Right to Form Political Parties
This chapter analyzes the right to form political parties. It first describes the doctrinal aspects of this right, and how it is organizational in nature. It also theorizes the extent to which political parties are able to mobilize to protect their rights, and whether and how the constitution can help them do so. The chapter also draws attention to important differences between opposition parties and ruling parties. It then presents results from a global statistical analysis, which reveal that constitutional protections of the right to form political parties are systematically associated with higher levels of respect for party rights and levels of democratization. It attributes this finding to the actions by political parties, which use the constitution to protect their rights. It also presents findings from a case study in Myanmar, which demonstrates how the constitutional protection of political parties facilitated the emergence of dozens of new parties and how the new parties used the Myanmar Constitution to protect their interests.