The Natural Law Party was founded in 1992 in the United States by a group of educators,
business leaders, and lawyers in Fairfield, Iowa who practiced Transcendental
Meditation.[1] The Natural Law Party was a
transnational political party with national branches in over 80 countries.
The party based its platform on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's view that
natural law is the supreme organizing principle that governs the universe, and that the
problems of humanity are caused by people acting against this natural law. The Natural Law Party claimed that it could realign
humanity with this organizing priniciple through techniques such as the practice of Transcendental Meditation and
TM-Sidhi program, and problems would be alleviated.
The various Natural Law Parties disbanded over a period of years from 2001-2006.
UK Natural Law Party
The first Natural Law Party was launched in the UK, with Dr. Geoffrey Clements as
Party Leader. The party fielded candidates in approximately 300 out of a total of some 600 constituencies. A significant number of constituencies were contested by nationals of countries outside the
UK, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and India, as British electoral law allows any member of a
Commonwealth country to stand for Parliament. Former Beatle George
Harrison performed in a fund-raising concert during the campaign.
The UK manifesto, like all other NLP platforms in the subsequent decade, was founded on two assertions: (1) that the
development of consciousness, in particular through the practice of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program including
Yogic Flying, can enhance individual capability to resolve societal problems, and (2)
that the practice of these techniques by a critical mass of the population, or else their group practice, in particular the group
practice of Yogic Flying, results in overall improvements in society, including reduced crime,
accidents and hospital admissions and improvements in prosperity, security and quality of life. The party quoted peer-reviewed
published scientific research for many of its assertions.
In the first UK campaign, as in most subsequent campaigns in other countries, Natural Law candidates gained an average of
approximately 0.4% of votes.
Republic of Ireland Natural Law Party
The Republic of Ireland had a Natural Law Party, centred in Dublin. Its most high profile candidate was Paddy Seery from Offaly. It is
currently thought of as disbanded.
Australia
In Australia, some candidates gained as much as 10% of the vote in some electorates. Owing to the compulsory preferential voting system in that country, this figure has the capacity to cause a marginal seat to change hands, and could precipitate a change in government. In the preferential system,
votes allocated to an unsuccessful candidate are transferred to the next preferred candidate, until they are eventually lodged
with either the final winner or the runner-up. A party's recommendation or allocation of preferences can thus create a swing
sufficient to unseat a marginal incumbent. As a result, major parties at times assiduously
court minor parties for their preferences (mainly during election times). It is not clear whether Natural Law Party candidates at
any time precipitated a spill in a marginal electorate in Australia. However, following the formation of the NLP, a large number
of small parties were launched, transforming the country from a largely two-party electoral system (Labor and the National/Liberal Coalition, with Democrats and
Greens as minor parties) to a slightly more diverse political mix.
In the UK and most other countries in which the Natural Law Party was active, the party was discontinued after about
2001.
U.S. Natural Law Party
-
The U.S. Natural Law Party, led by Dr. John Hagelin, ran as a third party that was largely center-left in ideology. It took liberal positions on abortion and gay rights, promised that it had scientific solutions to combat social ills such as
poverty, crime, racism,
bigotry, and came off as being politically moderate to conservative on economic issues.
The NLP ran Dr. John Hagelin, a physics professor at Maharishi University of Management,
for president of the United States in the 1992, 1996, and 2000 elections, when he received fewer than 84,000 votes — or less than
one tenth of one percent of the total number of votes.[2]
According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the NLP spent nearly $2.3 million on its presidential campaign in the
1999-2000 election cycle.[3] The Natural Law Party did not
run a candidate for president in the 2004 U.S. election and it is no longer a registered party in the United Kingdom.
In 2000 Hagelin attempted to create an independent coalition between the Natural Law and Reform political parties; however,
that failed when Patrick Buchanan took control of the Reform Party.
Between 2000–2004 the Natural Law Party sought to create an independent coalition of voters interested in election law reform. In 2002 the party endorsed Independence Party of Minnesota candidate for Minnesota Governor, Tim Penny. In 2004 the Natural Law Party
endorsed Democratic Party presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich for President. Not long afterwards the Natural Law Party headquarters announced that it
was shutting down and many state chapters followed suit. Hagelin went on to start the US Peace
Government.
It is not clear why the Natural Law Party dissolved. It was seen as one of the more organized third political parties in
America, along with the Constitution Party, Green Party and the Libertarian
Party. In 1996, it ran more than 400 candidates in 48 states and was attracting support from Democrats, Republicans and independents.
The Idaho Natural Law Party remained active, and was prepared to have three candidates on the
ballot for state and federal office in 2006 by entering into a coalition with the new United Party, and thus remained the only Natural Law Party still active in the United
States of America. However, on June 16 the Idaho Natural Law Party changed its name to the
United Party, effectively ending the Natural Law Party's presence on American ballots.
References
- ^ Roth, R:The Natural Law Party:A Reason to Vote, page 285. St. Martin's
Press, 1998
- ^ http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2000/prespop.htm
- ^ http://www.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/disclosure_data_search.shtml
See also
External links
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