and applied by members of the organizations.  A legal system has to recognize the organization’s right to self-determination.

The activity of political organizations have to be limited by specific rules, i.e, such activity has to be regulated and oriented by established rules and procedures which are derived from the legal system within which political organizations exist. 

Political organizations neither have the same origin, nor the same compositor. Political organizations have not identical objectives.  That is the reason why a legal framework has to distinguish and constrain their independent activities.  In what follows (Political parties, Coalitions, and Other political organizations) the more important types of political organizations that have to be legalized, will be detailed.

Political Parties

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Alliances of Political Parties

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Other Political Organizations

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Candidates

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Qualifications

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Independent Candidates

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Registration Process

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