Partidos políticos y competición electoral. Cuando la Ciencia Política confronta el Derecho

Abstract

The definition of political party has been one of the great themes in political science since the conversion of our discipline in the second half of the twentieth century. These conceptualizations have helped develop several theories dedicated to interpreting, explaining and classifying different party systems. The intellectual effort from political science has clashed with other conceptualizations from other related disciplines such as Law. The reasons leading to this disconnect between political science and legal definitions could be several. However, the consequences for the political system are clear. The article presents a case study from the Guatemalan political system. The article shows the problems associated with the conceptualization of the figure of political party. It is note that the legal definition raises the costs of participation hindering citizens access to public institutions. Our text presents the elementshat Guatemalan organizations must possess to become parties. In addition, the paper evidences as such requirements not only raise such cost of participation, but also reduce competition by limiting the action of alternative actors –called comités cívicos- which could strive presenting national candidates and thereby contribute to the revitalization of the electoral competitive structure in the country. The conclusion we reach is that Guatemalan political system presents a clear dissonance between the political science definition of political party and the legal definition. Therefore, the cost of participation raises and thus limits the overall level of competition within the system.