The Parties in Court: American Political Parties under the Constitution

(Paperback)

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American political parties have long existed in a gray area of constitutional law because of their uncertain status. Parties in this country are neither fully public nor fully private entities. This constitutional ambiguity has meant that political parties are considered private organizations for some purposes and public ones for others. This public-private entity problem has arisen in many different legal contexts over the years. However, given their case-by-case method of judicial review, courts have typically dealt with only very discrete parts of this larger problem. This work is an endeavor to describe and analyze the constitutional status of political parties in this country by synthesizing the best judicial and scholarly thinking on the subject. In the final chapter, I draw on these ideas to propose my own scheme for how political parties might be best accommodated in a democracy.

Reviews

Though not mentioned in the Constitution, political parties have evolved in the American setting to become crucial political actors without which modern representative democracy would be unworkable. Operating within the interstices produced by the constitutional divisions of public and private, federalism, separation of powers, and representation, American political parties maintain a quasi-public function and status that invites ongoing judicial intervention. Wigton explores the role of courts in defining the legal limits, obligations, and contours of political parties in the US. Wigton's account explores how courts have fashioned a broad but incomplete jurisprudence within each of the three interrelated areas that constitute political parties--the party organization, the electoral side of parties, and the party-in-government. Wigton explores court involvement in these areas from several political science paradigms, but his chief contribution is in describing how courts have balanced an irreducible number of competing values (such as the right to association, the integrity of the electoral process, and regime stability) in fashioning their jurisprudence. Wigton's scholarly emphasis is chiefly empirical, but he also proffers brief normative recommendations for courts based on his findings. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections. * CHOICE *
Wigton does an excellent job documenting and critically analyzing the history of government regulation of political parties in the United States, with a particular focus on the role the courts have played in this process. A valuable text for all scholars of American political parties. -- Mark D. Brewer, University of Maine

Author Bio

Robert C. Wigton is professor of political science at Eckerd College and an attorney.