POLITICAL PARTIES SUMMARY

Department of Social Science

POLITICAL SCIENCE(X)

CHAPTER 06

POLITICAL PARTIES

A Political Party is a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in the government. They agree on some policies and programmes for the society with a view to promote the collective good.

A political party tries to convince people that its policies are better than others’ policies. They try to win elections so that they can implement their policies.

 A political party has three components:

• The Leaders
• The Active Members and
• The Followers

FUNCTIONS OF POLITICAL PARTY:

The main function of a political party is to occupy political offices and exercise political power. For achieving this, a political party performs following functions:

Contesting Elections: Political parties contest elections. A political party nominates its candidate for the electoral contest in various constituencies.

Policies: Political parties put forward different policies and programmes so that the voters can choose from them. A political party brings a large number of similar opinions under one umbrella. These opinions are channelized to form policies and programmes. The policies and programmes of the RULING PARTY are expected to be followed by the government.

Making Law: Political parties play a decisive role in making laws for the country. You may be aware that it is the legislature which passes a law after proper debate. As most of the members belong to political parties, so a political party has direct say in law making for the country.

Formation of Government: Political parties form and run governments. The executive body is formed by people from the ruling party. Various political leaders are assigned different ministries to carry out the task of governance.

Playing Opposition: Parties lose election Play the role of Opposition to the party in Power.

Shaping Public Opinion: Parties Raise and issues. Parties sometimes also launch movements for the resolution of the Problem faced by the People. They do so by raising and highlighting issues in the Legislature and in Media.

Providing Access to Government Machinery: Parties Provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes. It is easy for the public to approach their local party leaders than a government officer. The local Party leader has to listen to the public Demand, otherwise people can reject them in the next election.

NECESSITY OF POLITICAL PARTY:

If there were no political party, then each and every candidate would be independent. Current strength of the Lok Sabha is 543. Imagine a situation when none of the 543 members can be brought to think alike on a particular issue. This would lead to a total chaos. An independent candidate would always be more interested in the specific needs of his constituency and would seldom think about the larger interest of the nation. A political party is necessary to bring diverse people on a common platform, so that bigger issues can be taken care of. The democracy which is being practiced all over the world is called representative democracy.

PARTY SYSTEMS IN THE WORLD

One Party system

In some countries, only one party I s allowed to control and run the government. These are

Called one party systems.

For example, in China, only the Communist Party is allowed to rule.

Two-Party system

In some countries, power is shared between two main parties. Such party system is called

two party system. The United States of America and the United Kingdom are examples of two party system.

Multi-Party system

If several parties compete for power, and more than two parties have reasonable chance of

Winning, we call it a multi-party system. In India we have a multi-party system.

Since multi-party system tend to offer more choices to the voters, it is often considered better than the other party systems.

PARTIES IN INDIA

1.NATIONAL PARTIES

2.STATE PARTIES.

NATIONAL PARTIES

A party that secures at least six per cent of total votes in Lok Sabha elections or Assembly elections in four States and wins at least four seats in the Lok Sabha is recognized as a national party.

National Parties in India –SEVEN (2017)

Indian National Congress,BJP,BSP,CPI,CPM,NCP,Trinamool Congress

SOME IMPORTANT NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES

In 2017, there were Seven Recognised National Parties in the Country. These are

1. Indian National Congress: One of the oldest Political Party in the World. It is popularly known as the Congress Party or INC founded in 1885 by A O Hume. Party stood for the Welfare of Weaker section, Minorities poor’s etc. It Support Secularism and Democracy.Ruling Party at the Centre from 1952 to 1977 and then from 1980 to 1989.After 1989 its Support Declined but it continues to be Present throughout the country,Last Congress Came in Power in 2004 Continued Upto 2014.The Present Congress Act as Opposition.

2. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): It was founded in 1980, by reviving the Bharatiya Jana Sangh.Aim of the party is to build a strong and modern India by drawing Inspiration from India’s ancient culture and values.Party wants full territorial integration of Jammu and Kashmir with India. Stood For Uniform Civil Code. It came to Power in 1998 as the leader of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) including several state and regional Parties.2014 came in Power and their rule Continues.

3. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP): It was founded in 1984, under the leadership of Kanshi Ram. Seeks to Represent and seek Power for the Bahujan Samaj Which Includes the Dalit’s Adivasis,OBCs and Religious Minorities. Party stands for the Interest of dalit’s Adivasis and Oppressed class. It has main base in UP and Ruled state in several times with the support of Regional Parties.

4. Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPIM): It was founded in 1964.It believes in Marxism-Leninism. Supports Socialism, Secularism and Democracy and Oppose Imperialism and Communalism.Enjoys strong base in West Bengal,Kerala,Tripura and Tamil Nadu.

5. Communist Party of India (CPI): Founded in 1925, it Believes in Marxist-Leninism,Secularism and Democracy. It Oppose the Forces of Secessionism and Communalism.

6. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP): Founded in 1999, following a split in Congress Party. It Supports Democracy, Gandhian Secularism, Equity, Social Justice and Federalism.Major Party in Maharashtra.

7.All India Trinamool Congress(AITCU) : This Party is Launched on January 1998 under the leadership of Mamta Banerjee.This Party is Recognised as a National Party in 2016.The Party Symbol is flower and Grass.

STATE PARTIES

A party that secures at least 6 per cent of the total votes in an election to the Legislative Assembly of a State and wins at least two seats is recognized as a State party

RISE OF REGIONAL PARTIES: Many regional parties have grown in prominence over the last three decades. This is a sign of expansion and deepening of democracy in India. Many regional satraps are very strong in their states. Samajwadi Party, Biju Janata Dal, AIADMK, DMK, etc. are examples of regional parties.

CHALLENGES FACED BY POLITICAL PARTIES:

Some of the challenges which the political parties face are as follows:

Lack of Internal Democracy: In most of the political parties, the power is concentrated in the hands of one or a handful of leaders. Ordinary members of the party cannot even dream of rising to the top. The top leadership is often disconnected with the grassroots workers. Ordinary Members of the party do not get sufficient information about what happenings inside the Party. Loyalty to the policies and principles of the party has less value than the loyalty to the top leadership. The leader assume greater power to make decisions in the name of the Party.

Dynastic Succession: The top positions in many political parties are usually controlled by members of one family. A person born in a particular family becomes the leader by virtue of his birth; which is not the sign of a healthy democracy. This is bad for Democracy since People who do not have adequate experience or Popular Support,come to occupy positions of Power. This tendency is present in most of the political parties in India. This is not the case in India alone, but in many other countries as well. Example Congress Party and Samajwadi Party.

Money and Muscle Power: Winning an election is the ultimate challenge for a political party. For this, a political party leaves no stone unturned and spends huge sum of money on electioneering. Parties often take help of criminals and goons to terrorise voters and polling officers. Parties tend to nominate those candidates who have or can raise lots of Money. Rich People and Companies who give funds to the Parties tend to have influence on the Policies and decisions of the party.

In Some cases Parties Support Criminals who can win Elections.

Being a Meaningful Choice: Most of the political parties sound similar to one another. Very few political parties give any real alternative. People have no choice than choosing the better of the two evils. In some states, the party in power just changes every five year but people seldom experience change on the ground. Almost all political Parties follows Similar Programmes and Policies.

WAY TO REFORM POLITICAL PARTIES:

Following are some of the recent efforts and suggestions in our country to reform political parties and its leaders:

1. Anti-defection Law 1985 : This law was passed during Rajiv Gandhi's Prime Ministership. The law says that if any MLA or MP changes parties, he or she will lose the seat in the legislature. This new law has helped bring defection down. At the same time this has made any dissent even more difficult. MPs and MLAs have to accept whatever the party leaders decide.
2. Details of Property and Criminal Proceedings during Nomination: It is mandatory for every candidate who contests elections to file an AFFIDAVIT giving details of his property and criminal cases pending against him. The new system has made a lot of information available to the public. But there is no system of check if the information given by the candidates is true.
3. Mandatory Organizational Elections and INCOME TAX Returns: The Election Commission passed an order making it necessary for political parties to hold their organisational elections and file their income tax returns. The parties have started doing so but sometimes it is mere formality.

SUGGESTIONS TO  REFORM PARTIES IN FUTURE:

1. A law should be made to regulate the internal affairs of political parties.
2. It should be made mandatory for political parties to give a minimum number of tickets, about one-third, to women candidates.
3. There should be state funding of elections. The government should give parties money to support their election expenses. This support could be given in kind: petrol, paper, telephone etc. Or it could be given in cash on the basis of the votes secured by the party in the last election.

There are two other ways in which political parties can be reformed and they are; people’s pressure and people’s participation.