CLASS 10 CIVICS CHAPTER 6 POLITICAL PARTIES

POLITICAL PARTIES

•      A political party is a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in the government. They agree on some policies and programmes for the society with a view to promote the collective good.

•      Since there can be different views on what is good for all, parties try to persuade people why their policies are better than others.

•      They seek to implement these policies by winning popular support through elections.

•      A party is known by which part it stands for, which policies it supports and whose interests it upholds.

•      Parties reflect fundamental political divisions in a society. Parties are about a part of the society and thus involve PARTISANSHIP. (a person who is strongly committed to a party, group or faction) section

•      Thus a party is known by which part it stands for, which policies it supports and whose interests it upholds. A political party has three components:

              1.The Leaders

             2.The Active Members and

             3.The Followers

NECESSITY OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES

•      If there were no political party, then each and every candidate would be independent. Current strength of the Lok Sabha is 543. Imagine a situation when none of the 543 members can be brought to think alike on a particular issue. This would lead to a total chaos. (disorder)

•      An independent candidate would always be more interested in the specific needs of his constituency and would seldom think about the larger interest of the nation. A political party is necessary to bring diverse people on a common platform, so that bigger issues can be taken care of.

•      The democracy which is being practiced all over the world is called representative democracy. In this system, governance is done through people’s representative because it is impossible for each citizen to directly participate in governance. The need for representative democracy has given rise to political parties.

FUNCTIONS OF A POLITICAL PARTY

1.  Contesting Elections: Political parties contest in elections. A political party nominates its candidate for the electoral contest in various constituencies.

2.   Policies & Programs: Political parties put forward different policies and programmes so that the voters can choose from them. A political party brings a large number of similar opinions under one umbrella. These opinions are channelized to form policies and programmes. The policies and programmes of the RULING PARTY are expected to be followed by the government.

3.  Making Law: Political parties play a decisive role in making laws for the country. You may be aware that it is the legislature which passes a law after proper debate. As most of the members belong to political parties, so a political party has direct say in law making for the country.

4. Formation of Government: Political parties form and run governments. The executive body is formed by people from the ruling party. Various political leaders are assigned different ministries to carry out the task of governance.

5.   Playing Opposition: A party which does not get majority or come under the majority coalition, needs to play the role of opposition.

6.  Shaping Public Opinion: Political parties shape public opinion. They do so by raising and highlighting issues in the legislature and in the media.

7.  Access to government machinery and welfare schemes: Parties provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes since it is easy to approach local party leader than government officers.

DIFFERENT PARTY SYSTEMS

ONE PARTY SYSTEM

•      In some countries, only one party is allowed to control and run the government. These are called one party systems.

•      For example, in China, only the Communist Party is allowed to rule.

•      One party system is not a good option because it is not democratic, doesn’t allow free competition of power and does not allow/provide choices for the voter. Any democratic system must allow at least 2 parties to compete in elections and provide a fair chance for the competing parties to come to power.

TWO-PARTY SYSTEM

•      In some countries, power is shared between two main parties.

•      Several other parties may exist, contest elections and win a few seats in the national legislature. But only the two main parties have a serious chance of winning majority seats and forming the government. The United States of America (DP & RP) and the United Kingdom are examples of two party system. Such party system is called two party systems.

MULTI-PARTY SYSTEM

•      If several parties compete for power, and more than two parties have reasonable chance of coming to power either on their own strength or in alliance with others, we call it a multi party system.  In this system, the govt. is formed by various parties coming together in a coalition.Eg: India 

•      Alliance/Font: When several parties in a multi-party system join hands for the purpose of contesting elections and winning power, it is called an Alliance or Front.

•      Alliances in the Parliamentary Elections in India in 2004.

v National Democratic Alliance (NDA)

v United Progress Alliance (UPA)

v Left Front

v    Multi Party System (Advantages) : Allows a variety of interests and opinions to enjoy political representation.

v    Disadvantages : It is very messy (chaos) and leads to political instability.

