Political Parties: Concepts, Criteria, and Roles in Political Systems

Posted on May 14, 2024 in Social sciences

ITEM 7: POLITICAL PARTIES

1. The Concept of Political Parties

In political science, a political party is defined as a political group that competes in elections and aims to place its members in public office. This concept has its roots in classical Rome, medieval city-states, and the French Revolution.

2. Criteria to Distinguish Modes of Political Parties

  1. Weber’s Classification:

    • Patronage Party: Focuses on securing positions of power for its leader and administrative roles for its members.
    • Class Party or Social Group Party: Advocates for the interests of a specific social class or group.
    • Party Inspired by an Intuition of the World: Promotes a distinct ideological worldview.

  2. Duverger’s Classification:

    • Internal Origin: Emerges within a parliament to expand its influence.
    • External Origin: Originates in society with the goal of gaining access to parliament.

  3. Duverger’s Internal Rating Criteria:

    • Cells: Historically, the fundamental organizational structure of communist parties, characterized by:
      • Focus on occupational criteria
      • Facilitation of vertical (hierarchical) strategies
      • Hindrance of horizontal relationships, typical of communist parties
    • Sections: Originated as organizational forms of socialist parties but are now common to all parties. Defined as territorial groups.
    • Committees: Similar to sections but with a territorial focus, typically at the provincial level where vote counting occurs. Example: American parties.
    • Military: Private organizations with a military structure, heavily reliant on external symbols. Prevalent in the interwar period of the 20th century.

  4. Kirchheimer’s Catch-All Party:

    A party that progressively sheds its ideological identity to attract a wider range of voters, particularly those in the political center.

3. Role of Political Parties

  1. Voting Structure: Serve as the primary means of political participation.
  2. Integration, Mobilization, and Participation: Encourage public engagement in political life.
  3. Staff Recruitment: While not the only channel, parties are key players in political recruitment, competing with public bureaucracies.
  4. Interest and Demand Integration: Parties are responsible for understanding and representing the interests and demands of citizens.

4. Party Systems

A party system is the result of interactions between different political parties. Three main criteria define political systems:

  1. Genetic Approach (Rokkan):

    According to Rokkan, European political parties emerged from five historical fractures, resulting in five types of political systems:

    1. First Fracture (15th-19th centuries): Center vs. periphery, leading to nationalist parties.
    2. Second Fracture (20th century): Church vs. State, giving rise to confessional parties (e.g., PNV).
    3. Third Fracture (19th century): Countryside vs. city, resulting in agrarian and urban parties.
    4. Fourth Fracture (19th century): Employers vs. employees, leading to liberal, socialist, and communist parties (left-right axis).
    5. Fifth Fracture (20th century): Western bloc vs. Soviet bloc, contributing to the establishment of communist parties.

    In Spain, the 1st and 4th fractures have the most significant impact on the political system.

  2. Morphological Criteria:

    • Bipartisanship: Two major political parties dominate, although others exist.
    • Multiparty System: Three or more major parties operate.

    Initial thesis: Bipartisanship is preferable for stability and clarity. However:

    • True bipartisanship is rare and often distorted by electoral systems.
    • Multiparty systems can be misleading, as a system with three major parties can be categorized the same as one with ten, masking significant differences.

    Duverger’s Analysis:

    • Majority Party: Holds an absolute majority of parliamentary seats (not necessarily popular vote).
    • Large Party: Requires support from one or more other parties to achieve an absolute majority.
    • Pivot Party: Provides the seats needed for a large party to reach an absolute majority.
    • Minor Party: Does not play a role in forming a majority.

    Multiparty systems like those in Switzerland, Holland, and Scandinavia are characterized by notable stability.

    Sartori’s Classification:

    • Moderate Multiparty System: Three to five major parties with relatively close ideological positions, resembling bipartisanship.
    • Polarized Multiparty System: Six or more major parties with significant ideological differences.

    Dominant Party System (Sartori):

    A single political force secures an absolute majority for an extended period (at least four or five legislatures).

  3. Competition Criteria:

    Based on a market metaphor, parties are like companies competing for voters (consumers). This often leads to catch-all parties.

    Effects of Catch-All Parties:

    • Risk losing voters due to competition.
    • Potential emergence of new parties (new companies).
    • Decline of older parties.

Situations Between Parties: Different Forms of Government Settings in Western Europe

  1. Shifts: Two parties alternate in holding government power.
  2. Semialternancia: A smaller party consistently participates in government, alternating between the two major parties (e.g., Germany’s Liberal Party).
  3. Peripheral Replacement: A dominant party remains in power, supported by different smaller parties in each term (e.g., Italy’s Christian Democracy).
  4. Egalitarian Interchangeably Coalition: Numerous parties can form coalitions without restrictions (e.g., Belgium’s six-party coalitions).
  5. Grand Coalition: Multiple parties form a government with a significant majority, often in times of crisis (e.g., Italy after World War II).
  6. Majority Party: Holds enough seats to require an alliance of all other parties to form a government (e.g., PP in Galicia).