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Historical Context of Emergence of Political Parties, ...

LESSON 9 NOTES

HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF EMERGENCE OF

POLITICAL PARTIES, TYPES OF PARTIES
AND PARTY SYSTEM
Neha Singh
Research Scholar, JNU

Structure
9.1 Learning Objectives
9.2 Introduction
9.3 Functions of the Political Party
9.4 Types of Political Parties
9.5 One Party System
9.5.1 Advantages of One-Party System
9.5.2 Disadvantages of One-Party System
9.6 Two Party System
9.6.1 Contrast of the Two-Party System with the Multiparty System and
One-Party System:
9.6.2 Advantages of the Two-Party System
9.6.3 Disadvantages of the Two-Party System
9.7 Multi-Party System
9.7.1 Advantages of the Multi-Party System
9.7.2 Disadvantages of the Multi-Party System
9.8 Summary
9.9 Self-Assessment Questions
9.10 Suggested Readings

9.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After reading this lesson, students should be able to:

 Analyse the functions of the political party Self-Instructional
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NOTES  Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of One-party system

 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Two-Party System
 Examine the advantages and disadvantages of Multi-party system

9.2 INTRODUCTION

The political party in a system is primarily a group of people who come together to
contest elections so as to hold power through forming government via contesting
elections. This way the people intend to represent the common interests of the people
based on same ideology, issues, and others. The political parties mobilise the voters
too to support common interest, goals, ideology and issues. The parties fix the political
agenda and policies and persuade people by claiming how they are going to meet the
common interests of the people through their policies articulated by their political parties.
The political parties thus define representation of the people.9 The competition between
the political parties in the elections creates a pressure on them to perform better than
the other party. This way the political party in power and the opposition in competition
with each other also have checks and balance system. The concept of party system
was designed by European scholars. Thinkers such as James Bryce, Moisey
Ostrogorsky read how the party system expanded over the democracies in the world.
In broad sense, the political party represents the voice of the people communicated to
the government to make policies. Giovanni Sartori classified number of political parties.
These classifications are based on various components. Broadly, all the political parties
have three components:
 Leaders—Any political party cannot exist without a leader. Leader puts forward
the agenda of the party, ideology of the party system in front of the voters and
tries to connect with them. In several cases, thinkers such as Max Weber have
observed that good and charismatic personalities have led to the formation or
rise of the party system. Narendra Modi of BJP in India is the recent example to
highlight how the charismatic leadership can change the course of the party
system in the state.
 Active Members—The active members of the political party aid in the
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Many times, it is also observed that these active members irrespective of their NOTES
personal developments prefer to work for the development of the party system.
Communist Party of China, for example has active members who continuously
work hard to keep the ideology of the party active and relevant in the country.
 Followers—The followers of the party system are the biggest supporters of
the party system. They believe in the ideology of the party system and expect its
reflections in the implementation of policies and agendas of the parties.
Without these three components the existence of any political parties is difficult.
These components aid the political parties in carrying out the activities.

9.3 FUNCTIONS OF THE POLITICAL PARTY

 The prime function of the political party is to contest elections by placing the
candidates.
 In USA, the candidates of the political party are selected by the members and
supporters of the party.
 On the other hand, in countries like India, the party leaders choose the candidates.
 Every political party has different policies and programmes. The voters are
given choice to opt in accordance the policies and programmes.
 In a democratic set up, the group of people with the similar ideological beliefs
form a political party. These political parties form a direction to the policies to
be adopted by them when forming the government.
 The political parties that fail to form the government form the opposition who
maintain the checks and balance system on the ruling party and try to make the
public aware about the pros and cons of the policies.
 The political parties form/shape the opinion of the public. This way it even aids
in creating the pressure groups that enforces the government to make the policies
for the advantage of the larger people.
 Since the political parties work for the welfare schemes, the local political parties
serve as a bridge between the citizen and government officer. Self-Instructional
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NOTES
9.4 TYPES OF POLITICAL PARTIES

There are three main types of party systems. In this lesson, we will be discussing these
types of party systems in detail. Such classification or typology of political parties is
not just merely based upon the number of political parties within a particular state but
also highlights a distinctive feature of the three systems. The two-party system and the
multiparty system represent the organised political conflict in a pluralistic society. It
also highlights the democratic apparatus. On the other hand, the single party system
operates in a system where the political conflict is not welcomed. They do not present
the ideology of opposition. The lesson shall now discuss one-party system in detail.

