Nonpartisan democracy (also no-party democracy) is a system of representative government or organization such that universal and periodic elections take place without reference to political parties.
Sometimes electioneering and even speaking about candidates may be
discouraged, so as not to prejudice others' decisions or create a
contentious atmosphere.
In many nations, the head of state is nonpartisan, even if the prime minister and parliament
are chosen in partisan elections. Such heads of state are expected to
remain neutral with regards to partisan politics. In a number of
parliamentary or semi-presidential countries, some presidents are
non-partisan, or receive cross-party support.
Nonpartisan systems may be de jure,
meaning political parties are either outlawed entirely or legally
prevented from participating in elections at certain levels of
government, or de facto if no such laws exist and yet there are no political parties. On the national level, de facto nonpartisan systems mostly represent very small populations, such as in Niue, Tuvalu, and Palau. Several Persian Gulf states are de jure nonpartisan, including Oman and Kuwait;
the legislatures in these governments typically have advisory capacity
only, as they may comment on laws proposed by the executive branch but
are unable to create laws themselves. De jure nonpartisan national
governments sometimes resemble one-party states,
but governments of the latter type explicitly recognize a single
political party that all officials are required to be a member of.
Unless there are legal restrictions on political parties,
factions within nonpartisan governments may evolve into political
parties. The United States of America initially did not have
enfranchised political parties, but these evolved soon after
independence.
Comparison with other political systems
A nonpartisan system differs from a one-party system in that the governing faction
in a one-party system identifies itself as a party, where membership
might provide benefits not available to non-members. A single-party
government often requires government officials to be members of the
party, features a complex party hierarchy
as a key institution of government, forces citizens to agree to a
partisan ideology, and may enforce its control over the government by
making all other parties illegal. Members of a nonpartisan government
may represent many different ideologies. Various communist nations such as China or Cuba are single-party nations although the Members of Parliament are not elected as party candidates.
A direct democracy can be considered nonpartisan since citizens
vote on laws themselves rather than electing representatives. Direct
democracy can be partisan, however, if factions are given rights or
prerogatives that non-members do not have.
Structures
Elections
In
nonpartisan elections, each candidate for office is eligible based on
her or his own merits rather than as a member of a political party. No
political affiliation (if one exists) is shown on the ballot next to a
candidate. Generally, the winner is chosen from a runoff election where
the candidates are the top two vote-getters from a primary election. In
some elections the candidates might be members of a national party but
do not run as party members for local office.
Nonpartisan democracies may possess indirect elections whereby an
electorate are chosen who in turn vote for the representative(s). (This
is sometimes known as a 2-tier election, such as an electoral college.) The system can work with a first past the post electoral system but is incompatible with (partisan) proportional representation systems other than single transferable vote or reweighted cardinal voting systems, or semi proportional systems such as cumulative voting and single non transferable vote.
Nonpartisan elections are generally held for municipal and county offices, especially school boards,
and are also common in the election of judges. In some nonpartisan
elections it is common knowledge which candidates are members of and
backed by which parties; in others, parties are almost wholly uninvolved
and voters make choices with little or no regard to partisan
considerations.
While nonpartisan democracies can allow for a wide selection of
candidates (especially within a no-nomination system whereby voters can
choose any non-restricted person in their area), such systems are not
incompatible with indirect elections (such as for large geographical
areas), whereby delegates may be chosen who in turn elect the
representatives.
Appointments
Even
if a government's executive officer or legislature is partisan,
appointments of cabinet members, judges, or directors of government
agencies, may be nonpartisan. The intent of appointing government
officials in a nonpartisan manner is to insure the officers can perform
their duties free from partisan politics, and are chosen in a fair
manner that does not adversely affect a political party. Twelve US
states use the Missouri Plan,
and two use a variation of it, to choose judges in a nonpartisan
manner. Several countries with partisan parliaments use nonpartisan
appointments to choose presidents.
Legislatures
In
nonpartisan legislatures, there are no typically formal party
alignments within the legislature; even if there are caucuses for
specific issues. Alliances and causes with a nonpartisan body are often
temporary and fluid since legislators who oppose each other on some
issues may agree on other issues. Despite being nonpartisan, legislators
typically have consistent and identifiable voting patterns. Decisions
to investigate and enforce ethics violations by government officials are
generally done on the basis of evidence instead of party affiliation.
Committee chairs and other leaders within the legislature are often
chosen for seniority and expertise, unlike the leaders in a partisan
legislature who are often chosen because of loyalty to a party.
Historical examples
The democracy of ancient Athens was nonpartisan, as eligible citizens voted on laws themselves rather than electing representatives.
