Party Regulation as an Instrument of Party System Consolidation and of Mending Party Legitimacy in Slovenia

Modern party regulation has been in place in Slovenia since 1989. During Slovenia’s transition to democracy, various constitutional amendments were adopted, namely, the Law on Political Association in 1989, the Law on Elections to Assemblies in 1989, and the new Constitution of Slovenia in 1991.  During the process of consolidating democracy, the Law on Political Parties was adopted first in 1994 and then modified in 2000, 2002, 2005 and 2007 (this law includes the regulation of party finances); meanwhile, the Law on Electoral Campaigning was first adopted in 1997 and modified in 1997, 2006, 2007 and 2011. In addition to these laws, the Decree on the Organisation and Work of Departments of the National Assembly was adopted in 1997; its modifications (in 2000 and 2002) impacted on party resources.

In the paper the amending of party regulation and parliamentary rules are analyzed taking into account two key factors. The first factor involves the instrumentalisation of party regulation in the process of consolidating the party system to favour parliamentary parties. The second factor - critical public pressure related to party-related financial scandals - explains the timing of the amendments to the party financing regulation.

The paper is based on an analysis of the debates relating to party regulation and their legal outputs since 1989, an analysis of the development of the party system and longitudinal public opinion survey data on party legitimacy, an analysis of MPs’ voting behavior on matters of party regulation, as well as on a number of interviews with experts.