Class X - Political Parties (2019-20)

Political parties

Class : X                                                                                  Subject: Political Science

A political party is:

·         a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in the government.

·         They agree on some policies and programmes for the society with a view to promote the collective good.

·         Parties reflect fundamental political divisions in a society. Parties are a part of the society and thus involve PARTNERSHIP.

·         A political party has three components:
I) The leaders,
II) The active members and
III) The followers

How many parties should we have?

1. In a democracy, any group of citizens is free to form the political party.
2. In this formal sense, there are a large number of political parties in each country.
3. More than 750 parties are registered with the Election Commission of India.
4. In some countries, only one party is allowed to control and run the government. These are called one-party system.
5. In class IX, we noted that in China, only the Communist Party is allowed to rule.
6. We cannot consider one party system as a good option because this is not a democratic option.
7. Any democratic system must allow at least two parties to compete in the election and provide a fair chance for the competing parties to come to the power.
8. In some countries, power usually changes between two main parties.
9. But only the two main parties have a serious chance of winning the majority of seats to form the government. Such a party system is called two-party system.
10. If several parties compete for power, and more than two parties have a reasonable chance of coming to power either on their own strength or in alliance with others, we call it multi-party system.
11. When several parties in a multi-party system join hands for the purpose of contesting elections and winning power, it is called an alliance or a front.
12. The multi-party system often appears very messy and leads to political instability.
13. At the same time, this system allows a variety of interests and opinions to enjoy political representation.

I.            Functions of Political Party:

i.            Contesting Elections: Political parties contest elections. A political party nominates its candidate for the electoral contest in various constituencies.

ii.            Policies: Political parties put forward different policies and programmes so  that  the  voters can choose from them

iii.            Making Law: Political parties play a decisive role in making laws for the country. As most of the parliamentarians belong to political parties, so a political party has direct  say in law making for the country.

iv.            Formation of Government: Political parties form and run governments. The executive body is formed by people from the ruling party

v.            Playing Opposition: A party which does not get majority or come under the majority coalition, needs to play the role of opposition. It keeps an eye on the ruling government.

Criticizes them and mobilizes opposition to ruling party

vi.            Shaping Public Opinion: Political parties shape public opinion. They do so by raising  and highlighting issues in the legislature and in the media.

vii.            Providing Access to Government Machinery: Political parties provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes implemented by governments. Parties need  to be responsive to people’s needs and demands.

QUESTION: Explain the various functions performed by political parties.

II.              Necessity of Political Party

i.            If there were no political party, then each and every candidate would be independent.

ii.            An independent candidate would always be more interested in the specific needs of   his constituency

iii.            Would seldom think about the larger interest of the nation.

iv.            A political party is necessary to bring diverse people on a common platform, so that  bigger issues can be taken care of.

Question: Examine the state of democracy without political parties.

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY

v.           The democracy which is being practiced all over the world is called representative democracy.

vi.           In this system, governance is done through people’s representative because it is

impossible for each citizen to directly participate in governance.

vii.           The need for representative democracy has given rise to political parties.

viii.         As societies have become more heterogeneous and population of counties have

expanded

ix.          This has created the need for people who can take decisions on people’s behalf.

IVa. PARTY SYSTEM

i.  One party system

a)      In some countries only one party is allowed to control and run the government, e.g.

China. These are called one-party systems.

b)      It is not considered democratic since a democratic system must allow at least  two parties to compete in elections and provide a fair chance for the competing parties to come to power.

ii.   Two party systems

a)      In some countries, power usually changes between two main parties. Such a party system is called two-party system.

b)      The United States of America and the United Kingdom are examples of two-party system.

iii.   Multi-party system

a)      If several parties compete for power, and more than two parties have a reasonable chance of coming to power either on their own strength or in alliance with others, we call it a multi-party system. Thus in India, we have a multi-party system.

b)      After the 1996 general elections, no single party has been able to secure even a simple majority.

c)      Subsequent central governments have thus been formed by coalition of like-minded political parties.

d)      The multi-party system is apparently very messy and it often leads to political instability.

e)      But we should acknowledge the fact that it allows various interests and opinions to enjoy political representation.

