Class 10 Political Science · Chapter 4 NotesPolitical Parties

A political party is a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in the government. They agree on certain policies and programmes for society, aiming to promote the collective good. Because people can disagree about what is good for all, parties try to persuade voters that their policies are better than those of others, and they seek to implement those policies by winning popular support in elections. A party therefore stands for a part of society — it is partisan, meaning it takes a side rather than a balanced view on issues. A party is known by which part of society it stands for, which policies it supports and whose interests it upholds. Every political party has three components: the leaders, the active members and the followers.

• Political partya group that contests elections and holds power in government
• Partisanstrongly committed to a party, group or faction; unable to take a balanced view
• Three components of a partyleaders, active members, followers

Parties fill political offices and exercise political power by performing a series of functions. They contest elections by putting up candidates; in India top party leaders usually choose candidates, while in countries like the USA party members and supporters choose them. Parties put forward policies and programmes so that voters can choose between them, reducing a vast number of opinions into a few basic positions. They play a decisive role in making laws, since most legislators follow the direction of their party leadership. Parties form and run governments, recruit and train leaders, and make them ministers. Losing parties act as the opposition, criticising the government and mobilising opposition to it. Parties also shape public opinion, raise issues, launch movements, and give ordinary citizens easy access to government machinery and welfare schemes.

• Contest elections
• Put forward policies and programmes
• Make laws
• Form and run governments
• Play the role of opposition
• Shape public opinion
• Provide access to government machinery and welfare schemes

The functions of parties explain why democracies need them. To see their necessity, imagine elections without parties: every candidate would be independent, so nobody could make promises about major policy changes, and while elected representatives would be accountable to their locality, no one would be responsible for how the country is run. Even in non-party panchayat elections, villages often split into factions that put up panels of candidates — exactly what a party does. The rise of political parties is directly linked to the emergence of representative democracies. Large, complex societies needed an agency to gather different views and present them to the government, and a mechanism to bring representatives together so that a responsible government could be formed. Parties fulfil these needs, which is why they are found in almost every country and are a necessary condition for democracy.

• Without parties, no one would be responsible for running the country as a whole
• Parties are directly linked to the emergence of representative democracies
• Parties are a necessary condition for a democracy

Any group of citizens is free to form a party, and more than 750 parties are registered with the Election Commission of India, though only a handful seriously compete for power. In a one-party system only one party is allowed to control and run the government, as with the Communist Party in China. This is not a democratic option, because a democracy must allow at least two parties to compete and give each a fair chance to come to power. In a two-party system, power usually alternates between two main parties even though other parties exist and win a few seats; the USA and the UK are examples. In a multiparty system, several parties compete and more than two have a real chance of coming to power on their own or in alliance — India has such a system. When several parties join hands to contest elections and win power, it is called an alliance or a front, such as the National Democratic Alliance, the United Progressive Alliance and the Left Front in the 2004 parliamentary elections. A multiparty system may look messy and can lead to instability, but it allows a variety of interests and opinions to be represented. No party system is chosen deliberately; it evolves over a long time depending on a country's society, divisions, history and election system, so no system is ideal for all countries.

• One-party systemonly one party allowed to rule (example: China) — not democratic
• Two-party systemtwo main parties alternate in power (examples: USA, UK)
• Multiparty systemseveral parties compete; government often formed by a coalition (example: India)
• Alliance or frontseveral parties joining hands to contest elections and win power

In a federal democracy like India there are two kinds of parties: those present in only one unit and those present in several or all units. Country-wide parties are called national parties, and their State units generally follow policies decided at the national level. Every party must register with the Election Commission, which treats all parties equally but gives special facilities — including a unique election symbol — to large, established parties it recognises. A party that secures at least six per cent of the total votes in a State Legislative Assembly election and wins at least two seats is recognised as a State party. A party that secures at least six per cent of the total votes in Lok Sabha elections or Assembly elections in four States and wins at least four Lok Sabha seats is recognised as a national party. As per the Election Commission's notification of 2023, there are six recognised national parties: Aam Aadmi Party, Bharatiya Janata Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Communist Party of India - Marxist, Indian National Congress and National People's Party. All other major parties are classified as State parties, commonly called regional parties, though they need not be regional in ideology. Over the last three decades their number and strength have grown, making Parliament more diverse; since no national party could secure a majority on its own until 2014, national parties had to form alliances with State parties, which strengthened federalism and democracy.

• State partyat least 6% of votes in a State Assembly election and at least 2 seats won
• National partyat least 6% of votes in Lok Sabha or Assembly elections in four States and at least 4 Lok Sabha seats
• Six recognised national parties as per the 2023 notification: AAP, BJP, BSP, CPI-M, INC, NPP

Because parties are the most visible face of democracy, people blame them for whatever goes wrong, and dissatisfaction has focused on four problem areas. The first is lack of internal democracy: power tends to concentrate in one or a few top leaders, parties do not keep membership registers, hold organisational meetings or conduct internal elections regularly, ordinary members lack information and influence, and personal loyalty to the leader becomes more important than loyalty to party principles. The second is dynastic succession: since procedures are not open and transparent, ordinary workers have few ways to rise, and top positions are often controlled by members of one family, which is unfair to other members and bad for democracy. The third is the growing role of money and muscle power, especially during elections, as parties nominate candidates who can raise funds and sometimes support criminals who can win. The fourth is that parties often do not offer a meaningful choice, because ideological differences among major parties have declined and the same leaders keep shifting between parties.

• Lack of internal democracy
• Dynastic succession
• Growing role of money and muscle power
• No meaningful choice for voters

Reforming parties is difficult because the final decisions in a democracy are made by leaders who represent parties, though people can replace them with another set of leaders. Some reforms have already been carried out in India. The Constitution was amended to prevent elected MLAs and MPs from changing parties — defection — because many were doing so to become ministers or for cash rewards; now a defector loses the seat, which has brought defection down but also made dissent within parties more difficult. The Supreme Court passed an order making it mandatory for every candidate to file an affidavit giving details of property and pending criminal cases, which has made information public, though there is no system to verify it. The Election Commission made it necessary for parties to hold organisational elections and file income tax returns, but it is not clear whether this has increased internal democracy. Further suggestions include a law to regulate parties' internal affairs, a minimum of about one-third tickets to women candidates and a quota for women in decision-making bodies, and State funding of elections. These suggestions have not yet been accepted, and over-regulation can be counter-productive because parties may find ways to cheat the law. Two other routes to reform are pressure from citizens through petitions, publicity and agitations, and participation — joining parties and improving politics from within, since the quality of democracy depends on public participation.

• Defectionchanging party allegiance from the party on which a person got elected to a different party
• Affidavita signed document in which a person makes a sworn statement about personal information
• Suggested reformslaw on internal affairs, one-third tickets to women, quota in decision-making bodies, State funding of elections