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To characterise the notion of political parties, Rod Hague and Martin Harrop choose to use the definition submitted by Giovanni Sartori, which says that a political party concerns ‘any political group identified by an official label that presents elections, and is capable of placing through elections candidates for public office’ (1976, p. 63, cited in Hague and Harrop, 2010, p. 203). Andrew Heywood defines it as ‘groups of people organised to gain formal representation or win government power’, ‘united by shared political preferences and a general ideological identity’, which function is to ‘filling the political office and the wielding of government power’ (2007, pp. 272, 275 and 455). So they all agree that parties are unified, structured and ideological groups, which aim to rise to power and govern states. Also it seems that it is the way they are perceived nowadays by the general opinion, thus it is based on theses definitions that they will be considered in this essay.
Heywood reminds us that parties are quite a recent innovation; indeed they first appeared at the beginning of the nineteenth century in the United-Sates of America with the creation of the Federalist and the Democratic-Republican parties (2007, p. 273). And yet it can be observed that parties are now omnipresent, even in dictatorships where they exist as single-parties state. Heywood points out that in 1950 political parties were used to administer 80% of states in the world but that number decreased with the rise of military regimes in the developing world in the 1960s. However they increased anew with the upgrade of democracy that marked the 1980s and 1990s in Asia, Africa and Latin America, as well as former communist states (Heywood, 2007, pp. 271-272). ...
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...e: Palgrave MacMillan.
• Heywood, A. (2007), Politics. 3rd edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
• Stoker, G. (2006), Why Politics Matters: Making Democracy work. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
• Stoker, G. (2006), ‘Explaining Political Disenchantment: Finding Pathways to Democratic Renewal’, The Political Quarterly, 77 (2), April-June 2006 [Online]. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-923X.2006.00761.x/abstract;jsessionid=9098426F8D11C447FFF8A9A485132C3A.f04t02?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false (Accessed: 27th February 2014)
• Whiteley, F. P. (2010), ‘Is the party over? The decline of party activism and membership across the democratic world’, Political Parties, 17 (1), pp. 21-44, Sage Journals January 2011 [Online]. Available at: http://ppq.sagepub.com/content/17/1/21.full.pdf+html (Accessed: 27th February 2014)
In his depiction of the political parties, Rauch proclaims “there no longer is any such thing as a party leader. There are only individual actors, pursuing their own political interest and ideological missions willy-nilly.” Rauch points out, that political parties rely on the institutions that support and fund their political efforts. This comes in the form of financial backing for campaigns, support for important policy issues, and help to maintain the social hierarchy found within political parties. Rauch expresses his concern, that when political actors begin to take matters into their own hands, we begin to see rogues acting in their own
A political party is a group of people who seek to win elections and hold public office in order to shape government policy and programs. George Washington warned the nation against creating political parties in his famous “Farewell Address”. He feared political parties would divide the country and weaken support for the Constitution (Doc 4). The first major political parties, the Federalists and the Republicans, were created during the term of President George Washington. Despite President Washington’s warning, the rise of the two political parties, in the years after his term, was inevitable.
There are two ways to get rid of the causes of factions, or political parties. The first way of removing these causes is to destroy the liberty essential to their existence. The second way to get rid of the causes is to give everyone the exact same o...
Party is an inevitable feature of the democracy and it is defined as ‘an autonomous group of citizens having the purpose of making nominations and contesting elections in the hope of gaining control over governmental power through the capture of public offices and the organization of the government’ (Caramani, 2011, p.220). Parties are ubiquitous in modern political systems and they perform a number of functions, they are: coordination, contesting elections, recruitment, and representation (Caramani, 2011). Political parties are the product of the parliamentary and electoral game, and party systems reflect the social oppositions that characterize society when parties first appear (Coxall et al., 2011).
Though he is aware that these parties are likely to grow, he advises that “wise people” (Washington, 1796) will discourage it. He cautions that in promoting political parties the danger arises of one party seeking the upper hand and that it ignites animosity at the expense of the public.
There are a number of various ways that can be used in order to address the ever-growing problem of democratic deficit in the UK, which is based around factors such as the low participation rates and general apathy towards politics in the wider public.
