Political Parties

A political party is an organized group of people who control

or seek to control a government. In democratic countries, political

parties compete against one another in elections to keep or gain

control of a government. In the United States and Canada, political

parties are active on the national, state or provincial, and local

levels.

Political parties are absolutely necessary to democratic

government. Most modern democracies are representative

democracies. That is, the people elect representatives to act as

their agents in making and enforcing laws. In a representative

democracy, some means is needed for nominating candidates for

public office and for selecting issues for public debate. Political

parties perform these functions. At election time, the people vote

into office the candidates of their choice. Political parties are

voluntary organizations and want as many members as possible.

Some of these parties have rules and membership dues. Others

have practically no rules and require no dues.

Most dictatorships allow only one political party – the party

that controls the government. That party also tightly controls who

may run for election.

In democratic countries, political parties perform several

important tasks. (1) They select candidates to run for public office.

(2) They help organize the government. (3) They provide

opposition to the party in power. (4) They raise funds to conduct

election campaigns. Other functions of parties in democratic

countries include informing voters about public affairs and about

problems that need government action. In one-party nations, the

chief functions of political parties are to select candidates for

office and organize the government.

In one-party nations, the candidates the party selects to run foroffice automatically win election because they have no opposition.

In China, for example, the Communist Party – the only party

allowed – chooses the candidates for office.

In nations that have two or more parties, each party selects

candidates for the various public offices. The voters then decide

which candidates among the parties win office. Party leaders try to

select candidates who have voter appeal and experience for the

office.

During the early history of the United States, party leaders

selected candidates for office in meetings called caucuses. But the

caucus system became unpopular because it gave other party

members little voice in the selection of candidates. In addition, one

person or a small group of persons sometimes gained control of a

caucus and used it for private gain.

By about 1840, the convention system for nominating

candidates was in general use. Under this system, party members

chose delegates to represent them at nominating conventions. But

party bosses and political machines (organizations within a party)

gained control of many conventions. Many delegates voted the

way they were told or paid to vote. Today, conventions are held in

only a few states to make some nominations for state and local

offices and to discuss party affairs. The two major U.S. political

parties – the Democratic and Republican parties--still hold a

national convention every four years to officially nominate

candidates for President and Vice President.

During the early 1900's, many states began to replace the

convention system with primary elections to select candidates for

office. The aim was to reduce party control in the selection of

candidates. Today, all states hold either open or closed primary

elections for state offices. In an open primary, each voter receives

the ballots of all parties holding primaries. In the voting booth, the

voter selects which ballot to use. In a closed primary, voters

receive only the ballot of the party to which they belong. In recent

years, the Republican and Democratic parties have relied on

primary elections--and, in some states, caucuses--to select their

presidential candidates. The parties then formally nominate the

candidates at their national conventions.

Organizing the government is a major function of political

parties. But how the parties do this depends on the government's

established structure and on how the powers of government are

divided.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-16