The concept and types of guarantees of the right of political parties to participate in elections

Abstract

Participation in elections is the right of Russian political parties and their duty which they must fulfill in seven years. In the period from 2019 to 2021, 28 political parties were dissolved for non-participation in elections. Therefore, the guarantee of this right is an important issue. The establishment of system of such guarantees contributes to the further development of democratic institutions, broad representation of various groups of the population, and the qualitative development of multiparty system. The purpose of this study is to develop a theory on guarantees of the right of political parties to participate in elections, to formulate proposals for improving such system. The scientific novelty of the study is due to the following: the concept of “guarantees of the right of political parties to participate in elections” was introduced taking into consideration the content of the said right; a classification of guarantees of the right of political parties to participate in elections — guarantees of the acquisition, implementation and protection — was proposed; the position according to which in Russia there are special guarantees that are absent in the electoral legislation of foreign countries was reasoned; proposals to improve the system of guarantees were formulated. In the present research, the author’s theoretical provisions were formulated, deepening the knowledge on the above-mentioned guarantees, which will allow them to be used as a basis for further development in the field of constitutional and legal science. To achieve the research aims, method of formal logic, formal and legal as well as comparative legal methods were used. When studying the experience of foreign countries (Serbia, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, France, Germany) classical guarantees of the right of political parties to participate in elections were revealed: guarantees of party autonomy, financial guarantees, guarantees of election campaigns and guarantees of publicity, guarantees of control during voting, guarantees of appeal. The study also determined that, in Russia, there are some special guarantees related to the historical and political features of the formation of the national multiparty system, as well as to the need to establish a balance in the interaction of the state and political parties. As a result, proposals were made to improve the system of guarantees of the right of political parties to participate in elections.