PARTIES AND

PARTY SYSTEMS
PARTY POLITICS
 Political parties are found in vast majority of countries and in most political systems.
 Parties can range from being authotarian or democractic
 They seek to come in power either through elections or through revolution
 They may espouse ideologies of the left, right or center. Or diavao political ideas
together.
 By the late 1950s some 80% of the world’s states were ruled by political parties.
 Political parties are a part of the structure of mass politics.
 Parties of the modern kind first emerged in the USA. Despite abhorence of parties
felt by the ‘founding fathers’ who created the US constituion.
TYPES OF PARTIES
 Cadre and mass parties
 Representative and integrative parites
 Constitutional and revolutionary parties
 Left wing and right wing parties

 The most common distinction is that between cadre parties and mass parties the
term cadre party orginally meant a party of notables, dominaeted by an informal
group of leaders who saw little point in building up a mass organization. Such parties
invariably deveoped out of parlimentary factions or cliques at a time when the
franchise was limited. However the term “cadre” is now more commonly used in
communist parties to denote a trained anad professional party members who are
expected to exhibit a high level of political commitment and doctrinal discpline.
 An example of cadre parties
 The communist party of the soviet union
 The nazi party in germany
 The fascist party in italy
 The chinese communist party
 Most modern day parties fall into category of what “otto Kirchheimer”
termed ‘catch all parties” these are parties that drastically reduce their
ideological baggage in order to appeal to the larget possible number of
voters.

The best example of Catch all parties are found in USA in the
form of the Republicans and Democrats. Modern de-Ideologized
socialist parties such as the German Social democracts and Labour
Party found in UK also fit this descritpion because they form a model of
a mass party which focuses on leadership and unity and downgrades the
role of indvidual party member in trying to build up broad coalition of
support rather than relying on a particular social class or sectional
group.
PARTIES OF REPRESENTATION AND
PARTIES OF INTEGRATION
 Their primary function is to secure votes in elections. They thus attempt
to relfect rather than shape, public opinon, in this respect representative
parties adopt a catch-all strategy and therefore place pragmatism before
principle and market research before popular mobilization.

 This party structure focuses on rational choice and models of political

behavior.
INTEGRATIVE POLTICS
 integrative parties in contrast adopts proactive rather than reactive
political strategies they wish to mobilize educate and inspire the masses
rather than merely respond to their concerns.

 Example os UK’s conservatives under Margarat Thatcher, she embraced

conviction politics in pursuing a mobilizing strategy based on firm
support for cutting taxes, encouraging enterprise promoting individual
responsibility and tackling trade union power and so forth.
CONSTITUIONAL PARTIES
 They acknowledge the rights and entitelements of other parties and
thus operate whitin a framework of rules and constraints in particular
they focus on the division between party and the state and that party in
power is a state institution they acknowledge and respect all parties and
are a relatively politically neutral
REVOLUTIONARY PARTIES
 Antisystem
 Anti constituional
 Either left or ring wing
 Fascits, nazis, anti democratci
THE FOCUS OF THE LEFT AND RIGHT
FUNCTIONS OF PARTIES
 Although political parties are defined by a central function which is to
wield power for the government their impact on political system is
broader and more complx.

 Competion during the electoral system can be a litmus test for a

healthy democractic system.

 On the other hand regime parties that enjoy a monopology of political

power are more commonly portrayed as instruments of manipulation
and political control.
PARTY FUNCTIONS
REPRESENTATION:
 Primary function of parties
 Politicla parties are inputting devices that ensure that government heeds
the needs and wishes of larger society.

 Elite formation and recruitment

 In most cases parties provide a training ground for politicans equipping
them with skills, knowledge and experience and offering them some
form of career structure albeit one that depends on the fortunes of the
party.
 Candidate selection and nomination example
GOAL FORMULATION
 Societies set collective goals and parties ensure they are carried out
through elections, manifestos, conferences and they attract popular
support.
IINTEREST ARTICULATION AND
AGGREGATION
 Parties help articulate and aggregate the various interests found in
society. parties indeed often develop as vehicles through which business,
labor, relgious ethinc or other groups advance or defened their various
interests.
SOCIALIZATION AND MOBILIZATION
 Parties are important agents of political education and socialization the
issues that parties chose to focus on help to set the political agenda.
DO PARTIES BREED DISCORD AND
CONSTRAIN POLITICAL DEBATE?
ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT
 It is argued that complex modern societies wouold be ungovernable in
the absence of political parties. In the first place parties help with the
formation of governments in parlimentary systems to the extent that it
is possible to talk of party government.
 PARITES CAN bring stability
 Attrack masses
 Parties can faciliate cooperation between the two major branhes of
government
 Assembly and legislative.
 Debate and educating the eletorate also ensures public engagement
WHERE DOES THE POWER LIE?
 The iron law of oligarchy

 OLIGARCHY is government or domination by he few the iron law of

oligarchy formulated by Robert suggests that there is an inevitable
tenndencey for political organizations and by impiation all organizations
to be oligarchis. Particpatory or democractic structurs can not check
oligarchic tendencies they can only disguise them.
MACHINE POLITICS
 In the early 20th century power remained with few and they influenced
nomianting and machine politics is a style of politics in which party
bosses control a mass organization through patronage and distrubtion
of favors.

This is done so by establshing Caucuses,: A meeting of party members

held to nominate election candiates or to discuss legislative proposals in
advane of formal proceedings.
PARTY SYSTEMS
ONE PARTY?
TWO PARTY?
THIRD PARTY?
 Parties competing for exectuive office is reflected according to
legislative strenght. There are major parites and then peripheral ones.

 One party system:

 The term one party system is contradcitony since system implies
interaction amonst a number of entities. The term is nevertheless
helpful in address a single party enjoys a monpology and can function as
a permanent government.
TWO PARTY SYSTEMS
 A two party system is duopolistic in that it is dominated by two major
parties that have a roughly equal prsopect of winning government
power. In its classical form, a two party system can be idefined by three
criteria.
 Uk, usa, canaate, austraila are all two party systems.

 Two party politicds potray a surest way of reconciling responsivenesa in

representative government and effective government.
DOMINANT PARTY SYSTEMS
 Dominanat party systems shuld not be confused with one party
systems, there may be several parties competing for power but regular
and popular elections are dominated by a single major party.

 An example of this is Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party the party was in

power for almost 54 years, only have been oppossed for a brief 11
month period between 1993 and 1994. The reason for it’s success is the
Japanese Economic Miracle.
 The congress party in India enjoyed an unbroken spell of 30 years in
power commencing with the achievement of independence in 1947.

 The African National Congress has been dominating.

 The Sweden, social democractic labour party has held power for 65
years
MULTIPARTY SYSTEMS
 Copetion amoongst more than two parties reducing the chances of a
single party government and increasing the likeleidhood of coalistions.
Howerver it is difficult to define multiparty systems in terms of the
number of major parties.

 Pros and cons of Coalition government?

DECLINE OF PARTIES?
 Risis of partyu poitics can ve found in decline of both party membershi
pand parisanship. Antipolitics is rising and political movement and
organiztions the only common feature of which appears to be antipathy
twoard conventional centers of power.

 Example dramatic success of Berlescon’s forza Italia in 1994 the

emergency in the USA which 2008 of the TEA Party movement. They
see these movements to dismantle parties anti politics.