Parties and Party systems

Chapter 13

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Questions

• Why do we need political parties?– Major actors in modern politics– Seen as a way of political participation and a tool of

democracy– Considered as mediators between the people and the state

• When did political parties emerge? Why? – In the 19th century– Advent of representative democracy– Initially emerged as a group of like-minded people united

upon some political ideas, traditions and principles (e.g. The Whigs and Tories in the UK parliament since the 17th century)

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Political Party• Political Party is a group of people that is organized for the

purpose of winning government power through elections or by other means.

• Defining features are organizational structure, ideological orientation and competitiveness in elections

• Four characteristics: – Political parties are organized institutions at the national and

local levels– Aim to exercise power by winning political offices– Adopt a broader issue focus: Represent broader interests– Espouses and promotes an ideology.

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Types of Political Parties• Cadre v. Mass Parties:

– Cadre Party: A group of high-level party members who exhibit high-level political and ideological commitment to the party. • E.g. National Socialist Party in Nazi Germany, Communist Party in USSR

– Mass Party: Aims to broaden membership and construct a wide electoral base.

– Mass Parties emphasize on recruiting new members and extending its organizational structure on a national scale. • E.g. German Social Democratic Party, Labour Party in the UK• Mass parties place importance on particular social class and the number of

individual members. – Catch-all parties: Appeals to the largest possible number of voters.

Indoctrination of members with an ideology is less likely.• E.g. German Christian Democratic Union, Republican and Democrat Party in

USA.• Catch-all parties emphasize leadership and unity in diversity.

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Types of Parties

• Representative v. Integrative– Representative parties reflect public opinion rather than

shaping it. • Representative parties are similar to catch-all parties. They

are pragmatic and driven by the idea of power maximization through winning elections.

– Integrative Parties aim to mobilise, educate and lead the masses rather than just responding to their demands. • Integrative parties gather/rally the people around policy/ideas

in order to gain firm support and political legitimacy for their policies.

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Types of Parties• Constitutional v. Revolutionary

– Constitutional parties acknowledge the rights and rules of the game of politics enshrined in constitution. • These parties also respect the division between political parties and

state institutions. • These parties respect the rules of electoral competition.

– Revolutionary Parties are anti-system parties. • Their aim is to seize power and change the existing political regime• Revolutionary parties become the ruling party when they win elections. • They do not respect the neutrality of bureaucracy and aims to penetrate

into and control state institutions. (Creating a party-state apparatus)

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Types of Parties

• Left-wing v. Right-wing– Division based on ideological differences. – Left-wing parties are defined as progressive, socialist or

communist.• Committed to change the system• Its electoral base rests on the working class and economically

or socially oppressed.– Right-wing parties are defined as conservative,

traditionalist and fascist. • Committed to uphold social order and unity• Supporters are from middle classes.

Political Parties in Europe

• Left/Right • GAL/TAN• GAL=Green, Alternative, Libertarian

(Postmaterialist and postmodern)• TAN=Traditionalist, Autocratic and Nationalist

(Modernist and Materialist)

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Functions of Parties• Representation: represent and respond to the views and demands of the

people. • Elite formation and recruitment: Parties are training grounds for politicians.

Politicians also achieve office by virtue of their position in the party. • Goal formulation: In order to win election, parties need to attract people and

thus they formulate party programmes and collective goals which would be accepted by the voters

• Interest articulation and aggregation: Parties articulate various interests in society. Parties are the vehicles through which different social groups promote and defend their own interests

• Socialisation and mobilisation: Parties set the political agenda. Parties are promoters/pioneers of political ideologies.

• Organisation of government: Parties help with the formation of government. Through party government parties give stability to government. Parties also facilitate cooperation between executives and legislature.

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Internal Party Democracy• Why is party democracy important?• Party democracy is a form of popular rule that operates through

the agency of a party as a democratic institution.• The iron law of oligarchy (Robert Michel)

– Political parties are inclined to be oligarchic resting on a small group of elites in a party.

– Political parties are governed by a small group of party leaders. E.g. no difference can be found between Conservative and Labour party in the UK.

– Elite groups result from the need of specialisation. – Leaders form cohesive groups around themselves in order to

consolidate/maintain their power. – Rank-and-file members of an organization tend to be apathetic.– Oligarchic tendencies is the result of a need for unity and the restoration

of electoral credibility.

