Political parties
BOX 7.1 POLITICAL PARTIES
Political parties (Box 7.1) seek to take power for their leading
members, either for the parties’ own sake (the psychological, social
and economic rewards of office), on behalf of some social group (e.g.
labour, farmers, Protestants) or with some ideological objective in
mind (e.g. national independence, socialism). We have seen that the
names of parties are often a bad guide to their objectives; it is also
worth stressing that most – probably all – parties are coalitions of
people with different objectives in mind.
In most liberal democratic countries, the main obvious function
of political parties is to contest elections – selecting candidates in
constituencies, canvassing and organising voters, composing and
delivering election addresses in local constituencies, and running local
and national media campaigns. By offering voters candidates with
commitments to certain policies (especially as identified by the
national leadership) they make elections a choice by electors of public
policies as well as the selection of councillors, legislators and (some-
times) mayors and presidents.
To understand such parties it is necessary to distinguish between
the role of voluntary members in the constituencies, the activists,
professionals who are employed by the local or national parties, and
full-time paid and elected representatives. Most prominent of the
latter are national parliamentarians but others may be elected to the
state or regional legislature or be leading local councillors or mayors.
The ordinary members play only a small role in the electoral
process. Even the most active do little more than pay their sub-
scriptions or attend the odd social event. Occasionally they may act as
‘tellers’ at polling stations or deliver leaflets in their street. The
activists who run constituency parties, act as local councillors and
attend conferences or conventions, can communicate what they see
DEMOCRACY 191Political parties may be thought of as organised social groups that seek
to wholly or partially take over the government of a country, usually by
contesting elections.
(Authors’ definition)