Political Parties
Module-1
Why do we need Political Parties?
▪ Political parties are one of the most visible institutions in a democracy.
▪ For most ordinary citizens democracy is equal to political parties
▪ Most people tend to be very critical of political parties
▪ Parties have become identified with the social and political divisions
▪ Political Parties
▪ -Political Organization of people
▪ -Contest Elections
▪ -Control political Power
Role of political parties
▪ Parties contest Election.
▪ Implementing Policies and programs for the collective good.
▪ Persuading people why their policies are better than others.
▪ Implementing policies by winning popular support in the elections.
▪ Due to the presence of political parties’ citizens have a choice.
▪ Components of a political party
▪ -The leaders
▪ -The active members
▪ -The followers.
▪ Assignment
▪ Q Why can modern democracies not exist without political parties? Explain.
▪ Q Why did political parties become so omnipresent in democracies all over the world?
▪ Q What is a political party?
Functions of political parties
1.Parties Contest elections, elections are fought mainly among the candidates put up by the
political parties: -Parties select their candidates in different ways. - In some countries, such as the
USA, members and supporters of a party choose its candidates. -Now more and more countries are
following this method. - In other countries like India, top party leaders choose candidates for
contesting elections.
2.Frame policies and programs: -Parties put forward different policies and programmes and the
voters choose from them. -In a democracy, a large number of similar opinions have to be grouped
together to provide a direction in which policies can be formulated by the governments. This is what
the parties do. -A party reduces a vast multitude of opinions into a few basic positions which it
supports. -A government is expected to base its policies on the line taken by the RULING PARTY.
3.Play decisive role in the law-making process in the parliament: -Formally, laws are debated and
passed in the legislature -Since most of the members belong to a party, they go by the direction of
the party leadership, irrespective of their personal opinions
4.Form and run the government: -The big policy decisions are taken by political executive that
comes from the political parties. -Parties recruit leaders, train them and then make them ministers
to run the government in the way they want.
5.Role of opposition: -Those parties that lose in the elections play the role of opposition to the
parties in power, by voicing different views and criticising government for its failures or wrong
policies. -Opposition parties also mobilise opposition to the government.
6.Shaping of public opinion: -They raise and highlight issues. - Parties have lakhs of members and
activists spread all over the country. -Many of the pressure groups are the extensions of political
parties among different sections of society. -Parties sometimes also launch movements for the
resolution of problems faced by people. - Often opinions in the society crystallise on the lines parties
take
7.Provide access to government machinery and welfare schemes through local party leaders: For
an ordinary citizen it is easy to approach a local party leader than a government officer. That is why,
they feel close to parties even when they do not fully trust them. Parties have to be responsive to
people’s needs and demands.
Assignment
Q What are the different ways adopted by parties to select candidates?
Q How do parties formulate their policies and programmes?
Q What is the function of political parties in making laws for the country?
Q How do parties shape public opinions?
Q What is the role of opposition?
Necessity-Political Parties
▪ Why modern democracies cannot exist without political parties?
Ans. Every candidate in the election will be independent.
▪ No promises could be made, government will remain uncertain
▪ Elected representatives will be accountable to their constituency
-No one will be responsible for how the country will be run.
Non-party based elections –
-Panchayats-Many state -Village gets split into more than one faction
-Each of which puts a panel of its candidates
-This is exactly what the party does.
-That is the reason we find political parties in almost all countries of the world, whether these
countries are big or small, old or new, developed or developing.
Significance of Political Parties in a representative democracy
-The rise of political parties is directly linked to the emergence of representative democracies.
-Large societies need representative democracy.
- As societies became large and complex, they also needed some agency to gather different views
on various issues and to present these to the government.
- They needed some ways, to bring various representatives together so that a responsible
government could be formed.
-They needed a mechanism to support or restrain the government, make policies, justify or oppose
them. Political parties fulfil these needs that every representative government has.
Assignment
- Is it possible to have a party less democracy?
“The rise of political parties is directly linked to the emergence of representative democracies’’.
Discuss.
“Parties are a necessary condition for a democracy”. Discuss.
How many parties should we have?
One Party – -In some countries, only one party is allowed to control and run the government. These
are called one-party systems.
- In China, only the Communist Party is allowed to rule. Although, legally speaking, people are free to
form political parties, it does not happen because the electoral system does not permit free
competition for power.
-We cannot consider one-party system as a good option because this is not a democratic option. -
Any democratic system must allow at least two parties to compete in elections and provide a fair
chance for the competing parties to come to power.
Two Party System -In some countries, power usually changes between two main parties.
- Several other parties may exist, contest elections and win a few seats in the national legislatures.
-But only the two main parties have a serious chance of winning majority of seats to form
government.
-Such a party system is called two-party system. The United States of America and the United
Kingdom are examples of two-party system.
Multi Party System -If several parties compete for power, and more than two parties have a
reasonable chance of coming to power either on their own strength or in alliance with others, we
call it a multiparty system.
-In India, we have a multiparty system. In this system, the government is formed by various parties
coming together in a coalition.
-When several parties in a multi-party system join hands for the purpose of contesting elections and
winning power, it is called an alliance or a front.
-For example, in India there were three such major alliances in 2004 parliamentary elections– the
National Democratic Alliance, the United Progressive Alliance and the Left Front.
-The multiparty system often appears very messy and leads to political instability. At the same time,
this system allows a variety of interests and opinions to enjoy political representation. Party system
is not something any country can choose.
- It evolves over a long time, depending on the nature of society, its social and regional divisions, its
history of politics and its system of elections.
-These cannot be changed very quickly. Each country develops a party system that is conditioned by
its special circumstances.
-For example, if India has evolved a multiparty system, it is because the social and geographical
diversity in such a large country is not easily absorbed by two or even three parties. No system is
ideal for all countries and all situations.
Assignment
-How has multi-party system strengthened democracy in India? Explain.
-Why is one party system not considered as a democratic option?
- What factors have led to the evolution of political parties?
- Why do you think in India two-party system is not possible?
