Role of Political Parties in Contemporary Democracies - Essay Example

? Role of Political Parties in Contemporary Democracies Are they playing a larger role or do they face gradual irrelevance? Introduction Democracy bydefinition includes divergent political views and presence of political parties professing different ideologies and action plans for achieving what they perceive as the greatest good of the country is an absolute imperative for it to function properly. Political parties provide accessible forums for organized interest groups having diverse objectives to operate freely and they surely provide the most plausible means of restricting excesses and abuses by dominant interest groups. Moreover, citizens have a simpler choice to make when they exercise their right to vote by choosing the political party they feel most closely profess what they personally feel should be done for their benefit and for the betterment of the country. In this manner citizens have a scope of exercising their ultimate control over the government (Rush 1998). Nature of Democracy The concept of social democracy, as manifested through a social state can be attributed to Tocqueville who was very impressed by the prevailing equality of status, manners, and customs in American society when he visited that country in 1831. He felt the essence of democracy has effectively permeated every strata of American society. This view was also echoed by Bryce who was completely overwhelmed by the egalitarian ethos of American society and felt it represented true democratic setup where each citizen felt they are on equal footing with each other fellow citizen (Bryce 1959). This feeling of equality is the lifeblood of a democratic society where democracy is more a way of life and a part of national psyche. Thus, it might be said that social democracy is an essential prerequisite for political democracy to strike firm roots in a country (Holden 1974). As a political dispensation, democracy has to channelize and concentrate the wills of millions of citizens through some framework to the hands of the ruling few. This in a sense possibly violates basic democracy that is observed in small integrated communities. But between one-on-one democracy observed in such miniature closely knit groups and large scale democracies, there is a huge gap and it took entire humankind more than two millenniums to partially bridge that gap (Powell 1982). It must be remembered that democracy undergoes a metamorphosis as it traverses the hiatus between the micro and macro and it would be rather unfair to expect all the characteristics of micro democracies to be equally manifested in macro democracies. We can, however, conclude that macro democracies, though far from perfect, are nonetheless target oriented experiments and are not random potshots in the dark or conceived by a one or a small group of individuals who consider them to be more concerned and more informed than others (Sartori 1987). The whole issue about relevance of political parties in a democratic dispensation can however be judged with respect to several contexts as these happen to differ widely in their nature and content. Does ascent of O’Donnell signify descent of Republican Party? A case that might be investigated is that of the ascent of Christian O’Donnell. The ascendance of a relative outsider in the conservative echelons of American politics and the gradual emergence of tea party activists who were politically insignificant earlier brings to mind whether conventional political parties are on their way out and also whether American democracy has transcended the well established bounds of an essentially two party democracy. Christine O’Donnell is a vociferous campaigner of what she perceives as Christian moral values and is not known to have any well defined economic or political agenda. Yet such people are not only winning primaries by defeating established politicians but also getting substantial approval from electorate as is apparent when she could garner nearly 40% of the votes polled. That she eventually lost the election is not that important as the fact that she could win the Republican primaries (Lengell 2010). However, one feels this is more of an attempt by Sarah Palin to gain importance by promoting political unknowns rather than decline in importance of Republican Party. She, one feels, has by and large been successful in creating her own constituency within the Party through tea party congregations where local issues and fringe ideas got prominence but she is very much aware that any hope of entering White House could be successful only by getting the backing of the Republican Party. Hence, one may conclude that such ascent of tea party activists is more of an internal realignment forces within the Party rather than any decrease in its importance in national politics. Is there a widening gap between citizens and political system? There has been a persistent chorus by political observers and researchers that the chasm between the elected and the electorate has been consistently increasing in European democracies. In a sense, such a hiatus in confidence is an inevitable byproduct of democracy. One must appreciate representation is essentially re-presentation which means making something appear as present even though it not really there (Pitkin 1969). Such an intrinsically delicate situation is bound to cause tension among those that are to be represented and those that are responsible for ensuring a proper representation. This tension increases if political leaders are supposed to have greater political wisdom than common people and if greater common good is given precedence to specific interests of electorate groups. Though there is some degree of mistrust in European democracies between electorate and elected, this distrust is more towards politicians than the political system. Rudy Andeweg had created a ‘Eurobarometer’ where he measured the response of citizens of European Union member countries during 1973-1990 regarding their level of satisfaction with the democratic dispensation in their countries. Citizens of Netherlands, Denmark and Luxembourg exhibit a healthy 70% level of satisfaction and French and Italians, though not as satisfied, still show a constant 50% level of satisfaction with the political system in their countries. Moreover, a sustained clamor that voter turnout is steadily declining also cannot be empirically proved. Rather voter turnout shows a steady level through the decades under survey (Andeweg 1996). Thus, it can safely be assumed that political parties par se have not lost their relevance as they are integral to any democratic political setup. However, some politicians might have progressively become less and less relevant due to their incompetence or lack of integrity. Role of Political Parties in Democratic Russia After the disintegration of Soviet Union, Russia has set off on the road to democracy but there have been sustained doubts about the authenticity and genuineness about the functioning of democratic system in that country. But it is an undeniable fact that Russia is definitely a functioning democracy where free elections are held and like any other functioning democracy Russian politicians are also worried that their performance during the current period is bound to affect their chances of reelection. However, Russian citizens have often been blamed of voting in favor of personalities rather than issues and are not always sufficiently informed before casting their ballots. But this does not in any way undermine the democratic system of that country as the same aspersions can be cast on an average American voter too. The other irrefutable proof of health of Russian democracy is the vibrant health and presence of Russian political parties. The parties have considerable presence at national level with committed voters at their disposal. Indeed Communists, Yabloko, Union of Right Wing Forces, and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) have their own committed voters and have a considerable say in how the country should be run (Hale 2000). However, Kathryn Stoner-Weiss is of the opinion that national political parties have very little grass root level organization and are heavily dependent on local leadership that favors single mandate, reminiscent of bygone Soviet era than a mixed representation that is the hallmark of a genuine democracy (Stoner-Weiss 2000). Conclusion From what has been discussed above one can say that with the exception of Russia where institutional democracy is perhaps yet to take firm roots, all other democracies have been functioning robustly. All talk about political parties becoming irrelevant either due to their lack of connect with the electorate or due to the incompetence of politicians do not have much credence as general public still has enormous faith in democracy and political parties that are capable of representing the aspirations of general public are still very much relevant in European and American political system. References Andeweg, Rudy B. "Elite-Mass Linkages in Europe: Legitimacy Crisis or Party Crisis." In Elitism, Populism and European Politics, by Jack E. S. Hayward (ed.), 143-163. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. Bryce, J. The American Commonwealth . New York: Putnam's, 1959. Hale, Henry. The State of Democratization in Russia in Light of the Elections. Brussels: PONARS, 2000. Holden, B. The Nature of Democracy . New York: Harper & Row, 1974. Lengell, Sean. "'Tea Party' Favorite Storms Castle in Delaware Primary; O'Donnell Latest 'Outsider' to Defeat GOP Establishment." The Washington Times, September 15, 2010: A01. Pitkin, H. F. Representation. New York: Atherton, 1969. Powell, G. Bingham. Contemporary Democracies: Participation, Stability and Violence. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1982. Rush, Mark E. Voting Rights and Redistricting in the United States. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Sartori, Giovanni. The Theory of Democracy Revisited. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, 1987. Stoner-Weiss, Kathryn. The Limited Reach of Russia's Party System: UnderInstitutionalization in the Provinces. Brussels: PONARS, 2000. Read More