The Legal Status of American Political Parties, II

Joseph R. Starr

American Political Science Review, 1940, vol. 34, issue 4, 685-699

Abstract: Political parties that cannot meet the requirements set up by statute for participation in the direct primary, or for the holding of legal conventions, are authorized in most states to choose their candidates by an alternative method. The statutory provisions on this matter vary widely. Some states follow a liberal policy, making it relatively easy for small parties to get a place on the ballot with their candidates' names identified by the party name or emblem. A few states follow a different policy, and make it difficult for small parties to put forward their candidates and allow no distinction upon the ballot between independent candidates and the candidates of small parties.The forty-eight states may be divided into several classes as respects their statutory provisions for the nomination of candidates by new political parties and small parties which cannot meet the statutory definition of a political party:1. States prescribing no minimum size for a political party to participate in the favored method of nomination, whether convention or direct primary—six states. In these states, new and small parties are in the most favored position. In the matter of nominating candidates and gaining a place on the general election ballot, they are accorded equal treatment with parties of long standing and substantial size.

Date: 1940
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