LEGAL PRINCIPLES OF PARTICIPATION OF UKRAINIAN POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE ELECTION PROCESS
It has been found that in the 21st century, political parties play an important role in the political processes of society, forming political power in a representative democracy. Qualitative development of political parties is possible with proper legal support, which allows ruling and opposition political parties to participate in electoral processes on a democratic basis. It is determined that crucial for a proper understanding of the basic principles of political party participation in electoral processes is that they should in no way be seen as a means of imposing excessive restrictions on political parties respecting the right of citizens to hold political office, personally or as political party representatives. It is substantiated that political parties perform an important representative function during their activity. The main task of political parties is to participate in the formation of the political will of the people through the electoral process and the implementation of a certain political course. It is proposed to consider political parties as organizations that have united certain individuals, one of whose goals is to participate in the management of public affairs through the nomination of candidates in free and democratic elections. It was found that in countries where national law does not require the registration of political parties, a political party is still subject to certain requirements for their participation in the electoral process. There is a tendency towards a more liberal approach to the requirements of the functioning of political parties of power to developed classical European democracies. At the same time, the democracies of Central and Eastern Europe are characterized by greater bureaucratization and formalized requirements for state registration and participation of political parties in the electoral process.