9.5 ONE PARTY SYSTEM

The one-party system is also popularly known as single party system. Under this
system, the single political party that forms the government is usually based upon the
constitution of the state.10 The other parties which come into existence in the system
are either permitted limited participation in electoral processes or the termed as
outlawed. The de facto single party system also expresses the dominance of single
party. It nominally allows the other parties to exist. But very effectively, expresses itself
through various methods and techniques. It claims for the unity of nation as it provides
umbrella shield for the polity of the state. For example, in Soviet Union it is believed
that the multiple parties represent the class struggle. So, the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union represents the people. Similarly, the People’s Republic of China under
the United Front expresses how the opposition parties are allowed to exist as allied
parties with the dominant party. It becomes important to understand the circumstances
wherein the single party system or the one-party system exists:
 An ideology forms the basis of the single party system in a state. Marxism,
Leninism and international solidarity in countries such as Soviet Union is a good
example to show how it forms a circumstance to aid these parties to exist.

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 Extending on the above argument, the nationalist ideology also plays an important NOTES
role in the one-party dominance. The Nazi party in Germany and the fascist
ideology under Mussolini in Italy are vital examples to prove the argument.
 The wake of independence from the yoke of colonial rule also observed dominant
role in the call for liberation and independence.
The one-party system, however is considered to be authoritarian in nature to
such an extent that many times it converts itself into a totalitarian. But one has to keep
in mind that all authoritarian states may not operate under the one-party rule. Examples
of absolute monarchies and the military dictatorships make the existence of any political
party as illegal.

9.5.1 Advantages of One-Party System

 One-party system is often appreciated for taking the quick decisions.

 Since the single party implements the policies unopposed it leads to stable political
growth.
 It does not allow the wastage of resources, money and time on political
campaigns. But, the one-party system has been criticised on many grounds.

9.5.2 Disadvantages of One-Party System

 The one-party system lacks participation of people making it less integrative in

approach.
 People as voters have no choice at the election.
 Very often the minority section of the state is neglected. They remain excluded
from the mainstream welfare policies.
 Since the government is dictatorial in nature, it lacks responsiveness and
accountability to the citizens of the country.
The above disadvantages of the one-party system create a search for an
alternative approach.

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NOTES
9.6 TWO PARTY SYSTEM

Differing from the one-party system, the two-party system observes a shift in the
power from one hand to two dominant major parties. Out of the two parties, the party
that enjoys the majority support forms the governing party while the party with minority
support forms the opposition party. Across the world, the two-party system has been
identified differently. In countries like United States, Malta, Zimbabwe, the two party
defines an arrangement where the elected officials belong to either of the two majority
parties. There is little scope for the third party. The third party in the two-party system
set up rarely wins any seat in the legislature. Thinkers such as Maurice Duverger,
William H Riker, Jeffrey D Sachs establish a strong correlation between voting
arrangements and number of party in a system. As such in this set up, the winner takes
it all factor seems to work/influence the election rules. According to Duverger’s law11,
the two-party system is an organic product of the winner take all voting system.
However, in countries with parliamentary systems such as United Kingdom, Canada,
Australia, the term two party system indicates an arrangement where inspite of the
two-parties, the third party also gets an opportunity to win seats in the elections. Here,
the multitude of lesser or smaller parties influence the electoral system in varying degrees
and even the elect officials belonging to these parties. Many commonwealth countries
based on the Westminster system enjoy the parliamentary democracy. Here, the
majority party forms the government, minority party forms the opposition while the
third parties many times forms the coalitions. In rare circumstances, hung parliament
arises. Thus, there is not a sharp demarcation between a two-party system and a
multi-party system. To understand the difference, the next part of the lesson shall
highlight the difference between the one-party system, two party system and the
multiparty system.

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9.6.1 Contrast of the Two-Party System with the Multiparty System and NOTES
One-Party System

At first the two-party system shall be contrasted with the multiparty system.

Two-Party System with the Multiparty system

 The multiparty system comprises of the effective number of parties that is greater
than two and lesser than five while the two-party system comprises of the two
dominant parties.
 Under the multiparty system, the coalition can control the government while
under the two-party system the coalition government is rarely formed.
The Two-party system shall be now contrasted with the Multi-party system.

Two-Party System with the One-party system

 In the one-party system, only single party is legally recognised. The presence of
other alternate parties is restricted. The single party like that of the Communist
Party of China or Communist Party of Cuba wields power. While under the
two-party system there exists shifts between two dominant parties.

