Electoral blocs: application experience and prospects of returning the institute to the electoral system of Russia

Available in Russian

Price 100 Rub.

Author: Andrey Vershinin

DOI: 10.21128/1812-7126-2020-1-81-106

Keywords: electoral blocks; electoral legislation; party systems; political parties

Abstract

This article describes the issues of creation and activity of electoral blocs. Electoral blocs can be considered as unions or associations of political parties, as well as public movements for joint participation in the electoral process, including nominating a joint list of candidates, conducting a joint campaign, as well as monitoring the voting process and appealing against the results. Now, the possibility of creating election unions is provided only at the level of elections to the municipalities and then only in relation to social movements. Political parties still cannot put forward joint lists together with other parties. In this regard, the author pays great attention to the historical analysis of the legal regulation of approaches to the creation of electoral blocs in Russia, as well as the experience of these blocks of participating in real election campaigns. Since 1993, the blocs had been active participants in the electoral process. Electoral blocks were allowed to take part in elections throughout four election cycles and three times out of four they were represented in the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. Despite the rather high prevalence, the legislation did not provide detailed rules for creating blocks. In addition to the Russian experience, the author also conducts a large comparative legal analysis of the activities of the election blocs in foreign countries. The author provides a comparative analysis of the party blocking process of the former Soviet Union countries, as well as large European countries. In most countries, there are two main systems for the joint participation of parties in elections: combining lists and blocking. In most countries where blocks are allowed, they are active participants in the political system, winning the election and delegating their representatives to parliament. Based on the analysis of Russian and foreign experience, the author argues that it is necessary to return blocking in modern Russian political life. Electoral blocks will increase the level of political competition, as well as increase the chances of small political parties to enter the Russian parliament.

About the author: Andrey Vershinin – Ph.D. student, Department of Constitutional Law, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia.

Citation: Vershinin A. (2020) Izbiratel'nye bloki: opyt primeneniya i perspektivy vozvrashcheniya instituta v izbiratel'nuyu sistemu Rossii [Electoral blocs: application experience and prospects of returning the institute to the electoral system of Russia]. Sravnitel'noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol.29, no.1, pp.81–106. (In Russian).

References

Avak'yan S.A. (2015) Konstitutsionnyy leksikon: Gosudarstvenno-pravovoy terminologicheskiy slovar' [Constitutional lexicon: State-legal terminology dictionary], Moscow: Yustitsinform. (In Russian).

Borisov I.B. (2015) Vybory vo Vserossiyskoe Uchreditel'noe sobranie v dokumentakh i vospominaniyakh sovremennikov [Elections to the All-Russian Constituent assembly in documents and memoirs of contemporaries], Moscow: Rossiyskiy obshchestvennyy institut isbiratel'nogo prava. (In Russian).

Borisov I.B., Golovin A.G., Ignatov A.V. (2015) Vybory v mire: izbiratel'nye bloki i koalitsii [Election in the world: electoral blocs and coalitions], Moscow: Rossiyskiy obshchestvennyy institut isbiratel'nogo prava. (In Russian).

Dzidzoev R.M. (2018) Partiynaya sistema i voprosy izbiratel'noy demokratii v Rossii [Party system and issues of electoral democracy in Russia]. Konstitutsionnoe i munitsipal'noe pravo, no.3, pp.36–38. (In Russian).

Dubrovina E.P., Zotova Z.M. (2005) Partii i vybory: opyt izbiratel'nykh kampaniy 2003–2004 godov [Political parties and elections in years 2003–2004], Moscow: RTsOIT. (In Russian).

Elsakov A.S. (2018) Osnovnye kharakteristiki partiynoy sistemy Khorvatii na sovremennom etape [The main characteristics of the party system of Croatia at the present stage]. Regionologiya, no.1, pp.28–67. (In Russian).

Grishin N.V., Marmilova E.P. (2013) Izbiratel'nyy kodeks kak proekt optimizatsii izbiratel'noy sistemy Rossii [Electoral code as a project for optimizing the electoral system of Russia]. Chelovek. Soobshchestvo. Upravlenie, no.4, pp.53–63. (In Russian).

Konovalova L.G. (2017) Sootnoshenie parlamentarizma s printsipom demokraticheskoy gosudarstvennosti: voprosy konstitutsionno-pravovoy teorii [Correlation of parliamentarism with the principle of democratic statehood: issues of constitutional law theory]. Elektronnoe prilozhenie k Rossiyskomu yuridicheskomu zhurnalu, no.5, pp.7–23. Available at: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/sootnoshenie-parlamentarizma-s-printsipom-demokraticheskoy-gosudarstvennosti-voprosy-konstitutsionno-pravovoy-teorii (accessed: 21.01.2020). (In Russian).

Korgunyuk Yu.G. (2004) Evolyutsiya organizatsionnykh form politicheskikh partiy i sovremennaya predstavitel'naya demokratiya [The evolution of the organizational forms of political parties and modern representative democracy]. Politiya, no.1, pp.25–69. (In Russian).

Kynev A.V., Lyubarev A.E. (2011) Partii i vybory v sovremennoy Rossii: Evolyutsiya i devolyutsiya [Parties and elections in modern Russia: Evolution and devolution], E.Nikitina (ed.), Moscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie. (In Russian).