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How to achieve party democracy?• Weakening the power of local party leaders and

strengthening the role of rank-and-file members. • Wider usage of primaries and caucus.

– Primary: An intraparty election in which candidates are selected to contest in the upcoming elections.

– Caucus: A meeting of party members held to nominate election candidates or to discuss legislative proposals.

– Faction: A section or a group within a larger community. – Factionalism: It refers to the proliferation of factions within a

party that compete with each other for the party. – Factionalism is usually seen in left-wing parties due to open

disagreement and dissatisfaction with ideological orientation.

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Party Systems

• How many parties are competing for power? • How political system works in practice?• Finding out the network of relations between

political parties based on two criteria:– Number of political parties (Duverger’s criterion)– Relative size of political parties (Sartori’s criterion)

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One-party system • A single party enjoys a monopoly of power through the exclusion of other

political parties. • One-party is usually built around the dominant role of a charismatic leader. • One party penetrates into the state machine and creates a party-state

apparatus. Two types of one-party system:– 1) In state socialist regime where ruling communist parties control all state

institutions. – The party core usually consists of well paid full time officials who run the party. – 2) In anticolonial nationalist movements and state building efforts after becoming

independent. – The ruling party developed out of an independence movement which pioneered

reforms and economic development. – Vanguardism: A belief in the need for a party to lead and guide the working class

towards the fulfilment of its revolutionary destiny.

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Two-party system

• Dominated by two major parties.• Although minor parties may exist, only two big

parties enjoy sufficient electoral support to win elections.

• The larger party with the highest number of votes rule alone. (Single-party governments)

• The latter party becomes an opposition party.

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Pros and Cons • Pros:

– It makes possible a system of party government that is stable and accountable. – Voters support a party knowing that if it wins the election, it will have the

capacity to carry out its party programme. – Strong but accountable government due to the strong rivalry and relentless

competition between the opposition and government. (Strong government and strong opposition)

• Cons: – Displays a tendency towards fierce adversary between two parties. Polarisation

of politics and society.– Emphasizes on conflict rather than consensus and cooperation– Political parties promises more than they can deliver in order to win elections– Imposes limited choice.

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Dominant-party system

• Similar to one-party system but a number of parties are able to compete in elections.

• E.g. Japanese Liberal democratic party 1945-1993, the social democratic liberal party in Sweden 1951-1993.

• Factional conflicts within the dominant party rather than the competition between political parties.

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Pros and Cons

• Even though it creates a tendency towards stability and predictability, due to its prolonged governing it damages the distinction between the state and the party.

• It causes corruption since a dominant party would not afraid of losing at the elections.

• It also damages the very principle of democracy that through elections voters can change governments and influence political system.

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Multiparty systems

• Competition among more than two parties. • 1) Two-and-a-half-party system:– E.g. in Germany CDU and SDP are two majors but

they usually need to make a coalition with a third small party such as Greens.

• 2) Coalition of small parties: – E.g. Italy

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• Sartori’s two types of multiparty system:• 1) Moderate pluralism:– Existed in countries such as Belgium and the

Netherlands where ideological differences between major parties are slight and a general acceptance of forming coalitions.

• 2) Polarised pluralism: – The system is marked by ideological differences

between major parties.

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Pros and Cons• Pros:

– Internal checks and balances on ruling parties– In favour of compromise and consensus– Different views are taken into account in the government

• Cons:– Coalition governments are difficult to form and hard to preserve. They

are not stable. – The compromise between coalition partners is the lowest common

denominator. – The tasks of government are sidelined by demands of coalition partners – Centre parties are usually over-represented. Centre parties abandon

their ideological orientation in order to be in the coalition.

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The decline of parties?

• What are the criticisms of political parties?– Parties are believed to create factions and conflict in

society. – Parties as collective bodies suppresses freedom of

thought. Members are indoctrinated with the ideology. – The representative function of parties have been

declining and therefore, its function as establishing a link between the people and government has been damaged. (Decline in the number of party memberships and drift away from party ideologies)

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Crisis of party politics

• Problems:– Rise in the age of party members. What does it imply?– Decline in voter turnout– Emergence of antipolitics movements : Rising antipathy

towards political parties. • Reasons:

– Oligarchical character of political parties: Elitist and bureaucratic

– Political parties are believed to be corrupt and power-driven – Modern societies are much more complex to govern. Political

parties usually fail to respond to the demands of the public despite their promises during election campaigns.