Party Politics in Armenia: a Primer
Section I. An Introduction to the Armenian Party System Introduction Political parties are vital for the functioning of a healthy democratic political order. In the strictest sense this is only an assumption, albeit one that most political scientists would agree with. Larry Diamond’s observation is apt: “Political parties remain important if not essential instruments for presenting political constituencies and interests, aggregating demands and preferences, recruiting and socializing new candidates for office, organizing the electoral competition for power, crafting policy alternatives, setting the policy-making agenda, forming effective governments, and integrating groups and individuals into the democratic process” (1997:xxv). Like party politics in other postcommunist states, on the surface, Armenian party politics can be somewhat confusing, especially to the uninitiated. Hopefully this essay can clear the ground a bit. It examines party politics in Armenia and assumes, like Diamond, that the consolidation of a functional party system is crucial to Armenia’s continued transition to democracy. It also assumes that the reader knows little, if anything, about Armenia politics or political parties. The essay is, by design, rather long, as it is intended to be a fairly comprehensive source of information for Armenian party politics. A few notes about the essay are appropriate before the subject matter is addressed. First, because the essay is intended for a general, as well as a scholarly audience, citations have been kept to a minimum and are included in footnotes (rather than in text). Along these lines, I have avoided the common practice of using acronyms or abbreviations for party names, so as to avoid confusion.
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