6 Political Parties

Syllabus
What role do political parties play in competition and contestation? which are the major
in India?
national and regional parties

Facts that Matterd

Apolitical party is a group of people who aim to attain power in the government through
it is a group of peopie holding some policies and
the elections. In other words,
programmes, who come together to contest elections and hold power in the government
Political parties reflect fundamental political divisions in a society. Parties are a part of

the society and involve partership.

Apolitical party has three components: the leader, the active members and the followes
Political parties perfom a series of functions
Parties contest elections.
=
Parties put forward diferent policies and programmes
Parties make laws for the country. Though laws are passed by the legislature Dut
Since most of members belong to a party, they go by the direction of party leadersnip
irrespective of their personal opinions.
Parties form and run government. Political parties recruit leaders, train them and
make them ministers to run the government in the way they want.

148
Those parties,
narties, that lose the elections play role of the opposition. They voice
erent views and criicise government for its failures or wrong policies

Parties
es shape public opinion. They shape public opinion by raising and highlighting
issues.

Darties provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes

implemented by government.

assity of parties for democracy. Moden democracies cannot exist without political

parties.

I n case there
are no
poiuical parties every candidate in the elections will be
independent and no leader wil be able to make any promises to the people about
policy change.
any major
The government may De Tormed, Dut its utilty will remain ever uncertain
Elected representatives will be aCCOuntable to their constituency for what they do in
the locality. But no one will be responsible for how country will run. This is why we
of the world.
find political parties in almost all cOuntries
is linked to the emergence of representative
The emergence of political parties
democracies. Large societies need representative democracy. As societies became large
and complex they also needed some agencies to gather dlifferent views on various issues
and to present these to the government. Ihey needed some ways to bring various
representatives together so that a responsible government could be formed. They
needed a mechanism to support or restrain the government, make policies, justity or
oppose them. Political parties fulfill these
needs that every representative government
has, This is how political parties
came into existence. Hence we can say that parties
area necessary condition for a democracy. RO
Now the question arises how many major or effective parties are good for a democrafic
COuntry.
- In some countries only one party is allowed to control and run the government. These
the Communist Party is
called one party systems. For example, China, only
in
are
allowed to rule. We cannot consider one party system as a good option because

this is not a democratic option.

n some cOuntries pOwer usualy changes between two major parties. Several other
only two
palues exiSst, contest elections and win a few seats in the legislature. But
and foming government. Such a
naln parties have a serious chance of winning
The United States of America and the
Pay System is called fwo party system.
United Kingdom are examples of two-parly system.
u Several parties compete for power, more than two parties have a reasonable chance
with others.
Owinning and coming to power either on their own or through an alliance
called multi-party system. For example-India. But this type of party system
S IS
ds Is own disadvantages. Political scenario becomes messy and leads to political

instability.
Several parties join hands for the purpose of contesting elections or winning
power, it is called an alliance or a front. NDA-National Democratlc Allance, rA

PoLITICAL PARTIES 149

 the left front were three major alliances in 200
United Progressive Alliance and
parliamentary elections in India.
Each country develops a party system that is conditioned by Is special circumstancee
For example, if India has evolved a multi-party system, it is because the social and
geographical diversity in such a vast country 1s not easily aDsoroed by two or three

parties
National Political Parties are country-wide parties Ihese paries nave their units in
various states. These units follow the same policies, programmes and strategy that is

decided at the national level.

