10
Com (Subject) / 9 (Lesson)
- A political party is a group of officials or would-be-officials who are linked with a sizeable group of citizens into an organization; a chief objecitve of this organization is to ensure that its official attain power or maintained in power (Shively 2001, 234)
- Ways of distinguishing political parties (4) size or strength role ideology/ideological family ways in which they are organized
- Functions of political parties (Key 1964) 1. parties in electorate 2. parties as organizations 3. parties in government
- Party-as-organization (4) -recruiting leaders for elected/appointed office -training elites -articulating interests -aggregating interests
- Parties-in-government (6) -creating government majorities -organizing government and the legislature -implementing policy ogjectives -organizing dissent -ensuring responsibility for government actions -fostering stability
- main ideological families of political parties (7) socialist parties christian demoncratic parties agrarian parties liberal parties conservatives parties nationalist, regional or ethnic parties green parties
- Main ideological families of political parties (left-right-axis) Two dimensions: 1. economic dimension: role of the state in the economy, industrial relationships and decision-making processes (corporatism), incentives for free enterprise vs. Keynesian management, extension in walfare 2. cultural dimension: national pride and identity, law and order and state authority, attitudes toward multi culturalism and national traditions, tolerance of diversity, social justice, solidarity with developing world and internationalism
- Iron Law of oligarchy -parties are and always will be run by minorities -Iron law is a claim that all large scale organizations - parties, pressure groups, trade unions, churches, universities - are controlled by a few leaders, no matter how democratic they try to be. -because leaders tend to be best informed of the working of the organization. -psychologically, the masses rely upon the leaders.
- 5 Types of party-systems - non-partisan democracy: where there is no official politcal parties - single-party system: where only one political party is allowed to hold power - one-party dominant system: where multiple parties operate, but where only one party has realistic chances of winning - two-party system: where two major political parties have a realistic chance of holding power - multi-party system: where most than two parties have a realistic chance of holding power
- Effective number of political parties Laakso-Taagepera (1979) ENP=1/Summe Vi´²
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