Party Regulation in Latvia: A Relative Success
This paper sets to explore party law in Latvia in its broader sense - a body of legislation that directly affects political parties (Müller and Sieberer 2006) including laws that regulate establishing and maintaining a party, political funding, and campaigning for office. Of particular interest are factors affecting the adoption of particular regulatory regime as well the impact of regulation on parties and party system in Latvia. Given a protracted period of transition from a non-democratic regime in Latvia and partial accommodation of Communist elites within the new system, it is far from clear whether experience of the Communist period will be reflected in the party law. In light of the cartelization theory (Katz and Mair 1995, Katz and Mair 2009) it is expected that incumbent parties would attempt to establish and consolidate institutional arrangements that restrict entry of political newcomers and weaken intra-party competition.