Parties and Candidates Index

Parties and Candidates Quiz

Political parties and candidates are key stakeholders in elections. They are the ones competing for public office, carrying out election campaigns, and trying to convince persons to vote for them. Ultimately, the possibilities for them to campaign, assume public office, or form a credible opposition depend on the legal, political, and cultural environment in the country, and on the administration and outcome of the elections. From another perspective, the final validation of the election result is in practice in the hands of the political parties and candidates. If they do not accept the results due to real or perceived electoral fraud or irregularities, the legitimacy of the resulting legislature or government is threatened.

Parties and candidates are also actors that have the potential to be destructive. Practices of vote-buying or illegal party finance, the proliferation of defamation and hate speech in campaigns, voter intimidation by party workers, corruption in decision-making, and the systematic exclusion of certain sectors of society constitute examples of where political parties threaten the functioning of democratic systems rather than support it. Laws and regulations regarding campaigning, funding, and functioning of political parties are developed to minimize the potential disruptive influence of political parties while still allowing them enough freedom to contest elections.

The freedom of speech and assembly, freedom of organisation, and the right to vote and stand for election are some of the guiding principles of this topic area.

The Parties and Candidates topic area explores the following themes:

External regulations relating to parties and candidates is a section focusing on laws and regulations on, for example, party finance, registration of political parties, and legislated quotas.

The section on internal functioning of political parties deals with party structure, the role and responsibilities of auxiliary groups, decision-making in the party, and candidate selection.

Parties and candidates in the electoral process aims to explore the issues more closely related to elections, such as candidate nomination, withdrawal of candidacy, contacts with electoral management bodies, and codes of conduct.

Parties and candidates in the legislature explores the formation of governments, coalition-building, and the ties between political parties and elected representatives.