Party regulation and the conditioning of small political parties: evidence from Bulgaria

Abstract

Since the fall of communism and the transition to democracy all East-European states have transitioned to multiparty democracies. However, the legal frameworks within which parties function differ substantially among countries. Some countries embrace diversity without posing obstacles to mobilisation on ethnic grounds, for example, while others prohibit the establishment and existence of parties of ethnic ideology. Here, we study how Bulgarian parties are regulated through the Party Law, the Electoral Law and the Constitution. In particular, we look at the requirements for setting up of political parties and the type, quantity and allocation mechanisms of public funding and trace the effect that these and other factors have had on the development of the current party system. Empirically, we examine the fate of small political parties. Our main conclusion is that the introduction of institutions such as an electoral deposit, considerably decrease the number of minor political parties.

Keywords:

• Bulgaria
• political parties
• party financing
• regulation

Funding

We would like to gratefully acknowledge the support of the European Research Council (ERC starting grant number 205660) in the preparation of this paper.

Notes on contributors

Ekaterina Rashkova is Assistant Professor in Comparative Politics in the Institute of Political Science at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. She specialises in electoral and party systems and regulation guiding parties and the political contest. She is currently working on delineating the effect that rules about parties and electoral competition have on gender parity. Her work has appeared, amongst others, in the International Political Science Review, Party Politics and Political Studies.

Maria Spirova is a senior lecturer of Comparative Politics and International Relations at the Institute of Political Science at Leiden University. She is the author of Political Parties in Post-communist Systems (Palgrave 2007) and co-editor of Party Patronage and Party Government in European Democracies (OUP 2012). Her research has appeared in Party Politics, West European Politics, Comparative European Politics, Europe-Asia Studies and East European Politics and Societies.

Notes

1. This process is, however, difficult to study empirically because of the natural selection bias that the non-formation of parties presents.

2. Naturally, the smaller the electoral share the party expects to get, the stronger this trend will apply to the party. In the following discussion, we divide the group of small parties into further subgroups.

3. Re-conceptualizing Party Democracy is a project directed by Prof. Ingrid van Biezen and funded by the European Research Council (ERC). More information to be found at www.partylaw.leidenuniv.nl.

4. At the beginning of the democratic period, parties could be established only with the agreement of 50 citizens with voting rights (Party Law 1990, Art. 7).

5. The most recent version of the Electoral Law was amended in February 2013 and is available at: www.bulnao.government.bg/files/_bg/izboren-kodeks[1].doc.

6. A majoritarian aspect was introduced before the 2009 election to include 31 single member districts (SMD), but it was abolished with the adoption of the 2011, and current, Electoral Law.

7. The number of parties in each of the category is, of course, determined by a plethora of other factors that explain and predict individual vote choice and party support. This might complicate the picture that emerge from our analysis, but should still allow us to see if any significant pattern exists.

8. Citizens for a European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), founded in December 2006, is built around the personality of Boyko Borisov, currently PM, formerly mayor of Sofia and General Secretary of the Ministry of Interior in the NSDV government of 2001–2005. Having built a huge following as a “tough on crime” minister and mayor, he founded a political party in late 2006 which quickly emerged as the most popular one in the country. GERB declared itself to be a centre-right party and to present a “new rightist treaty” to the Bulgarian people based on three “fundamental” values: “economic freedom”, “competition in an environment of clear responsibilities and rules” and “minimum state participation”. GERB received about 40% of the PR votes in 2009, won 84% of the SMD seats and, as a result, fill 48% of the seats in Parliament. In the 2013 elections, GERB preserved its first position in the legislature with 30.53% of the vote and 40% of the seats.