Ch 4Political Parties

Chapter 4: Political Parties

Political parties are among the most visible institutions of democracy — and, for most ordinary citizens, democracy is equal to political parties. Yet parties also attract the most criticism. This chapter explains what parties are, why we need them, how many parties suit a democracy, India's national and state parties, and how parties can be reformed.

1. What is a Political Party?

A political party is a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in the government. It agrees on some policies and programmes for society with a view to promoting the collective good. Since there can be different views on what is good for all, a party seeks to persuade people why its policies are better, and to implement them by winning popular support through elections. Parties thus reflect fundamental political divisions in society; a party is known by which part of society it stands for (partisanship). A party has three components: the leaders, the active members and the followers.

2. Functions of Political Parties

1. Contest elections: in most democracies, elections are fought mainly among candidates put up by parties (in India top party leaders choose candidates; in the USA members and supporters choose them through primaries).
2. Put forward policies and programmes: parties reduce a vast multitude of opinions into a few basic positions, and voters choose from them.
3. Make laws: laws are debated and passed in the legislature, where most members belong to parties and go by the party's direction.
4. Form and run governments: the party that wins recruits leaders, trains them and makes them ministers; big policy decisions are taken by the political executive that comes from parties.
5. Play the role of opposition: losing parties voice different views, criticise the government for its failures and mobilise opposition to it.
6. Shape public opinion: parties raise and highlight issues; with lakhs of members and activists, and with pressure groups and movements often launched by them, they shape what society thinks.
7. Provide access to government machinery and welfare schemes: for an ordinary citizen it is easy to approach a local party leader; parties therefore act as a link between the citizen and the government.

3. Why Do We Need Political Parties?

Imagine elections without parties: every candidate would be independent, no one would be able to make promises about major policy changes, the government's utility would remain uncertain, and elected representatives would be accountable only to their constituency, with no one responsible for how the country runs. The rise of parties is directly linked to the rise of representative democracies — large societies need an agency to gather different views and present them to the government, a mechanism to support or restrain policies, and responsible bodies to form and run governments. Parties fulfil these needs, which is why they exist in every democracy.

4. How Many Parties? — Party Systems

Which system is best? No system is ideal for all countries — the party system is not something any country can choose; 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. A multi-party system suits India's social and geographical diversity.

5. National and State Parties

India has a three-tier system, and the Election Commission registers every party. Registered parties that fulfil certain conditions get recognition and privileges — a unique election symbol — and are called recognised political parties.

• State 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.
• National party: a party that secures at least 6% of the total votes in Lok Sabha elections or Assembly elections in four states, and wins at least 4 seats in the Lok Sabha.

National parties have units in various states, but by and large all units follow the same policies and programmes decided at the national level. State (regional) parties like the Biju Janata Dal, Sikkim Democratic Front, Mizo National Front and Telangana Rashtra Samithi are conscious of their state identity; over the last three decades their number and strength have expanded, making Parliament politically more diverse and strengthening federalism and democracy.

6. Challenges to Political Parties

1. Lack of internal democracy: power concentrated in one or few top leaders; no membership registers, organisational meetings or internal elections regularly held; ordinary members have no information and no means to influence decisions; leaders who disagree find it difficult to continue.
2. Dynastic succession: since parties do not work transparently, leaders favour people close to them or family members; positions go to relatives — unfair to ordinary members and bad for democracy.
3. Money and muscle power: parties need money for elections, so they nominate candidates who can raise money or win by any means; rich people and companies that fund parties influence their policies; in some cases parties support criminals who can win.
4. No meaningful choice to voters: ideological differences among parties have declined (e.g., very little difference between Labour and Conservative in Britain, or on economic policy among major Indian parties); the same leaders keep shifting between parties.

7. How Can Parties Be Reformed?

• Anti-defection law: the Constitution was amended so that MLAs/MPs who change parties lose their seats — it has curbed defection, but has also made any dissent difficult, since members must follow party leaders.
• Affidavit on criminal cases and assets: the Supreme Court ordered every candidate to file an affidavit giving details of property and criminal cases pending against him or her — information is now public, though there is no system to check the details.
• Organisational elections and returns: the Election Commission made it mandatory for parties to hold their organisational elections and file their income-tax returns — parties have complied, sometimes only formally.
• Suggested reforms: a law to regulate internal affairs (membership register, party constitution, internal elections); mandating about one-third tickets for women; state funding of elections (cash or kind — petrol, paper, telephone).
• Two other ways: pressure through public opinion, movements and media; and good people joining politics — the quality of democracy depends on the degree of public participation.