9.6.2 Advantages of the Two-Party System

 Many thinkers suggest that the two-party system encourage centrism and find
common goals that appeal to the larger electorate.
 It is a simpler governing system with lesser fractions that focuses on political
stability.
 Unlike the hung parliament in the multi-party system, the two-party system is
more preferred. Also, it provides fewer voting choices it is easier to understand.
 The non-governing party forms a strong opposition that keeps a strict vigilance
on the governing party.

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NOTES 9.6.3 Disadvantages of the Two-Party System

 The two-party system is criticised for being less competitive and giving voters
fewer choice.
 The two-party system is often criticised to encourage partisanship instead of
inter party compromise.
 Ross Perot believe that the two-party system fails to voice the matters addressed
by the two-majority party.

9.7 MULTI-PARTY SYSTEM

The multi-party system forms the basis of politicisation of new issues. It aims at avoiding
of polarisation of issues like that of the two-party system. It also opens up for ideological
innovation for public agendas, inclusive political institutions etc. In the multi-party system,
multiple political parties exist in the political spectrum who compete with each other to
control the government. The multiparty system is often observed in the parliamentary
system over the presidential system. It is far common in countries that have proportional
representation over the first past the post elections. All the political parties under this
system have reasonable chance to form the government. The proportional system has
a range of representatives. Countries like India, Germany, New Zealand have the
multiparty system. It also opens a space to form coalitions while attaching legitimate
mandate.
Unlike the one-party system, the multi-party system encourages multiple, political
identities. “A two-party system requires voters to align themselves in large blocks,
sometimes so large that they cannot agree on any overarching principles. Some theories
argue that this allows centrists to gain control. On the other hand, if there are multiple
major parties, each with less than a majority of the vote, the parties are strongly motivated
to work together to form working governments. This also promotes centrism, as well
as promoting coalition-building skills while discouraging polarization.”12

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9.7.1 Advantages of the Multi-Party System NOTES

The Multi-Party system has several benefits.

 It truly represents the various identities in a plural society by giving opportunity
to various ideologies to come up and form the government.
 It gives several options to the voters.
 It is inclusive in nature.
 The multi-party system is very transparent in nature as it is integrative in nature
and responsive to the needs of various spectre of the society.
 Unlike the One-party system and two-party system, the multi-party system
ensures healthy competition and leaves no space for the dictatorship. This way
the multi-party system is democratic in nature.
 The multi-party system is more responsive to bringing the shift in the public
opinion.
However, in spite of the advantages of the multi-party system, there are several
demerits of the system.

9.7.2 Disadvantages of the Multi-Party System

 Many times, the multi-party system leads to coalition government that is instable
for the longer run. Often the countries with the multiparty system observes a
hung parliament.
 It is often messy as the presence of multiple identities may lead to difficulty in
formation of the policies. The process of policy implementation may lead to
various deliberations and discussions within the party.
 It may lead to corruption as there are plural identities existing in the system with
various ideologies, as such there lacks transparency.
 The presence of linguistic or regional parties may lead to concentration of the
development of the particular region. As such the larger nation may get ignored.

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NOTES
9.8 SUMMARY

The party system represents the set of choices provided to the voters/electorates.
According to R Michael Alvarez and Jonathan Nagler13, the party system is mostly
defined by the policy design. Also, the historical development of the party system in
the state offers a strong base in defining the kind of party system in the state. However,
according to Rajni Kothari14, the recent occurrences like rise of the civil society
restricting the role of the political parties and giving the common voters more indulgences
in the political arena can call for change in the party system. Secondly, the old models
of the political parties like that based on the Westminster model of parliamentary
democracy is gradually diminishing by the rise of new alliances with rising ideologies
across the globe like that on saving the environment, anti-corruption etc. the new
parties forming are now focusing upon the developmental strategies and demand greater
accountability, responsiveness and people’s participation. These changing dynamics
are calling for the changes in the party systems.
Still one cannot deny the fact the party system represents the voice of the common
man. It is the duty of the political party to convert those needs/demands/voices into
policy. Under the two-party system, the governing party tries to integrate those demands
by implementing policies while one as an opposition party creates a pressure on the
governing party to integrate those demands in the policies. The multiparty system is
often applauded for its integrative nature. Thus, we see that different party systems
hold its own significance. Any change in the type of party system shall definitely represent
the change in demand/voice of the people which at large should be welcoming for the
political stability.

9.9 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

1. What are the main functions of Political Theory?

2. Discuss various types of party system.

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