Open political parties: applying the principles of Open Government to Spanish political affiliations

Open government has experienced strong development in the political arena as well as in academic studies. This article explores the possibility of adapting the foundations of open government (transparency, participation and collaboration) to political parties. In Spain, such parties have experienced great mistrust from citizens, which goes hand in hand with the high level of public contributions in their financing. These factors have made it necessary to develop the concept of open political parties. This study is based on a conceptual approach using the Delphi methodology in which 20 experts from the fields of Communication, Law and Political Science have contributed their knowledge in two rounds of questionnaires. The results were used to draft a Guide to Best Practice for Open Political Parties, which was used later to evaluate these organisations. The analysis shows that parties still have not developed the foundations mentioned above, especially with regard to their involvement and interaction with citizens.