Comparison between two party and multiple party system

Two party system	Multi party system
The two-party system presents voters a simple choice.	Multi party system provides voters with many choices.
This provides for stable governance.	Government is not stable in this system
Two-party systems are not as flexible because they have a more or less rigid set of opinions on every issue.	A multi-party system is more responsive to a change or shift in public opinion.
Examples : USA and UK	Example: India

NATIONAL PARTIES

•      A party that secures at least six per cent of total votes in Lok Sabha elections or Assembly elections in four States and wins at least four seats in the Lok Sabha is recognized as a national party.

•      There are 6 national recognised parties in the country in 2006.

•      They are country wide and have their units in several states.

•      All these units follow the same policies, programs & strategies that is decided at the national level.

•      Recognized national parties  in India

STATE PARTIES

•      A party that secures at least 6 per cent of the total votes in an election to the Legislative Assembly of a State and wins at least two seats is recognized as a State party.

•      Also called regional parties.

•      These parties need not be regional in their ideology or outlook like Samata Party, RJD.

•      These parties are very conscious about their state identity.

•      Eg: Biju Janata Dal (OR), Mizo National Front (MZ), Sikkim Democratic Front (SK).

INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (INC)

Popularly known as Congress Party, it was founded in 1885 by:

Allan Octavian Hume, Dadabai Naoroji, Dirshaw Washa

Played a dominant role in Politics soon after independence.

Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress sought to build a modern secular democratic republic in India.

Ruling year of INC: 1947-77, 1980-89, 1991-96, 2004-14.

Ø A centralist party in its ideological orientation, the party advocates secularism and welfare of weaken sections & minorities.

Ø Supports new economic reforms with a human face.

Ø Emerged as the largest party with 145 members in the Lok Sabha elections held in 2004.

Ø Currently leads the opposition United Progressive Alliance coalition at the centre.

Ø In 1975, when there was a case against Indira Gandhi that she had followed malpractices in the election, to safeguard her position, she established Emergency in India.

Ø Emergency: Rule of President, government and ministers dissolved, 144 established.

Ø One of the darkest period of Indian history lasted for over 2 years 1975-77.

Ø After the Emergency was dissolved and a new election declared, the Congress suffered their first defeat. (Symbol – Hand)

Ø President – Soniya Gandhi

BHARATIA JANATHA PARTY (BJP)

Ø Founded in 1980 by reviving the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh. (Ideologies):

Ø Wants to build a strong and modern India by drawing inspiration from India’s ancient culture and values (Hindutva).

Ø Wants full territorial and political integration of Jammu & Kashmir with India.

Ø Wants a uniform civil code for all people living in the country irrespective of religion.

Ø Wants ban on religious conversions.

Ø Support base for BJP in 1990s.

Ø Came to power in 1998 as the leader of National Democratic Alliance.

Ø India’s largest party in terms of representatives in the national parliament and state assemblies.

Ø India’s largest party in terms of primary membership.

Ø Right wing party and supports rightist values.

Ø BJP has close organization with RSS (Rashtriya Seva Samiti) and has deep roots in Hindutva.

Ø At present leads the National Democratic Alliance coalition govt. at the centre.

Ø (Symbol – Lotus) President – Amit Shah (J P Nadda – Working President)

BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY (BSP)

ü Formed 1984 under the leadership of Kanshi Ram.

ü Draws inspiration from the leadings of Sahu Maharaj,Mahatma Phule, Periyar Ramaswami Naicker and Babasaheb Ambedkar. (Ideologies)

ü Seeks to represent and secure power for the Bahujan Samaj which includes the Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs and religious minorities.

ü Stands for the cause of securing the interest and welfare of the Dalits and oppressed people.

ü A leftist Party in its ideologies.

ü It has its main base in Uttar Pradesh and small presence in MP, Chattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Delhi, Punjab etc.

ü Formed govt. in U P several times.

ü 5% votes & 19 seats in Lok Sabha elections in 2004.

ü President – Mayawati (Symbol – Elephant)

COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA – MARXIST (CPIM)

ü Founded in 1964 after a split from the Communist Party of India (CPI).

ü Believes in Marxism-Leninism and supports more of Marxism than Leninism which rejects the existence of God.

