Party Democratization and Primaries
Comparative Tendencies and the Greek Experience
Primaries are no longer an American particularity. In recent years, the use of primaries for the selection of party leaders and parliamentary candidates has become a distinct tendency, among the European party systems as well. The Greek Socialist Party’s (PASOK) intra-party elections for leader selection, held in 2004 and 2007 respectively, demonstrate that, although the adoption of this method may not be a panacea for the problem of lack of intra-party democracy, it may, nevertheless under certain circumstances, contribute to the encouragement of party members and electors to participate effectively in the party’s internal functioning. Seen in this context, giving motives to the parties, mainly under the form of additional state financing, for the adoption of the primary system, while abiding by certain legislatively predefined guarantees, appears to be the most preferable choice in the field of constitutional politics.