Karp, Jeffrey A., and Susan A. Banducci. " Political Efficacy and Participation in Twenty-Seven Democracies: How Electoral Systems Shape Political Behaviour." British Journal of Political Science 38 (2008): 311-334. Cambridge Journals. Web. 16 Mar. 2012.
that because a party can raise money year in and year out (in fact the money is
Today, political parties can be seen throughout everyday life, prevalent in various activities such as watching television, or seeing signs beside the road while driving. These everyday occurrences make the knowledge of political parties commonly known, especially as the two opposing political parties: the Republicans and the Democrats. Republican and Democrats have existed for numerous years, predominantly due to pure tradition, and the comfort of the ideas each party presents. For years, the existence of two political parties has dominated the elections of the president, and lower offices such as mayor, or the House of Representatives. Fundamentally, this tradition continues from the very emergence of political parties during the election of 1796, principally between Federalist John Adams and Anti-federalist Thomas Jefferson. Prior to this election people unanimously conformed to the ideas of one man, George Washington, and therefore did not require the need for political parties.1 However, following his presidency the public was divided with opposing opinions, each arguing the best methods to regulate the country. Ultimately, the emergence of different opinions regarding the future of the United States involving the economy, foreign relations, ‘the masses,’ and the interpretation of the Constitution, led to the two political parties of the 1790s and the critical election of 1800.
Party identification is the political party that an individual categorizes themselves with. Political parties came about as a way to organize citizens with similar beliefs and attitudes. These parties then attempt to influence the government by electing members into office. Today there are two main parties people can identify with: Republican and Democrat. There is also a third choice, being an Independent, but for the purpose of this paper this group will not be recognized as a political party.
Wattenberg, Martin P. (1986). The decline of American political parties 1952-1984. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
During the second half of the past century the notion that, political science should be treated as a science became extremely popular among academics specially in the United States. One of the most prominent exposers of this school of thought was Anthony Downs, who developed a theorem to explain in a rather economic sense, how and why voters behave in a certain way when it comes to voting. Downs did not only applied his theory to the way voters behave, he also used it to explain the way political parties align themselves when it comes to elections in a two and a multiparty system nevertheless this essay will analyze Downs’ claims about a two party system only. This essay argues that the Downs’ model has proven to be accurate in many cases throughout history, nevertheless it makes a series of assumptions about voters and parties that can not be considered realistic neither in 1957, when he published his paper An Economic Theory of Political Action in Democracy in 1957 nor in 2013. This essay also acknowledges that fact that this theory might help to explain how parties behave but it is by no means the only explanation. Furthermore this essay will prove that it is a multiplicity of factors rather than an economic theory what can help us understand why parties behave the way they do. In order to support the argument previously stated this essay will state and critically analyze a number of Downs assumptions, then his theory will be outlined. Then it will carefully consider how effective it has been at predicting the way in which parties align themselves by examining the behavior of political parties during general elections in different countries.
...y more appealing by removing themselves from the criticisms that both the conservatives and liberals had and making labour appear as a new, different way in which politics should by heading. This may also be true by appearing to be the most progressive party. By promoting themselves a party of progress and change, labour would have appealed to the electorate who were uninterested in the same promises by traditional parties and convince more non voters to vote for a party that promotes radical and progressive changes. It is argued by the majority of critics that ‘new’ labour wasn’t as especially new as they made themselves seem, instead they took from a variety of past and present governments different ideals, goals and politics and combining them all to make a ‘new’ progressive party that would appeal to the masses that wanted a new radical change in politics.
Parties are key in western democracies for elected parliament. These parties are generally linkages between the state and society. A party’s purpose is to be an interest aggregator with the intention to try to collect a group of common interest that represent a large group of people so that members in parties can work together to obtain similar goals. A collection of parties form a party system that is defined as a stable pattern of relations between parties. Quebec has historically been a two party system but is evolving into a new type of party system that is still not defined due to the volatility of parties in Quebec. In first-past-the-post plurality electoral system, Duverger’s law suggests that they Quebec would be a two party system,
This proves that people, whose political socialization included largely democratic ideals will always select democracy over any form of authoritarian rule. It has been said that parties reflect societies they represent. Modern parties have become instruments of democracy and can be found in most countries around the world. It has been also since long recognized that in most cases a person determines his adherence to a party through the process of the political socialization, thus a majority of the democracies must be thankful to democratic way of political socialization and political culture. It is not by accident that one’s education begins early.