We explain what political parties are, how they originated and their classification. Also, what are its features, functions and more.
What are political parties?
Political parties are entities created to encourage the democratic participation of citizens of a country and serve as a representative and organizer of those who share its objectives, interests and political values, as well as its vision of society.
Its fundamental objective is propose candidates for elected public officesto whom they offer electoral support.
Political parties have played a fundamental role in the destiny of the Republics since the fall of absolutism. They intervened in the installation of democracy and the fight for social demands in the initial stages of capitalism. However, they have not always been understood in the same way.
Generally speaking, a political party is expected to be one: has a government program for society as a wholewhich competes in democratic mechanisms to exercise power and which channels the interests of a particular political sector.
See also: Radicalism
How did political parties originate?
The first modern political party emerged in the 19th centurywithin the Parliament of Great Britain.
The monarchy was not the absolute power it had been in previous centuries, and at this time The liberal (Whigs) and conservative (Tories) parties are founded.
Since then, societies in the rest of Europe followed suit and became politically divided.
The conservatives were the parties that sought to preserve the privileges of the traditional sectors of power.
On the other hand the liberals represented the thriving bourgeoisiea commoner, who aspired to greater political representation and greater decision-making power.
This struggle was later exported to America, after its independence wars.
History of political parties
The earliest antecedents of political parties They come from the different organized factions who fought among themselves to control power and direct societies.
Among these antecedents are: The Optimates and Populares of the Roman Senatethe Guelphs and Ghibellines during the European Middle Ages, or the Jacobins and Girondins during the French Revolution.
But the formation of political parties themselves It was not possible until the abolition of the so-called Old Regimewhich gave all political powers to the aristocracy and the monarchy.
The emergence of the bourgeoisie as the new dominant social class led, in fact, to the establishment of the Republic and the democratization of the exercise of powerwhich allowed the appearance of the first political parties.
However, once the Old Regime was extinguished, a new struggle arose within Western societies: the struggle between the dominant bourgeoisie and the proletariatthe result of the social and cultural transformations of the Industrial Revolution.
Thus, the workerist, anarchist and unionist political parties allowed workers to organize themselves politically to aspire to a share of the management of their companies.
Classification of political parties
There used to be a distinction between two tendencies in political parties:
- Internally created parties. Called “cadre parties”, they arise within Parliament as factions competing for power.
- Parties of external creation. Called “Mass Parties”, they are the result of the channeling of social struggles towards the exercise of organized politics.
However, the political development of the 19th and 20th centuries made these categories obsolete, allowing two new ones to emerge in their place:
- Multi-comprehensive matches. Also called “Catch all” (from the English “catch-all”), are aimed at broader social groups, that is, they are inter-class parties, whose largest sector of origin is the middle class, a social segment with rather diffuse limits.
- “Cartel” parties. Considered parties that promote “imperfect competition,” are those that subsist thanks to a more or less homogeneous political class, which manages or attempts to manage the resources of the State at its convenience. These tend towards bipartisanship and a reduction in the number of participating parties.
How do political parties work?
The internal workings of political parties It depends largely on legal and juridical regulations provided for in a country’s constitution, which generally has sections explicitly dedicated to it.
Aside from these specifications, they are expected to organize a form of internal democracy, a kind of reflection of what they aspire to see reflected in society. This allows them to choose their leadership as well as their candidates for public office.
A match must operate in a democratic and respectful manner with respect to the wishes of its bases (voters), because otherwise it risks disappointing them and, eventually, losing them.
In the same way, certain transparency standards in financing matters and management of your funds. These generally come from donations, voluntary collections among its members or fundraising events, all within the framework of what is legal.
Even They are expected to face disciplinary chargesinternal surveillance bodies that respect the democratic and republican rules of the game.
Its duties?
Political parties not only serve to promote a specific candidate to an elected positionthrough electoral campaigns and civil mobilizations.
They also allow the formation of political eliteschanneling popular requests to power, and play a key role in guiding public opinion.
In many cases They function as political allies of popular causessuch as protests, strikes or demonstrations.
Internal organization
Political parties usually have a structure that includes:
- Leadership. The center of the organization, which makes the main decisions. It is usually headed by an internally elected president, director or political chief.
- Candidates. Candidates for public office, as chosen by the party structure.
- Administrative body. The bureaucrats in charge of the internal management of the party.
- Technicians and intellectuals. They serve as advisors to the party or represent it spiritually in other fields, such as humanities.
- Militants. All those affiliated with the party who also actively participate in its political events.
- Affiliates. All those who agree with the party are registered in it, but they only participate in it through their vote.
- Sympathizers. Those voters who, without being affiliated or registered, feel an affinity for the party and often vote for its candidates.
Why are political parties important?
Political parties demonstrated their importance during the 20th century as a mechanism for political organization of the massesIn particular, they were articulated in defense and strengthening of democracy.
The great authoritarian regimes of the 20th century, responsible for the great massacres throughout history have always been one-party.
On the contrary, the most robust democracies were those whose political parties They were forced to alternate in powerto respect the rules of the game and to be part of a system that respects the wishes of the majority.
The crisis of representation
It is called that a contemporary period of change and mistrust towards traditional political parties. This occurs mainly in the democracies of the so-called third world, although not exclusively.
This crisis It consisted of the loss of faith in the parties and even in the democratic exercise and developed since the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st.
This forced these institutions to reinvent themselves or to give way to anti-politics, a dangerous exercise in the emergence of alternative leaderships, generally of a charismatic and messianic type, which in many cases gave rise to new totalitarianisms.
One-party regimes
It is called that Government models that allow the existence of a single partythe undisputed owner of power and who controls all public institutions. This political model is mostly dictatorial or totalitarian, preventing the emergence of political competitors and often not even being validated by elections of any kind.
Currently the only one-party regimes in the world are those of North Korea, China, Cuba, VietnamLaos, Eritrea and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
Democracy without parties
There is also the possibility of a democracy without parties. In her, all candidates for public office are independentor members of guilds, unions, federations and other types of social and labor organization.
In this case, everything depends on the personal capacity of the candidate to convince the electorate, as well as the social sector from which it comes.