Lebedev V.A. (2017) Gosudarstvennaya vlast' i politicheskie partii v sovremennoy Rossii: konstitutsionno-pravovye problemy ikh vzaimodeystviya [State power and political parties in modern Russia: constitutional and legal problems of their interaction]. Konstitutsionnoe i munitsipal'noe pravo, no.11, pp.26–30. (In Russian).

Lepekhin V.A. (1996) Paradoksy izbiratel'nogo zakonodatel'stva [Paradoxes of electoral law]. Svobodnaya mysl', no.1, pp.27–31. (In Russian).

Lysenko V.I., Golovin A.G. (2009) Izbiratel'noe zakonodatel'stvo i vybory v sovremennom mire [Electoral law and elections in the modern world], V.E.Churov (ed.), Moscow: MediaPress. (In Russian).

Lyubarev A.E. (ed.) (2011) Izbiratel'nyy kodeks Rossiyskoy Federatsii – osnova modernizatsii politicheskoy sistemy Rossii [The Electoral Code of the Russian Federation – the basis of modernization of the political system of Russia], Moscow: Golos. (In Russian).

Lyubarev A.E. (2012) Sravnenie dvukh sposobov blokirovaniya politiche­skikh partiy na vyborakh [Comparison of two methods of blocking political parties in elections]. Konstitutsionnoe i munitsipal'noe pravo, no.12, pp.31–35. (In Russian).

Lyubarev A.E. (2016) Izbiratel'naya sistema dlya vyborov v Gosudarstvennuyu Dumu: vozmozhnosti sovershenstvovaniya [Electoral system for elections to the State Duma: opportunities for improvement]. Kommunikologiya, no.5, pp.61–68. (In Russian).

Lyubarev A.E. (2017) Izbiratel'nye sistemy: rossiyskiy i mirovoy opyt [Election systems: Russian and world experience], Moscow: ROO “Libe­ral'naya missiya”; Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie. (In Russian).

Lyubarev A.E., Ivanchenko A.V. (2006) Rossiyskie vybory: ot perestroyki do suverennoy demokratii [Russian elections from perestroika to sovereign democracy], Moscow: Aspekt Press. (In Russian).

Makarenko B.I. (2015) Partii i partiynye sistemy: sovremennye tendentsii razvitiya [Parties and party systems: current development trends], Moscow: Politicheskaya entsiklopediya. (In Russian).

Pabriks A., Štokenberga A. (2017) Political Parties and the Party System in Latvia. In: Jungerstam-Mulders S. (ed.) Post-Communist EU Member States: Parties and Party Systems, New York: Routledge, pp.65–82.

Ponomareva E.G. (2019) “Izbiratel'nyy byulleten' sil'nee puli”: razmysh­leniya o predstoyashchikh parlamentskikh vyborakh v Serbii [“The ballot is stronger than the bullet”: reflections on the upcoming parliamentary elections in Serbia]. Balkanist, December 2. Available at: https://balkanist.ru/izbiratelnyj-byulleten-silnee-puli-razmyshleniya-o-predstoyashhih-parlamentskih-vyborah-v-serbii/ (accessed: 21.01.2020).

Shevel O. (2015) The Parliamentary Elections in Ukraine, October 2014. Electoral Studies, vol.39, pp.153–177.

Starostina I.A. (2009) Soglashenie v izbiratel'nom prave [Agreement in electoral law]. Konstitutsionnoe i munitsipal'noe pravo, no.14, pp.30–34. (In Russian).

Silbey J.H. (1991) The Rise and Fall of Political Parties in the United States, 1789–1989: the Congressional Roll Call Record, New York: Carlson Publishers.

Vayshnarovich G.V. (2017) K voprosu o garantiyakh prav grazhdan Rossiyskoy Federatsii, ne yavlyayushchikhsya chlenami izbiratel'nykh ob'edine­niy, byt' izbrannymi deputatami predstavitel'nogo organa munitsipal'­nogo obrazovaniya pri primenenii proportsional'noy izbiratel'noy sistemy v zakonodatel'stve sub'ektov Rossiyskoy Federatsii [On the issue of guarantees of the rights of citizens of the Russian Federation who are not members of electoral associations to be elected deputies of the representative body of a municipality when applying the proportional election system in the legislation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation]. Administrativnoe i munitsipal'noe pravo, no.5, pp.22–32. (In Russian).

Volkova E.A. (2010) Nekotorye voprosy statusa politicheskikh partiy v svete poslaniy Prezidenta Rossii Federal'nomu Sobraniyu Rossiyskoy Federatsii [Some issues of the status of political parties in the light of the messages of the President of Russia to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation]. Konstitutsionnoe i munitsipal'noe pravo, no.3, pp.24–29. (In Russian).

Volodina S.V. (2016) Mnogopartiynost' kak osnova konstitutsionnogo stroya Rossii: monografiya [A multi-party system as the basis of the constitutional system of Russia: a monograph], Moscow: Prospekt. (In Russian).

Zaikin S.S. (2013) Izbiratel'nye bloki v Rossii: istoriya i perspektivy razvitiya [Electoral blocs in Russia: history and development prospects]. Pravo. Zhurnal Vysshey Shkoly Ekonomiki, no.2, pp.63–72. (In Russian).

Zolyan M. (2010) Armenia. In: Beacháin D.Ó., Polese A. (eds.) The Colour Revolutions in the Former Soviet Republics: Successes and Failures, London; New York: Routledge, pp.83–101.