IVb. Evolution of party system in any country

a)      A particular party system takes time to evolve in a country.

b)      It depends on the nature of society, social and regional diversities.

c)      It also depends on its history of politics and its system of elections.

d)      India is a country of huge geographical and social diversity. Such diversity may not be easily accommodated by two or even three parties.

e)      It is quite natural that a multi-party system has evolved in India.

f)       We should keep in mind that each system has its pros and cons.

Question: “Each country develops a party system that is conditioned by its special circumstances.”Do you agree with the statement? Give reasons

V.   POPULAR PARTICIPATION IN POLITICAL PARTIES

i.            Political parties do not enjoy much trust among the people in South Asia.

ii.            Political parties are one of the least trusted institutions all over the world.

iii.            Yet the level of participation in the activities of political parties was fairly high. The proportion of those who said they were members of some political party was higher in India than many advanced countries like Canada, Japan, Spain and South Korea.

iv.            Over the last three decades the proportion of those who report to be members of political parties in India has gone up steadily.

v.            The proportion of those who say they feel ‘close to a political party’ has also gone  up in India in this period.

VI.   RECOGNIZED PARTIES

·      Every party in the country has to register with the Election Commission.

·      While the Commission treats all parties equally,

·      It offers some special facilities to large and  established parties. These parties are given  a unique symbol – only the official candidates of that party can use that election symbol.

·      Parties that get this privilege and some other special facilities are ‘recognized’ by the Election Commission for this purpose.

·      That is why these parties are called, ‘recognized political parties’.

VII.   CRITERION GIVEN BY EC

State Party: A party that secures at least 6 per cent of the total votes in an election to the Legislative Assembly of a State and wins at least two seats is recognized as a State party.

National Party: A party that secures at least six per cent of total votes in Lok Sabha elections  or Assembly elections in four States and wins at least four seats in the Lok  Sabha  is recognized as a national party

According to this classification, there were six national recognized parties in the country in 2006.

QUESTION: Mention the criteria given by EC for the recognition of state and national party.

VIII.   NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES

i.  Indian National Congress (INC):

·         This is popularly known as the Congress Party.

·         Oldest party - formed in 1885

·         Involved in the freedom struggle

·         Centrist in its ideology

·         Espouses secularism

·         Welfare of weaker sections and minorities

·         Emerged as largest party in 2004 Lok Sabha elections- completed two terms in office,

i.e. ten years

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP):

·         Founded in 1980 by reviving the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh.

·         Goal- to build strong and modern India

·         Promotes cultural nationalism (or ‘Hindutva)

·         Wants full territorial and political integration of Jammu and Kashmir with India.

·         Demands uniform civil code

·         Party came to power in 1998 and remained in power till 2004 ( NDA )

·         This party stormed back to power in centre in 2014.

.iii. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP

·         Formed in 1984 under the leadership of Kanshi Ram.

·         Seeks to represent and secure power for the bahujan Samaj which includes the dalits, adivasis, OBCs and religious minorities.

·         Inspired by teachings of Mahatma Phule,Periyar Ramaswami Naicker and B.R Ambedkar

·         Has good presence in Uttar Pradesh and has been in power in UP for a couple of terms.

iv.  Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPI-M):

·         This party was founded in 1964.

·         Main philosophy- Marxism-

·         It supports socialism, secularism.

·         enjoys strong support in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura,

·         Famous among the poor, factory workers, farmers, agricultural labourer and the intelligentsia.

v.   Communist Party of India (CPI):

·         Formed in 1925.

·         Same philosophy as CPI (M). ( Marxist )

·         After the split in the party in 1964 it led to the formation of the CPI (M).

