Introduction to Political Science (POL 101)

Lecture 11:
Political Parties

Dr. Noor Mohammad Sarker

Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science and Sociology
North South University, Dhaka
Email: [email protected]
 Introduction

 Political parties serve as the motive force in crystallizing public

opinion.
 Political parties are the vital link between the state and civil
society.
 It is the unifying agency which makes democracy workable.
 Political parties are the vehicle through which individuals seek
to secure political power.
 Political parties could be the great tools of democracy or a
source of tyranny and repression.
 Defining Characteristics of ‘Political Parties’

 Holding similar views in an organized manner.

 Agreeing on some fundamental principles, which can bind the
people together as a political unit.
 Formulating clear and specific programs based on the principles.
 Carrying out programs and implementing policies by constitutional
means.
 Promoting national interests, rather than sectarian or communal
interests.
 Types of Political Parties

 Based on the types of membership of political parties:

 Cadre Parties
 Political parties with trained and professional party members who
are expected to exhibit a high level of political commitment and
doctrinal discipline.

 Mass Parties
 The key feature of such parties is that they place heavier stress on
recruitment and organization than on ideology and political
conviction.
 Types of Political Parties

 Based on the political party’s relations to the masses:

 Representative Parties
 Representative parties see their primary function as being the
securing of votes in elections.
 They thus attempt to reflect, rather than shape, public opinion.

 Integrative Parties
 Integrative parties adopt proactive, rather than reactive, political
strategies.
 They wish to mobilize, educate and inspire the masses, rather than
merely respond to their concerns.
 Types of Political Parties

 Based on the political parties approach towards the establishment:

 Constitutional Parties
 Constitutional parties acknowledge the rights and entitlements of
other parties and, thus, operate within a framework of rules and
constraints.

 Revolutionary Parties
 Revolutionary parties are anti-system or anti-constitutional parties,
either of the left or of the right.
 Such parties aim to seize power and overthrow the existing
constitutional structure.
 Types of Political Parties

 Based on the ideological orientation of political parties:

 Left-wing Parties
 Left-wing parties are characterized by a commitment to change, in
the form of either social reform or wholesale economic
transformation.

 Right-wing Parties
 Right-wing parties generally uphold the existing social order and
are, in that sense, a force for continuity.
 Types of Political Parties

 Based on the political party’s approach to the governance of the

society or state:

 Mainstream Parties
 Mainstream parties (sometimes termed ‘conventional’ or
‘traditional’ parties) are parties that broadly accept the
constitutional status quo and so tend to operate within what can be
seen as the established rules of the political game.

 Populist Parties
 Populist Parties challenge the authority of a political establishment
deemed to be dishonest, arrogant and self-serving, at the heart of
which lie mainstream parties and conventional politicians.
 They claim that the only legitimate source of political and moral
authority rests with ‘the people’.
 Functions of Political Parties

 Representation
 Formation of Leadership
 Recruitment and Training
 Goal Formulation
 Interest Articulation and Aggregation
 Political Socialization
 Mobilization of People
 Organization of Government
◦ Helping the formation of governments.
◦ Facilitating cooperation between the Parliament and Executive
◦ Providing a vital source of opposition and criticism, both inside and
outside government
 Party Systems

 One-party System
◦ One party system refers to a political arrangement in which a single party
enjoys a monopoly of power through the exclusion of all other parties
(by political or constitutional means).
◦ This system is associated with totalitarian or authoritarian regimes.

 Dominant-party System
◦ A dominant-party system is competitive in the sense that a number of
parties compete for power in regular and popular elections, but it is
dominated by a single major party that consequently enjoys prolonged
periods in power.
◦ The most prominent feature of a dominant-party system is the tendency
for the political focus to shift from competition between parties to
factional conflict within the dominant party itself.
 Party Systems

 Two-party System
◦ A two-party system is duopolistic in that it is dominated by two ‘major’
parties that have a roughly equal prospect of winning government
power.
◦ This system can be identified by three criteria:
1. Although a number of ‘minor’ parties may exist, only two parties enjoy
sufficient electoral and legislative strength to have a realistic prospect of
winning government power.
2. The larger party is able to rule alone (usually on the basis of a legislative
majority); the other provides the opposition.
3. Power alternates between these parties; both are ‘electable’, the
opposition serving as a ‘government in the wings’.
 Party Systems

 Multiparty System
◦ A multiparty system is characterized by competition amongst more than
two parties, reducing the chances of single-party government and
increasing the likelihood of coalitions.
◦ However, it is difficult to define multiparty systems in terms of the
number of major parties, as such systems sometimes operate through
coalitions including smaller parties that are specifically designed to
exclude larger parties from government.