Cic-4. Political Parties .
Cic-4. Political Parties .
Political Parties
1. How do you define a political party? What are its components?
a. A political party is a group of people who come together to contest elections and
hold power in the government.
b. They agree on some policies and programmes for the society with a view to
promote the collective good.
c. A political party has three components - the leaders, the active members, and
the followers.
c. Multi-Party System: If several parties compete for power, and more than two
parties have a reasonable chance of coming to power wither on their own
strength or in alliance with others, we call it a multiparty system. In this system,
sometimes a coalition government could also be formed where several parties
come together to form a government.
6. ‘No party system is ideal for all countries in all situations.’ Analyse the statement.
a. Party system is not something any country can choose.
b. It evolves over a long time, depending on the nature of society, its social and
regional divisions, its history of politics and its system of elections.
c. Every country develops a party system that is conditioned by its special
circumstances.
d. Ex: If India has evolved a multiparty system, it is because the social and
geographical diversity in such a large country is not easily absorbed by two or
even three parties.
8. Names of five states are given below. Write the name of any one regional party of
that state with the election symbol.
1. Tamilnadu, 2. Maharashtra, 3. Assam, 4. Uttar Pradesh, 5.
Telangana
9. What are the challenges faced by the political parties in India? Explain.
a. Lack of internal democracy:
1. Concentration of power in one or few leaders at the top has been a common
feature of political parties in India.
2. Parties do not keep membership registers, do not hold organizational
meetings, and do not conduct internal elections regularly.
3. Ordinary members of the party do not get sufficient information on what
happens inside the party. Their opinions are not taken into consideration
while taking a major decision by the top leaders of the party.
b. Dynastic Succession:
1. Many parties do not practice open and transparent procedures for their
functioning, there are very few ways for an ordinary worker to rise to the top
in a party.
2. Those who happen to be the leaders are in a position of unfair advantage to
favour people close to them or even their family members.
3. In many parties, top positions are always controlled by members of one
family.
c. Money and muscle power:
1. Since parties are focused only on winning elections, they tend to use short-
cuts to win elections.
2. They tend to nominate those candidates who have or can raise lots of
money.
3. Rich people and companies who give funds to the parties tend to influence
on the policies and decisions of the party. In some cases parties support
criminals who can win elections.
d. Lack of meaningful choice:
1. In the recent years, there has been a decline in the ideological differences
among parties in most parts of the world.
2. In our country, the differences among all the major parties on the economic
policies have reduced. Those who want different policies have no option
available to them.
3. Sometimes, people cannot even elect different leaders either, because the
same set of leaders keep shifting from one party to another.
10. What rules have been laid upon the political parties to reduce corruption and
money power that plays a major role during and after elections?
a. The Constitution was amended to prevent elected MLAs and MPs from changing
parties. The anti-defection law says that if any MLA or MP changes parties after
the getting elected, he or she will lose the seat in the legislature or in the Lok
Sabha.
b. The Supreme Court passed an order to reduce the influence of money and
criminals. It is mandatory for every candidate who contests elections to file an
affidavit giving details of his property and criminal cases pending against him.
c. The Election Commission has made it necessary for political parties to hold their
organizational elections and file their income tax returns.
11. Suggest some reforms to strengthen parties so that they perform their functions
well?
a. A law should be made to regulate the internal affairs of political parties. It should
be made compulsory for political parties to maintain a register of its members, to
follow its own constitution, to have an independent authority, to act as a judge
in case of party disputes, to hold open elections to the highest posts.
b. It should be made mandatory for political parties to give a minimum number of
tickets, about one-third, to women candidates.
c. There should be state funding of elections. The government should give parties
money to support could be given in kind: petrol, paper, telephone etc.
d. People can put pressure on political parties. This can be done through petitions,
publicity and agitations.
e. The quality of democracy depends on the degree of public participation. It is
difficult to reform politics if ordinary citizens do not take part in it and simply
criticize it from the outside.