For political parties and candidates, elections are a key period. This is the time where they are most active, most visible in media, and in closest contact with large numbers of voters and supporters. Some political parties seem to exist mainly as campaign machines, while they are hardly visible at all between elections. Other parties maintain high levels of engagement between elections but still increase their activities during election campaigns. The success or failure in the election process determines not only if a party or candidate comes to power, but may also have an impact on levels of support and funding between elections.
This section of the topic area Parties and Candidates deals with the principles, rules, and mechanism that guide parties and candidates and the effects they have on the electoral processes, such as:
- General rules and regulations
The rules and regulations that concern registration of parties and candidates, and the nomination of candidates for printing on the ballot, including regulations for de-registration.
The different effects that the electoral system may have on parties and candidates.
What happens if a candidate dies, withdraws, or leaves his or her political party after the ballots are printed but before the election is held?
How political parties and candidates campaign in the elections campaign.
Codes of conduct that may guide the political parties as organisations and the candidates taking part in the elections.
The role of media in election campaigns.
The relationship between parties and candidates and the Electoral Management Body (EMB).
When does a political party act as an election monitor and what implications does that have?
- Coalitions and pre-election alliances
Pre-election alliances and coalitions, and their effect on government formation.
Image:
Election Candidate by JanneM is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License.
