Regulating nominations in political parties: Candidates, open primaries and Law

Abstract

Abstract:Candidate nomination is in the core of any democratic order. Political parties require an efficient nomination process that should achieve three goals: 1) determine a clear winner, 2) promote a capable politician and 3) prevent the negative effects of internal competition. In order to regulate this process, the interests of all the agents involved have to be balanced. Particularly, the interest of the affiliates, who would want to exert some control over the process and the candidate selected; the interest of the party as-an-organization, who would like to select a competitive candidate; the interest of the candidate-to--be, who would like to know beforehand the procedural aspects of the nomination; and, last but not least, the interest of the electorate, that would like to participate in the elaboration of the electoral ticket. Taking into account that in countries such as Spain, Italy or France, nomination is a non-state-regulated process, political parties have a wide margin of appreciation when regulating this process. Analyzing former primary processes (French PS and Italian PD) and regulation proposals (Spanish PSOE), this work aims to study the basic aspects on regulating nomination by the political parties. Therefore this paper will address when to conduct the nomination process, which organ of the party can take the decision and regulate the process, who (and how) can be candidate, who composes the selectorate, how do the selectorate express their preferences, and how the process is financed. The results obtained will determine the internal requirements that political parties impose on the right to be a candidate in a formal electoral process, underlining their important role in a representative democracy. Keywords: Resumo:A nomeação de candidatos é tópico central de qualquer ordem democrática. Partidos políticos requerem um processo de nomeação eficiente que deve alcançar três objetivos: 1) determinar de forma clara um vencedor, 2) promover um político capaz e 3) impedir os efeitos negativos da competição interna. Para regular esse processo os interesses de todos os agentes envolvidos devem ser postos em equilíbrio. Especialmente os interesses dos filiados, que almejam exercer algum controle sobre o processo e o candidato escolhido; o interesse do partido enquanto organização, que almeja selecionar um candidato competitivo; o interesse do pré-candidato, que almeja saber de antemão os aspectos procedimentais da nomeação; e, finalmente, o interesse do eleitorado, que almeja participar na elaboração das candidaturas (electoral ticket). Ao se levar em conta que em países como Espanha, Italia e França a nomeação é um processo não regulamentado, partidos políticos têm uma larga margem de autonomia ao regular esse processo. Analisando eleições primárias passadas (do Parti Socialiste francês e do Partito Democratico Italiano) e propostas de regulamentação (do partido espanhol PSOE), este trabalho objetiva estudar os aspectos básicos da regulamentação da nomeação de candidatos por partidos políticos. ...

A dataset exploring turnout patterns in Spanish party primaries (1991–2023)

“…Determining turnout levels from party registers presents several challenges, particularly regarding the varying internal regulations governing voting eligibility [ 19 ]. Parties may have different criteria, such as seniority requirements, registration protocols, and the inclusion of supporters, non-citizens, or minors.…”