Political Parties

1. Political Parties www.educationforum.co.uk

2. Origins of Today’s Political Parties • In 18th and early 19th century England parties were loose groupings of M.P.s with broadly similar views. Only the very rich could vote and only the extremely rich could stand for parliament. 2 parties – the Whigs and Tories • Between 1832 and 1928 all adults gradually got the vote and political parties changed. Today they need to appeal to a mass electorate so need structures, efficient organization and very clear policies that appeal to many. • In 1832 the Tories became the Conservatives. In 1865 the whigs became the Liberals and in 1900 the Labour Party was established

3. Consensus Interpretations • Pluralists and functionists see political parties as ‘the cornerstone of democracy’ • ‘Without political parties democracy would be impossible’ (DALTON & WITTENBURG 2002) • Parties provide the link between the people and the State – to win power they must both represent the people and be responsive to the people • Parties offer the element of CHOICE which marks democracy as something different from dictatorship ‘liberal democracy is characterised by a competitive struggle for the peoples’ vote’ (J SCHUMPETER)

4. Conflict Interpretations • Marxists see mainstream political parties as offering only the illusion of choice and the illusion of democracy. Parties pretend to be different and fool the people into believing they have a real choice when actually all parties ultimately act in the interests of capitalism • Mainstream parties therefore ‘set a political agenda’ (LUKES) where real alternatives are never offered or promoted • Some Marxists see a positive role for revolutionary political parties as leading and educating the working class in the need for communism (VANGUARD party) • Radical feminists see mainstream parties as essentially male dominated forces and part of a superstructure which supports and promotes patriarchy

5. Functions of Political Parties Consensus theory suggests parties have the following positive functions: Fighting Elections – parties offer a CHOICE of government essential for the legitimacy of government. Political authority is legitimate because it is based on the consent of the people. By fighting elections political leaders are made ACCOUNTABLE to the people

6. Functions of Political Parties Policy Making – parties offer a set of coherent policies to the people which HASVE to have a broad appeal if the party is to win power. No party can ever win power with just a section of the population supporting them so winning policy is a fair reflection of what the people want to happen

7. Functions of Political Parties Government – parties for governments and are therefore an essential feature of our system. The party which wins a majority of M.Ps in Parliament chooses the Prime Minister and forms the government – prime Ministers are not directly elected like Presidents in the USA.

8. Functions of Political Parties The Representative Function – parties have to win a significant proportion of votes to achieve power – they therefore have to represent the views of lots of people in order to win. They also have to change in they lose – they are therefore also RESPONSIVE to the views of the people

9. Functions of Political Parties • Conflict theory suggests that parties serve an IDEOLOGICAL function creating the ‘illusion’ of democracy and fairness and an AGENDA SETTING function in defining the terms of debate and discussion to policies which support capitalism – challenging or revolutionary views are marginalised and discarded as ‘extreme’ ‘lefty’ or ‘Looney’