Class X:Political Science [Ch-6 Political Parties]

MEANING OF POLITICAL PARTIES

A Political Party is a group who aim to attain power in the government through elections.

Important points which help us to understand the meaning of political parties are as follows:

• A Political Party works with an objective to promote the collective good on the basis of some policies and programmes.

• They seek to implement these policies by winning popular support through elections.

• Political parties reflect fundamental political division in a society.

• Parties are a part of the society and involve partisanship.

• A Political party has following three components 

1. The leaders     II. The active members    III. The followers

Partisan : A person who is strongly committed to a party, group or faction. Partisanship is marked by a tendency to take a side & inability to take a balanced view on an issue

FUNCTIONS OF POLITICAL PARTIES

Political parties perform various functions which are as follows:

• In most democracies, elections are fought mainly among the candidates put up by political parties. Parties can select their candidates in the following ways:

• In some countries such as the USA, members and supporters of a party choose its candidates.

• In other countries like India top party leaders choose candidates for contesting elections.

• Parties put forward different policies and programmes and the voters choose from them. A party reduces a vast multitude of opinions into a few basic policies which it supports.

• Parties play a decisive role in making laws for a country. Laws are debated & passed in the legislature. But the members of legislatures belong to a political party and they vote according to the direction of their leadership.

• Parties form and run governments. Parties recruit leaders, train them & then make them ministers to run the government in the way they want.

• Parties that could not get a majority form the opposition. They criticize the government for its failure or wrong policies & keep a check on the ruling party.

• Parties shape public opinion. They raise & highlight issues in the following manner.

• Many of the pressure groups are the extensions of political parties from among different sections of the society.

• Parties sometimes also launch movements for resolving the problems faced by the people.

• Opinions in a society are formulated on the basis of the stand taken by political parties.

• Parties provide people’s access to government machinery & welfare schemes implemented by the government. Parties are responsive to people’s needs and demands.

NECESSITY OF POLITICAL PARTIES

We need political Parties because of the various functions performed by them. Also democracy cannot exist without the political parties. The following points bring forth the necessity of political parties:

• If the Political parties disappear, the following situation may occur.

1. Every candidate in the elections will be independent. No one will be able to make any promise to the people about any major policy changes.

2. The government may be formed, but its utility will remain uncertain.

3. Elected representatives will be accountable to their constituency but no one will be responsible for how the country will run.

• Political parties are also needed because they fulfill the needs of a representative government in the democracy in the following manner:

1. The political parties gather different views on a variety of issues and present these to the government.

2. Political parties bring various representatives together so that a responsible government could be formed.

3. They provide a mechanism to support or restrain the government, make policies, justify or oppose them.

TYPES OF PARTY SYSTEM

The different countries around the world opt for different party systems based on the nature of society , its social and regional divisions, its history of policies and its system of elections. Broadly, political party system can be divided into 3 categories:

1. SINGLE(ONE) PARTY SYSTEM

• Some countries have only one party which controls the government. Such a system is called a one-party system e.g., in China ,only the Communist Party is allowed to rule.

• This system is not based on the principles of democracy.

2. BI-PARTY(TWO-PARTY) SYSTEM

• In some countries , power changes hands between two main parties.

• Several other parties may exist, contest elections & win a few seats in the National  

Legislation but have no serious chance of forming government,e.g., the party system in the USA & UK.

3. MULTI- PARTY SYSTEM

• Some countries have several parties who compete for power. Such a system is called a multi- party system e.g, the party system in India.

• The parties have a reasonable chance of coming to power either  on their own strength or in alliance with others, e.g., in India there were two major alliances in the Parliamentary election of 2014,viz, the National Democratic Alliance and the United Progressive Alliance.

NATIONAL AND RECOGNISED POLITICAL PARTIES

National political parties are country wide parties. These parties have their units in various states . These units follow the same policies , programmes and strategies that are decided at the national level.

• Every party in the country has to register with the Election Commission.

• The Election Commission gives recognition to large and established parties on the basis of the following criteria.

1. A party that secures at least 6% votes in Lok Sabha Elections or Assembly elections in 4 states and wins at least 4 seats in the Lok Sabha, is considered and recognized as a National party.

2. On the Other hand, the party which secures at least 6% votes in the State Legislative assembly and wins at least 2 seats is recognized and considered as a State Party or regional parties .

RECOGNISED PARTIES OF INDIA

There are seven recognized parties in India . These are as follows:

1. INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS(INC) :Popularly known as the Congress Party, it is one of the oldest parties of the world. Founded in 1885, it played a dominant role in Indian politics at the national and state level for several decades after India’s independence.

2. BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY (BJP)   : Founded in 1980 by reviving the erstwhile Bhartiya Jana Sangh. BJP wants to build a strong and modern India by drawing inspiration from India’s ancient culture and values . Cultural nationalism(or ‘Hindutva’) is an important element in this conception of Indian nationhood and politics. 

3. COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA- MARXIST (CPI-M)   : Founded in 194 ,this party believes in Marxism – Leninism and supports socialism, secularism and democracy and opposes imperialism & communalism.

4. COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (CPI) : Formed in 1925, it also believes in Marxism –Leninism , secularism and democracy and is opposed to the forces of secessionism and communalism.

5. NATIONAL CONGRESS PARTY(NCP)         : Formed in 1999 following a split in the Congress party, it espouses democracy , Gandhian secularism , equity ,social justice and federalism. It wants high offices in government to be confined to natural born citizens of the country.

6. BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY (BSP ) :    The BSP was formed under the leadership of Kanshi Ram. The party draws inspiration from the ideas and teachings of Shahu maharaj, Mahatma phule, Peryar Ramaswami Naicker and Baba Saheb Ambedkar . The party seeks to represent and secure BAHUJAN SAMAJ as the dalits , the adivasis, the OBCs and other religious minorities.

How can parties be reformed?

In order to face the challenges, political parties need to be reformed. Some of the recent efforts and suggestions in our country to reform the political parties are as follows:

• The constitution was amended to prevent elected MLAs & MP s from changing parties, since many elected representatives were indulging in defection in order to become ministers or for cash rewards.

DEFECTION: Changing party allegiance from the party on which a person got elected (to a legislative body) to a different body.

• Now the law says, if any MLA or MP changes the party on whose ticket he had won, he or she will lose the seat in the legislature.

• In order to reduce the influence of money power and muscle power, the Supreme Court of our country passed an order. Now it is mandatory for every candidate to file an affidavit giving details of his/her property and criminal cases pending against him/her.

• The Election Commission passed an order for the political parties to hold their organizational elections and file their income tax returns.

• Political parties can also be reformed if people put pressure on them through petition, agitations etc.

• Government should provide monetary support to the parties for their election expenses.

• Political Parties can be reformed if those who want this change become members of the political parties.