In many nations, the head of state is nonpartisan, even if the prime minister and parliament are chosen in partisan elections.
De facto nonpartisan systems are mostly situated in states and regions with small populations, such as in Micronesia, Tuvalu, and Palau, where organizing political parties is seen as unnecessary or impractical.
In nonpartisan elections, each candidate for office is eligible based on his or her own merits rather than as a member of a political party.
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 compatible with indirect elections (such as for large geographical areas), whereby delegates may be chosen who in turn elect the representatives.
Decisions to investigate and enforce ethics violations by government officials are generally done on the basis of evidence instead of party affiliation.
Democracy in ancient Athens was nonpartisan, as eligible citizens voted on laws themselves rather than electing representatives.
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.
"[1] Without a two-party system building alternative sets of national leaders, electoral protests tended to be narrowly state-based, "negative, carping and petty".
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.
Prime Ministers made individual agreements with Members of Parliament in order to form and maintain government, lest MP's 'cross the floor' and joined the opposition.
[7] The Non-Partisan League was an influential socialist political movement during the 1910s and 1920s in the United States, especially in the Upper Midwest, which also eventually bled over into the prairie provinces of Canada.
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 much 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.
Some states are de facto nonpartisan because while no law forbids the formation of political parties, the populations are small enough that they are considered impractical.
In Indonesia, all members of the Regional Representative Council, the upper house of the nation's bicameral legislature, are barred to come from any elements of political parties.
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.
Nevertheless, several politically-focused organizations such as the National Democratic Alliance exist and function as de facto political parties.
Libya's unicameral legislature, the General National Congress reserved 120 out of its 200 seats for independent politicians in multiple-member districts.
The Vatican State is a nonpartisan theocracy, though it does not have a native population and in essence exists as a sort of extraterritorial headquarters for the Catholic Church.
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).
The expectation was that citizens would vote according to the merit of the candidate, but in practice, party allegiance played an important role.
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.
Civil society organizations and trade unions also nominate candidates for election in Hong Kong under the system of functional constituencies.
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.
The Village of Scarsdale, New York selects its Board of Trustees using a nonpartisan system that dates back to 1911.
[16] Barangay Captains and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK, youth councils) chairmen in a municipality or city elect among themselves their representative to the local legislature.
In deadlocked or hung legislatures, votes from the nominally nonpartisan representatives of barangay captains and SK chairmen hold the balance of power.