Examples of national parties are Indian National Congress (ING), Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CP-M).
Communist Party of India (CPI) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
State Political Parties. Parties like Samajwadi Party, Samta Party, Rashtriya Janata
Dal have national political organisation with units in several states. Some of these parties
like Biju Janata Dal, Sikkim Democratic Front and Mizo National Front are conscious
about their state identify,
Over the last three decades the strength of state parties has expanded. No national
party 1s able to secure on its own a majority in the Lok Sabha. As a result national parties
are compelled to form alliances with state parties.
Political parties in our country are facing several challenges.The parties need to
overcome these chalenges.
The challenges are:
Lack of internal democracy witbin parties

Dynastic role
succession. onshAr PL
Growing of money and muscle power in parties. negerakn
Very often parties do seem not to offer a meaningful choice to the
voters.
In order to face these
challenges, political parties need to be reformed. Some of the
recent efforts and suggestions in our country to reform
are political parties and its leaders
The Constitution amended to prevent elected MLAs
was
and MPs from
parties. This done because many elected representatives were changing9in
was
defections in order to become ministers or for cash rewards. indulging
f any MLA or MP Now the law says tnat
The new law has
changes parties, he or she will lose
the seat in the legislature.
brought defection down and has made
The Supreme Court passed an order to dissent even more
reduce the influence of diicult
Now it
is mandatory for every candidate who money and criminai
giving details of his conducts elections to file an
property
and criminal cases affidavi
has made a lot of
information available to the pending against him. The new sysi
The Election
Commission passed an order public.
to hold their making it necessary for the political paiu
elections and file their
income tax returns.

150 SocIAL SCIENCE-X

 Words that Matter
Political party. A group of people with similar policies and
ther to contest elections and hold
power in the programmes, who come
government.
disan. A person who IS
strongiy committed to any party, group or factor
Ruling Party. A political party that runs government.
In some Countries
Ane-Darty system. onily one party is allowed to control and run the
government. These are called one-party systems.

Two-p
narty system. In some countries power usually changes between two major
parties
Multi-party system. It several parties compete tor power, more than two parties have
a reasonable chance of winning and coming to power either on their own or through an
alliance with others.

Allance/front. When several parties join hands for the purpose of contesting elections
or winning power
Regional party. A party that secures at least 6% of the total votes in an election to the
Legislative Assembly of a state and wins at least 2 seats is recognised as a regional
party/state party.
.National party. Those parties which are country-wide parties are called national parties.
Defection. Moving of a person from one party to another party for some personal benefit.
Affidavit. An affidavit is a signed document submitted to an officer, where a person
makes a sworn statement regarding his/her personal information.

QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK

9. 1. State the various functions political parties perform in a democracy
Ans. Political parties perform the following functions in a democracy:
(9 Parties contest elections. n most of democratic countries, elections are fought
mainly among the candidates put up by the political parties. Parties select
In India, top party leaders choose
their candidates in different ways.
candidates for contesting elections.
and programmes. Each one of us may
Parties put forward different policies are suitable for the society.
ave diferent opinions and views on what policies
to be grouped together
number of similar opinions has
n demoCracy large be formulated by the government.
LO provide a direction in which policies can
reduces a vast multitude ot opinions
Inis is what the parties do. A party The government is expected to
nto a few basic positions which it supports.
base its policies on the line taken by the ruling pary.
the legislatire
arties make laws for the courntry. Though laws are passed by
directtOn ol
to a party, they go by the
Dut Since most of the members belong
party leadership, irrespective of their personal opinlOns. ralin
artes Jorm and run government. Political parties recruit leaders, them
a K e them ministers to run the government in the way they want

