Political parties between freedom and restriction

This project examines the desirability of a constitutional and/or legal regulation of the form, organisation, and functioning of political parties. Currently, the Dutch law hardly acknowledges political parties. That is at odds with the political practice, because parties play a crucial role in our representative democracy. Moreover, in this respect the Dutch Law differs from many other Western European countries, where the (constitutional) codification of political parties has been going on for decades. This raises the question whether the Dutch legislator should follow these international examples. In order to answer this question, this project analyses which status and function political parties should have within our democracy. This project runs from 2020 until 2023 and is financed by the Statesman Thorbecke Fund Programme, which is part of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW).

Photo: Nancy Beijersbergen / Nationale Beeldbank