By Michael Riegner & Richard Stacey

“Democracy Without Political Parties: Constitutional Options” addresses the question of what role political parties generally play in democracies, and asks whether an electoral system can establish effective and democratically accountable government in the absence of political parties. The Working Paper identifies the democratic functions ordinarily performed by political parties in electoral democratic government, describes how parties are typically regulated in constitutions, and discusses constitutional design options for electoral democracy in which political parties play a minimal role.