Historians have frequently interpreted Federalist No. 10 to imply that the Founding Fathers of the United States intended the government to be nonpartisan. James Madison
defined a faction as "a number of citizens, whether amounting to a
minority or majority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some
common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of
other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the
community." As political parties had interests which were adverse to the
rights of citizens and to the general welfare of the nation, several
Founding Fathers preferred a nonpartisan form of government.
The administration of George Washington and the first few sessions of the US Congress were nonpartisan. Factions within the early US government coalesced into the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties. The Era of Good Feelings,
when the Federalist party collapsed (leaving the Democratic-Republican
party as the sole political faction) was the United States' only
experience with a one-party system.
The Confederate States of America
had no political parties during its entire existence from 1861 to 1865.
Despite political differences within the Confederacy, no national
political parties were formed because they were seen as illegitimate.
"Anti-partyism became an article of political faith."
Without a two-party system building alternative sets of national
leaders, electoral protests tended to be narrowly state-based,
"negative, carping and petty". The 1863 mid-term elections became mere
expressions of futile and frustrated dissatisfaction. According to
historian David M. Potter, this lack of a functioning two-party system
caused "real and direct damage" to the Confederate war effort, since it
prevented the formulation of any effective alternatives to the conduct
of the war by the Davis administration.
Legislative elections in the Confederacy were decided without
political parties. Key candidate identification related to adopting
secession before or after Lincoln's
call for volunteers to retake Federal property. Previous party
affiliation played a part in voter selection, predominantly secessionist
Democrat or unionist Whig.
There were no organized political parties, but elective offices were
exempted from military duty. Virtually every position was contested with
as many as twenty candidates for each office.
The absence of political parties made individual roll call voting all
the more important, as the Confederate "freedom of roll-call voting
[was] unprecedented in American legislative history.
The Republic of Texas was a nonpartisan democracy before it was annexed by the United States; all four presidents of the Republic of Texas, and the members of the Texian Congress, were officially non-partisan.
The Non-Partisan League was an influential socialist
political movement in the United States, especially in the Upper
Midwest and particularly during the 1910s and 1920s. It also contributed
much to the ideology of the former Progressive Party of Canada. It went into decline and merged with the Democratic Party of North Dakota in 1956. The Progressive Party of Canada and the United Farmers movement (which formed governments in the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario) also acted on a similar philosophy. In the case of the United Farmers of Ontario, while in power (1919–1923), the administration of Ernest Drury suffered lots of infighting as the result of conflicting views.
Because of their nonpartisan ideology, the Progressive Party of Canada refused to take the position of the official opposition after the election of 1921
when they came in second place. Four years later, they lost that
position and their rural supporters began to move to the Liberal Party
and CCF. Eventually the Progressive Party of Canada and the United
Farmers movement faded into obscurity, with most of their members
joining the Liberal Party of Canada and the democratic socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF, or present day New Democratic Party).
Modern examples
National governments
Very
few national governments are completely nonpartisan, but nonpartisan
political systems at the national level are not unheard of. Many
national governments have nonpartisan offices even if their legislative
branches are partisan. Constitutional monarchies have nonpartisan monarchs as their head of state. Parliamentary republics generally have nonpartisan, figurehead presidents.
Nonpartisan governments are much more likely in countries with small populations. Nauru, for example, has no political parties; its Parliament
consists entirely of independent members of parliament or MPs, who form
governing coalitions and opposition blocs through alliances of
individuals.
In Niue,
political parties have never played an important role. There is, at
present, no political party, and candidates to elections therefore run
as independents. The only party ever to have existed, the Niue People's Party, disbanded in 2003.
In Tuvalu,
where no political parties exist, "MPs have very close links with their
island constituencies and effort is directed towards balancing island
representation in Cabinet".
Some are de facto nonpartisan because while no law forbids
the formation of political parties, the populations are small enough
that they are considered impractical. Political allegiances depend
mainly on family and island-related factors.
In Indonesia, all members of the Regional Representative Council are nonpartisan.
The United Arab Emirates is a de jure nonpartisan authoritarian state since all political parties were outlawed. The Federal National Council
(al-Majlis al-Watani al-Ittihadi) is the UAE's parliamentary body and
consists of 40 members, representing the Emirates, half appointed by the
rulers of the constituent states and the other half elected to serve
two-year terms, with only advisory tasks.
Political parties are also illegal in the Gulf state of Kuwait,
as they have not been legalized since independence in 1961.
Nonetheless, the constitution itself does not explicitly prohibit
parties. Candidates for election to the National Assembly of Kuwait stand in a personal capacity. In practice, however, several political groups act as de facto parties.
