'Democracy within political parties' structures : the Maltese case'

Abstract

Political parties play a central role in a functioning democracy where every party is called into action through presenting candidates to contest elections and strive to obtain the keys to government. During the twentieth century political parties became accepted as the central representative device of liberal democracy. Most political parties claim to be democratic. However advocates of intra- party democracy in the functioning of political parties perceive it to be inconspicuous by its very nature. This is further reinforced by Michel analysis which appeared in 1911, in a book entitled ‘Political Parties’, which made reference to the principle called the ‘Iron law of Oligarchy,’ The notion of party oligarchy therefore rests on the premise as exhibited by Michel who stated that if internal democracy could not be found in an organisation professed to be democratic, it would certainly be completely inexistent in parties which did not claim to be democratic. Like any political party in the world, the Partit Nazzjonalista in Malta claims to be democratic. This research will undergo an analysis of how the internal structures of the party function and also studies whether these can fall into the trap of the Iron Law of Oligarchy.