Introduction

Political parties in modern democracies are increasingly managed by the state through public law and the constitution. As a consequence, their external behaviour and activities and their internal organisational structures have become increasingly defined, prescribed or even proscribed by the laws of the state. Despite the increased propensity of the modern democratic states to intervene in the activities, organisation and behaviour of parties, the phenomenon of party regulation has hitherto received relatively little systematic and comparative scholarly attention, from political scientists or constitutional lawyers. The recognition of political parties in post-communist European Constitutions began in 1989 when the Hungarian Orszaggyules heavily amended the 1949 Communist Constitution. The funding of political parties undoubtedly constitutes the one of the most examined areas of party regulation, also in post-communist Europe. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.