-PoLmcAL PARTIES 151

 in
role
to
tne parties power,
of the opposiliontor its hey voice different
() Parties play Tong
lailures o r wrons
views and
criticise government
to the g o v e r n m e n t .
policies. Opposition
m o b i l i s e opposition
parties also
shaPe nion bu
public opinion
by
(ui) Parties shape public opinion. 1hey groups. raising and
issues. They do these tarougn pressure ps, which
highlighting and launch
also movements for are t
extensions ol political parties
the people.
resolutions of
problems faced by
a c c e s s to govermment uveljare schemes. For
(vil Parties provide people leader than a govern Ordinary
to approach a
local party
citizen it is easier
even ilthey do not fully trust them. Even them. officer.
close to party parties
eleThey feel to the people s needs nds otheru
and demands
otherwise
have to be responsivethe next elections. people
in
can reject parties
parties?
What are the various challenges Jaced by political
9. 2.
face the following challenges.
Ans. The political parties There 1sS
internal democracy within parties.
Lack oftowards a tendency in political
(0parties concentration of power in one or a 1ew leaders at the top
hold organisational meetin
membership registers, do not
Parties do not keep
elections regularly. Ordinary members do o t get
and conduct internal
information o n what happens
inside the party. Leaders make
sufficient
e s g maximum decisions in the name of party.
few ordinary workers get chance to rise to the top
(i0 Dynastic succession. Very
open and transparent procedures. In
in the party a s parties do not practice controlled
many parties top positions are always by members of one family.
This is unfair to others and bad for democracy.
and muscle power. Since parties are focused only on
(tiil Growing role of money elections. They tend to
winning elections, they tend to use short-cuts to win and
nominate candidates, who have o r c a n raise money. Rich people
tend to have influence on the policy
companies who give funds to the parties
decisions of the parties. In some cases parties support criminals who can

win elections.
) Parties do not seem to offer a meaningful choice to the voters. In the rece
years there has been a decline in the ideological differences among paruc
in most parts of the world. So people have no choices. Sometimes P ple
cannot even elect very diferent leaders either, because the same set ol leadei
keeps shifting from one party to another.
ns
9.3. Suggest some reforms to strengthen parties so that they perform theu
Ju
well
Ans. Some reforms which can strengthen
political parties are:
(0 Alaw should be established to regulate the internal affairs of parties. ereby
making them more
transparent.
(4) It should be made
compulsory for political parties to maintain
its members, to lollow its Own
ain a register
a ithority.
to act as constitution, to have an
independc f dispu
a judge n case ol disputes, to hold
open elections in casc
aieputes.
(in It should be made mandatory for
the political
c a l parties
number of tickets, about parties to
one-third, to women candidates.
to give
give a minin a

152 SoCIAL SCIENCE-X

 state should fund election campaigns, thereby eliminating lobbying groups
The
(iw) d unfair competiuon. Tne government should give parties money to support
election expenses such as petrol, paper, telephone etc. or it could be
r e n in cash on the basis ol votes secured by a party in the last elections

ople can put pressure on political parties and this can be done through
(0 tions. publicity and agitations. Ordinary citizens, pressure groups and
ovements and media can play an important role in this. If political parties
lose support by not taking up reforms they will
feel that they would publie
more serious about reforms.
become
of democracy aepends upon the degree ofparticipation. It is dificult
The quality if c i u Z e n s do not take
ordinary part in politics and simply
to reform politics
irom outside.
criticise it
a political party?
4. What is
g.
political party is a group o people who alm to
attain power in the government
A
Ans.
the elections. In other words,
it is a group people with simnilar policies
of
through to contest electlons and hold power in the
who come together
and programmes,
have own ideology and vision for the society.
government. Political parties their
various policies and programmes for the society. They work for
They formulate interest.
the collective public They agree n some programmes and policies for
view to promote collective good.
the society with a
What a r e the characteristics ofa political party?
9.5.
Ans. Characteristics of a political party are:
structure. The group of people is organised in a
-Every party has a certain
member is a w a r e ot his role and responsibilities in the party
proper way. Every
All the members agree on some policies and programmes for the society with
a view to promote the collective good. They seek to implement these policies
by winning popular support through elections.
fundamental political divisions in a society. Parties are
Political parties reflect
about a part of the society and thus involve partnership.

S A group of people who come together to contest elections and hold pouwer n the
government is caled a anm
Ans. political party
.7. List I (organisations and struggles) with List ll and select the correct aristuer

LSung the codes given below the lists:

List List )
1. Congress Party A. National Democratic Alliance

2 Bharatiya Janata Party B. State party

Communist Party of India (Marxist) C. United Progressive Alianece
4.
Telugu Desam Party D. Left Front

-PoLmICAL PARTIES 153