·         Significant presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

·           Advocates the coming together of all left parties to build a strong left front.

vi.  Nationalist Congress Party (NCP):

·         This party was formed in 1999 following a split in the Congress party.

·         The party espouses democracy, Gandhian secularism, equity, social justice and federalism.

·         Wants high office in government to be confined to natural born citizens of the  country

·         This is a major party in Maharashtra and has a significant presence in Meghalaya,  Manipur and Assam

Question: Compare the ideology and working of Congress and BJP.

IX.       RISE of REGIONAL PARTIES and THEIR CONTRIBUTION

·       Many regional parties have grown in prominence over the last three decades.

·       Has made Indian parliament politically more diverse

·       Gives support to national parties to form government

·       Every state party has got a chance to enter into national level alliance

·       Has strengthened federalism and democracy

·       This is a sign of expansion and deepening of democracy in India.

·       Samajwadi Party, Biju Janata Dal, AIADMK, DMK, etc. are examples of regional parties

Question: Discuss the role of regional parties in strengthening federalism.

X.   CHALLENGES TO POLITICAL PARTIES

Some of the challenges which the political parties face are as follows:

i.  Lack of Internal Democracy:

·         The power is concentrated in the hands of one or a handful of leaders.

·         Membership registers are not maintained

·         Do not conduct internal elections regularly

·         Ordinary members of the party do not get a chance to come up.

·         The top leadership is often disconnected with the grassroots workers.

·         Loyalty to the policies and principles of the party has less value than the loyalty to the top leadership.

ii.   Dynastic Succession:

·         The top positions in many political parties are usually controlled by members of one family.

·         A person born in a particular family becomes the leader by virtue of his birth;

·         Not the sign of a healthy democracy.

·         This tendency is present in most of the political parties in India.

·         This is not the case in India alone, but in many other countries as well.

iii.   Money and Muscle Power:

·         a political party leaves no stone unturned to win elections

·         Spends huge sum of money on electioneering.

·         Nominates candidates who can raise money

·         Rich people who give funding often influence the decisions and policies

·         Parties often take help of criminals and gives them ticket

iv.  Being a Meaningful Choice

·         Decline in the ideological difference amongst different parties

·         Most of the political parties sound similar to one another.

·         People have no choice than choosing the better of the two evils.

·         In some states, the party in power just changes every five year but people seldom experience change on the ground.

Question: Highlight the major challenges faced by political parties in today’s time.

XI.   WAYS TO REFORM POLITICAL PARTIES:

i.  Anti-defection Law:

·         The law says that if any MLA or MP changes parties,  he or she will lose the seat in  the legislature.

·         This new law has helped bring defection down.

·         It has made any dissent even more difficult.

·           MPs and MLAs have to accept whatever the party leaders decide.

ii.   Details of Property and Criminal Proceedings during Nomination:

·         It is mandatory for every candidate who contests elections to file an AFFIDAVIT giving details of his property and criminal cases pending against him.

·         The new system has made a lot of information available to the public.

·         But there is no system of check if the information given by the candidates is true.

iii.   Mandatory Organizational Elections and IT Returns:

·         It necessary for political parties to hold their organizational elections and file their

income tax returns.

·         The parties have started doing so but sometimes it is mere formality.

iv.  Suggestions for Future:

1.      A law should be made to regulate the internal affairs of political parties.

2.      It should be made mandatory for political parties to give a minimum number of tickets, about one-third, to women candidates.

3.      There should be state funding of  elections. The government should give parties money  to support their election expenses. This support could be given in kind: petrol, paper, telephone etc. Or it could be given in cash on the basis of the votes secured by the party   in the last election.

4.      People can put pressure on political parties and this can be done through petitions, publicity and agitations.

5.      Ordinary citizens, pressure groups and movements & media can play an important role in this.

6.      . Political parties can improve if those who want this join politics. As the quality of democracy depends upon the degree of participation.

Question: Suggest some features which can further help in strengthening political parties and their functioning.