Libya's unicameral legislature, the General National Congress reserved 120 out of its 200 seats for independent politicians in multiple-member districts. The other 80 were elected through a party list system of proportional representation.
Oman
does not allow political parties, and only holds elections with
expanding suffrage for a consultative assembly. Though Oman is
developing into a constitutional monarchy, political parties are not yet
allowed in Oman. The previously influential opposition movement, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman, is dormant today.
In Saudi Arabia, no political parties are allowed.
A nonpartisan democracy might take root in other sovereign nations, such as occurred in Uganda
in 1986, whereby political parties were restricted by a constitutional
referendum endorsed by the people of the country (this system did not
have all of the features described above). During a subsequent referendum in 2005, over 92% of Ugandan citizens voted for the return of a multiple party system.
Until the mid-20th century, a Canadian politician's political affiliation was not shown on ballots
at any level of government. The expectation was that citizens would
vote according to the merit of the candidate, but in practice, party
allegiance played an important role. Beginning in 1974, the name of the
candidate's political party was shown on the ballot. In elections for
the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, political affiliation was not
shown on ballots until 2004. For elections for the eighteen districts in
the dependency, political affiliation was not shown until 2007.
State or provincial governments
There are several examples of nonpartisan state or provincial
governments. The nonpartisan system is also used in many US states for
the election of judges, district attorneys and other officials. Twelve
US states use the Missouri Plan, and two use a variation of it, to choose judges in a nonpartisan manner.
The state of Nebraska in the United States has nonpartisan elections for its legislature because candidates are neither endorsed nor supported by political parties. However, its executive branch is elected on a partisan basis. It is the only state in the United States with a nonpartisan legislature.
Louisiana uses a nonpartisan blanket primary,
also called a "jungle primary", for state and local offices. In this
system, all candidates run against each other regardless of party
affiliation during the primary, and then the two most popular candidates
run against each other even if they are members of the same party. This
form of runoff election weakens political parties and transforms a
partisan election into a partly nonpartisan election.
The Swiss Cantons of Glarus and Appenzell Innerrhoden are also nonpartisan, direct democracies; while they have a partisan parliament, all laws have to be passed by "Landsgemeinde", an assembly of all citizens eligible to vote.
Governors of Japanese prefectures are required by law not to be members of any political party.
Territorial governments
The territorial government of American Samoa is completely nonpartisan. It has 21 nonpartisan members elected by consensus to its Territorial House and 18 nonpartisan members elected to the Territorial Senate. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor are both nonpartisan offices. However, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and its nonvoting member of the U.S. House are Democrats.
The British territory of Falkland Islands has a completely nonpartisan government in that no political parties operate on the islands. All eight members of the Legislative Assembly are nonpartisan, as is the Chief Executive and the Governor.
Guernsey has a nonpartisan legislature. The States of Guernsey, officially called the States of Deliberation, consists of 45 People's Deputies, elected from multi- or single-member districts every four years.
Political parties played no official role in the Isle of Man before the 2006 elections and played a minor role in the 2006 elections. At the 2001 election for the House of Keys, the Manx Labour Party
polled 17.3% of the vote and only 2 seats. The vast majority of seats
at every election are won by independent candidates with no allegiance
to any parties.
The head of the territory and head of government of Hong Kong, the Chief Executive, is required by law not to be member of any political party. There are political parties, but there is no legislation for political parties.
The Canadian territories of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut
have nonpartisan legislatures. The populace votes for individuals to
represent it in the territorial assembly without reference to political
parties. After the election, the assembly selects one of its number to
form a government and act as premier. This system is in deference to the system of consensus government that predominates among the indigenous Inuit and other peoples of northern Canada.
Municipal governments
The municipal government of the City of Toronto, Ontario (Canada) is the fifth largest government in the country,
governing a population of more than 2.7 million. It consists of a
nonpartisan, directly elected council. The public may have a general
idea of the candidates' political affiliations, but their parties have
no official recognition or privilege in the functioning of City Council.
Councilors are free to vote on each motion individually, freeing them from party discipline.
Almost all Canadian Cites are nonpartisan as well as Counties And RMS.
Many municipalities in Switzerland also have a nonpartisan legislative assembly consisting of all citizens eligible to vote.
The Village of Scarsdale, New York
selects its Board of Trustees using a nonpartisan system that dates
back to 1911. Candidates for office are privately interviewed by a
diversely composed committee and then nominated for office. New York
State law mandates that these nominees must be democratically elected,
however, nominated candidates are rarely contested in the general
election. The coordinating Scarsdale Citizens' Non-Partisan Party motto
is "Performance, Not Politics"
