Much has been said about India’s party politics. It has travelled though many phases. It has been characterised differently at different points of time e.g. One Party Dominant System, competition between national and regional parties, a clear fight between two broad alliances and a recurrent appearance of third front etc. This third front business usually represents the regional parties (though some of them claim to be national parties) and an uncanny opportunism disguised as regional aspirations.
In India, government formation at the centre has always been an interesting game. Right from the beginning the Congress had a decisive advantage owing to its leadership in the independence struggle. After the constituent assembly was formed, congress members occupied key positions in the government. But the political ethics were such that the first government accommodated leaders from other parties as well. It reconciled and accommodated leaders from both ends of the spectrum to form the first cabinet. The eventual exit of these leaders from the government due to difference of opinion is a different matter. What needs to be underlined is the pattern of party politics adn the culture of reconciliation. However, this ethic of politics did not sustain for very long. The conciliatory approach was soon taken over by a confronting approach. This was reflected at both national and regional level where congress lead central government was at odds with state governments lead by other parties e.g. Communist Kerala, DMK lead Tamil Nadu etc.
We know the history of the post Nehruvian congress party. We know how it splintered and how its factions fought amongst themselves to claim legacy to THE Congress party. The Congress party had enviable hold...
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...rience but from the contempt for Babuji. The Charan Singh-Babuji rivalry dated back to state politics in Bihar and UP. Babuji’s decision not to merge his Congress for Democracy into Janata was also driven by a hope that he wanted to keep his independent leadership intact. Had he gotten an opportunity to claim the top job in the government with the help of support from other parties, a separate party would have made it easier for him. The PM Morarji was not very different in this regard either. His statement on the floor of the house “I will remain unruffled even if the skylab falls” speaks volumes.
My do not intend to label Janata government as an epic fail. It did a remarkable job in terms of railways under Madhu Danadwate and foreign policy under Vajpayee but such one off success wasn’t enough for a party which was voted into power with humongous expectations.
In Nehru’s India, women were victims of a “passive revolution” that subtly advanced bourgeoisie men of higher castes under a guise of parliamentary democracy. Though women have presided over the Indian National Congress, served as a prime minister, and represent a large part of India’s la...
In Political Parties and Party Systems, Alan Ware summarizes the two main competing theories that attempt to explain party systems. First, the Sociological approach and then the Institutional approach. In order to comprehend his analysis it is necessary to realize that party systems are in a constant state of evolution, they do not remain stagnant. This evolution may, at times, be imperceptible and at others very noticeable, such as during a revolution; but the change is undoubtedly occurring. It is much easier to understand these theories if you view these two theories from a flexible standpoint as opposed to having a concrete beginning and end with exact delineations in between.
One Indian native, Dadabhai Naoroji, had mixed views about what was going on. He states it was “...A great blessing; politically peace and order on one hand....on the other
After WW2 Britten had been considerably weaken because of World War 2. The fighting also took an exhausting tool on them and on the military and financial recourses. They were so exhausted from the war that they did not resist much when a global independence move swept through the countries they colonized. While the colonized people had a new desire to fight for their independence the Europeans were to war-weary and had little desire to fight back. For years now India had been demanding self-rule from Britten, but as their wish drew closer so did the tension between the Muslim minorities in a land who’s majority was Hindu. Most of the leaders in India were Hindu and they wanted to involve both Muslims and Hindus into the Congress Party. But
Party controls the past, the present, and the future through the Ministry of Truth. They
A variety of ideologies and parties nowadays is an inevitable and essential feature of the democracy. Every party by its nature tends to gain the official state legislature position, and essentially every party differs from other ones in its ideological core. The modern political system, parties, believes and attempts are different form those 50 years ago, and it is the normal sequent political world development. It is claimed that the modern party competition is not driven by ideology anymore. In this essay the definition of party systems, party competition, the changing shape of the modern parties will be discussed. Also, the question if the party competition is still driven by ideology will be answered in accordance with the relevant arguments.
In conclusion, MMP has completely redefined the process of government formation. With the flourish of small parties, a diverse spectrum of political opinions is frequently voiced in Parliament. Due to its entailment for parties to compete for every single vote, MMP also terminated the history of under-representation of women, ethnic minorities and special interest groups. It is fair to say, an epoch marked by social and political parliamentary diversity has began.
In a country such as Canada where there is an immensely diverse population that holds different ideals, values, and beliefs, it is necessary to have various political parties to reflect such things. Political parties are composed of people who share common goals and values based on an understanding of what is beneficial for the country, as well as themselves. These people are devoted to a specific approach in governing, and their philosophy is expressed in their policies, or platform. For these members to gain a position in the House of Commons in Canada, they must persuade voters of their electoral district to support their party’s platforms. Voters select their choice according to which party fosters the ideals closest to which they wish to be governed by. It is not reasonable to expect that the entire population will agree on every matter, which is precisely why modern democracy is executed through representation by vote. In order for there to be a true democracy in place, there must be choices for the voter. These choices translate into a system of values and principles, which in turn translate to these organized entities that we call political parties. This paper highlights the functions that political parties serve in the House of Commons, and also argues that they diminish the democratic characteristics and responsibilities of the House of Commons.
Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi, won a great deal of praise during the recent state assembly elections, not only for the outstanding performance of his newly formed Aam Aadmi Party, but also for the clean democratic principles that he claimed to hold. However, in light of the drama now unfolding in the national capital region, produced and directed by the Chief Minister himself, the veracity of his purportedly upright principles has fallen into question.
According to Lipset and Rokkan, modern party systems are defined by historical conflicts and the lasting identities created by the interaction of these conflicts and social institutions that can explain national
The legislative powers of both India and Turkey are stronger than their executive branch, and both are unitary forms of government. India’s parliament is made up of a bi...
India is the center of a very serious problem in the world today. It’s a very diverse place with people from many different religious backgrounds, who speak many different languages and come from many different regions. They are also separated economically. Two of the country’s religious sects, Muslims and Hindus, have been in conflict for hundreds of years. Their feelings of mistrust and hatred for each other are embedded in all those years and will not leave easily. What’s most disturbing is that there seems to be no plan for reconciliation available. There are numerous reasons for this conflict.
In modern society, political parties serve as a link between state and society. Anton Downs wrote a well-known definition for political parties as “a team of men seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election.” Political parties carry out a political leadership role in a modern democracy. To participate successfully in the political process and to contribute to the consolidation of democracy, political parties have to demonstrate certain functions. This essay will mainly discuss different functions of political parties in two different political systems, namely parliamentary system and presidential system. In both systems, political parties serve common functions of selection, exercising political
Conclusively parliament is clearly incapable of performing its traditional functions. This is due predominantly to the adoption of the two party systems in 1910 which greatly changed political objectives. Advocates of the decline of parliamentary thesis consequently claim that in comparison to the golden age parliament has deteriorated into a rubber stamp of executive will. These critics however fail to take into account that previous parliaments were different not necessarily better and while it is true that party dominance reduced the opportunity for debate and the ability to enforce ministerial responsibility it also has strong benefits such as providing government with a clear set of policies which it can then defend with electoral mandate. Additionally the two party system also contributes to government stability.
Many Indians feel that the Quit India Movement was one of the most influential and successful moments in history. The s...