traditional communal values as well as European ideas about equality. Chinese
Marxism–Leninism developed its own distinctive qualities.
Where capitalism has developed over a prolonged period as in the rela-
tively lengthy post-independence histories of Latin American countries,
parties most clearly reflect class interests in their ideological stances.
Conservative parties are supported in Argentina, Colombia and Equador
by coalitions of landlords and the Catholic Church. Liberal parties are sup-
ported by coalitions of urban business interests. They compete for the
support of workers and peasants with socialist and communist parties
(where these are not proscribed). Most European ideologies have been
represented in Latin American politics at one time or another.
In most parts of the Third World, however, ideological developments and
the political organizations based on them have been distinctive in a number
of important respects. First, the ideologies of Third World political parties
have often been derived more from religion than from materialistic ideolo-
gies of the West which were expected to take a hold in many post-colonial
societies. Examples are the Hindu communal parties in India, the Moslem
party in Indonesia and the Islamic party in Libya. The development of
Islamic political ideologies is increasingly significant in many regions of
the Third World.
Secondly, some parties have developed to defend the distinct way of life
of different ethnic communities, for example Malays, Chinese and Indians
in Malaysia. Ideologies reflect the culture of these distinctive communities
rather than class interests. In India caste may provide the foundation for a
political party as in the case of the Dalits Party representing Untouchables.
This party was successful in state elections in 1993, forming part of the
coalition government in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh. The
party aims to promote social justice for India’s most oppressed and deprived
people. Since 40 per cent of Indians belong to lower castes, this could be
a very significant political development. Elsewhere, however, and espe-
cially in Africa, the tendency of political parties to reflect ethnicity and
regional consciousness, rather than identities that cut across such cleavages
and unite people on a national scale, has been seen as a cause of their weak-
ness and the weakness of governments built on such party competition
(Diamond, 1988, p. 19).
Thirdly, political parties in the Third World are frequently populist. This is
a style of leadership rather than an ideology. It seeks to mobilize people
regardless of class by denying the significance of class and of any class-based
ideology. Populism tries to mobilize all interests under a single conception
of the national interest. It rejects the idea that groups have irreconcilable
Political Parties and Party Systems 139