Parties and Party systems

1. Parties and Party systems Chapter 13

2. 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)

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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)

7. 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.

8. Political Parties in Europe • Left/Right • GAL/TAN • GAL=Green, Alternative, Libertarian (Postmaterialist and postmodern) • TAN=Traditionalist, Autocratic and Nationalist (Modernist and Materialist)

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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)

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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)

22. 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.