Regulating Political Parties: An Ethical Challenge for Democracy

In the last few years, Latin America has witnessed broad debates and various
attempts to improve legal regulatory frameworks for the functioning of
political parties. Given the recognized failure of neo-liberalism, the need
to strengthen the state and its regulatory role is once again on the agenda.
This scenario is ideal to investigate the party system itself and the desirable
rules for its performance. The author takes a look at the Dominican legalpolitical
framework by emphasizing its weakness due to: institutional
fragility regarding the enforcement of the law, an increasingly precarious
democratic institutional environment, and the lack of transparency within
parties themselves. Nonetheless, the article concludes by highlighting some
encouraging points emerged from debates sustained during the last decade. It
reviews a series of proposals that await approval by Congress, in some cases,
and/or need to be addressed by the country’s political leadership.