Partisanship and Political Obligation
| Author | Matteo Bonotti |
| Published date | 01 October 2012 |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9256.2012.01440.x |
| Date | 01 October 2012 |
| Subject Matter | Research Article |
Research Article
Partisanship and Political Obligationponl_1440153..161
Matteo Bonotti
University of Stirling
Political parties have generally been disregarded in the literature on political obligation. In this
article I argue that, regardless of whether ordinary citizens or residents of a polity have any political
obligations, partisanship generates its own kind of political obligations. Participating in party
politics qua party members, supporters, activists or even mere voters produces benefits that
generate corresponding and proportionate political obligations for those who enjoy them. The
political obligations of partisans are easier to justify than those of ordinary citizens as the conditions
under which the benefits of partisanship can be rendered excludable are easier to obtain.
Keywords: political parties; partisanship; political obligation; positional duties; fairness
Introduction
To establish whether citizens have a political obligation is to assess whether they
have a moral duty to obey the laws of their political community.1Political obligation
is one of the central themes in political theory, yet my aim in this article is much less
ambitious than the reader might perhaps expect. I do not intend to provide an
overview of theories of political obligation,2nor do I intend to endorse (or reject)
any specific theory (or theories) of political obligation. My central argument,
instead, is that regardless of whether ordinary citizens or residents of a polity have
any political obligations (a problem that I do not address), partisanship (i.e. par-
ticipation in politics through political parties) generates specific and sui generis
political obligations.
In order to support my claim, I first introduce the concept of ‘positional duties’ and
explain how it applies to political parties, intended as voluntary associations that are
‘capable of placing through elections ... candidates for public office’ (Sartori, 1976,
p. 63). According to this argument, partisans’ voluntary decision to undertake the
positional duties of partisanship places them under special kinds of political obli-
gations. However, I explain, the notion of ‘partisanship’ presents different meanings
across different polities, within the same polity and often even within the same
party, and not all forms of partisanship are voluntary in nature. A voluntarist
account of the political obligations of partisanship thus presents some significant
limits.
In the second part of the article I therefore argue that the positional duties of
partisanship acquire the status of political obligations and become morally binding
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POLITICS: 2012 VOL 32(3), 153–161
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9256.2012.01440.x
© 2012 The Author.Politics © 2012 Political Studies Association
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