ü Supports Socialism : A political system where wealth is shared equally between people and main industries and trade etc. are controlled by the govt.

ü Supports Secularism : A political system which does not give importance to any one religion in particular, and all religions are considered equal.

ü Supports Democracy : A form of govt. in which people elect their own representatives through free and fair elections.

ü It opposes Imperialism : Policy of extending the rule or authority of one country over other country’s economic, political, military structures without direct control on govt. of that country.

ü Communalism : It means to distinguish people on the basis of religion as to treat the persons belonging to one’s own religion as friends and others as enemies.

ü Accepts democratic elections as a useful and helpful means for securing the objective of socio-economic justice in India.

ü Critical of the new economic policies that allow free flow of foreign capital and goods into the country.

ü Enjoys strong support in WB, KL, Tripura.

ü Had been in power in WB without a break for 30 years.

ü President – Sitaram Yachuri

ü Symbol – Sickle-Hammer-Star (President – Sitaram Yechuri)

COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (CPI)

v It formed in 1925

v Believed in Marxism – Lenin & supports more of Leninism

v Marxism – The economic & political theories of Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels that hold that human actions and institutions are economically determined and that class struggle is needed to create historical change that capitalism will ultimately be superseded by communism.

v Supports secularism & democracy

v Opposes Secessionism -  derived from the Latin word seccisco means the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity (a country) but also any organization, custom or institution

v Oppose Communalism – Refer previous page from CPIM

v It accepts parliamentary democracy as a means of promoting the interests of the working class, farmers and the poor.

v It became weak the split in the party in 1964 that led to the formation of CPI(M).

v It support base declined over the years.

v Significant presence in KL, WB, Tripura

v 1.4% votes (10 seats) in 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

v Advocates the coming together of all Left parties to build a strong Left Front.

v Currently supports UPA opposition from outside

v Symbol – Sickle-wheat (President – D. Raja)

NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY

ü It formed in 1999 following a split in Congress party.

ü Founder of NCP – Sharat Pawar

ü Founded in the state of MH.

ü It advocates democracy, Gandhiyan secularism, equity, social justice and federalism.

ü It wants that high offices in government should be confined to natural born citizens of the country.

ü A major party in MH and has significant presence in Meghalaya, Manipur & Assam.

ü A coalition partner in the state of MH in alliance with the congress and a member of the United Progressive Alliance in 2004. (Symbol – Clock)

ü Equity – the difference between the market value of a property & the claims held against it.

CHALLENGES TO A POLITICAL PARTY

•      Lack of internal democracy: There is a tendency in political parties towards the concentration of power in one or few leaders at the top. Parties do not conduct internal election and ordinary members do not get sufficient information on what happens inside the party.

•      Dynastic successions: Those who happen to be the leaders are in a position of unfair advantage to favour people close to them or even their family members.

•      Money and muscle power: The parties tend to nominate those candidates who have or can raise lots of money. In some cases parties support criminals.

•      Lack of meaningful choices: In order to offer meaningful choices to the voters, parties must be significantly different. Eg: The difference between the Labour Party & the Conservative Party in Britain is very little. They agree on more fundamental aspects but are differently only in details on how policies are to be implemented.

REFORMING THE POLITICAL PARTIES

•      The constitution was amended to prevent elected members from changing parties. This was done because many elected representatives were indulging in defection (changing party allegiance from the party on which a person got elected to a different party) in order to become minister or for cash rewards.

•      The Supreme Court passed an order to reduce the influence of money and criminals. Now, it is mandatory for every candidate who contests election to file affidavit (a signed document submitted to CEC, where a person makes a sworn statement regarding her personal information) giving details of his property and criminal cases pending against him.

•      The election commission passed an order making it necessary for political parties to hold their organizational elections and file their income tax returns.

•       A law should be made to regulate the internal affairs of political parties.

•      It should be made mandatory for political parties to give minimum number of tickets, about one third of tickets, to women candidates.

•      There should be state funding of elections. The government should give parties money to support their election expenses. The Election Commission should check how much the party has spent for the election and should curb the unnecessary costs.

•      There must be a quota for women in the decision making bodies of party  and for tickets to the elections.

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