Organización partidaria y democracia: tres tesis de los estudios comparativos y su aplicación a los partidos en la Argentina

Abstract

This paper discusses some problems of the theories of party organization from the point of view of democratic theory and in the light of the recent evolution of parties in Argentina. First, five theoretical arguments about the incidence of party organization on the democratic character of representative government are analyzed. Three of them assess positively the contribution of parties to democracy, two give a negative evaluation. The analysis of party organization is necessary to solve the disagreement between these arguments. The remainder of the paper discusses three arguments relevant for this analysis: the causes and consequences of the dominance of elected representatives over organizations on the ground and party bureaucracies; the coexistence of formal and informal institutions within parties; and the impact of party finance strategies on the relationships between parties, state and civil society. In all cases, references to the workings of Argentine parties, informed by the conclusions of recent research on the topic, illustrate this discussion.