What's the Party like? The Normative state of the Politcial Party in Souh Asia
Change of venue - Syndicate Room - Old Main Building, St Antony's College
Current commentary in legal and political philosophy conceptualises political parties either as private organisations, immune from legal regulation in their internal affairs, or as quasi-public institutions, where the state may justifiably mandate certain internal regulations. I argue that, in jurisdictions with anti-defection laws, neither conception accounts for the normative status of the political party. Instead, the party ought to be conceptualised as a legislative actor. This paper then examines how conceptualising the party in this way can affect the way in which we understand the relationship between the law and a party. I explore three possible avenues of legal regulation of parties: the process of candidate selection, the selection of party leaders, and interaction between a party and its parliamentary wing. I argue that conceptualising the party as a legislative entity has the most salient implications for the third of these: the interaction between the extra-parliamentary organisation and the parliamentary party.
Date: 19 February 2019, 14:00 (Tuesday, 6th week, Hilary 2019)
Venue: St Antony's College, 62 Woodstock Road OX2 6JF
Venue Details: Syndicate Room, Old Main Builidng
Speaker: Udit Bhatia (University of Oxford)
Organising department: Asian Studies Centre
Organiser contact email address: asian@sant.ox.acuk
Part of: Modern South Asian Studies Seminar Series
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Public
Editor: Clare Salter