Western Democratic Political Parties Are In A State Of Crisis - Essay Example

? “WESTERN DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL PARTIES ARE IN A OF CRISIS.” DISCUSS. By 25th, May, The debate on whether political parties in the west are on a decline, and in a crisis continues to raise significant controversy. However, different evidence proves that the western democratic political parties are in a state of crisis. This is with regard to their function and organizational structure today. Today, there is a shift and erosion of traditional roles of political parties, and their membership levels have continued to decline over the years. Additionally, the importance of political parties has diminished due to the emergence of candidate-centered party campaigns, and finally, there is the rise of professionals in western political parties and decline in partisan attachment of party members. Although restoring the traditional party form might be impossible, the present parties can overcome this crisis by redirect their efforts to restoring their effectiveness and efficiency in society, basing on democracy. . Political parties are essential, as they contribute to the functioning of democracies, and are responsible for political pluralism in various countries. These also mobilize their members and supporters to take on leadership roles in a country (Diamond & Gunther 2001). Ideally, political parties ought to develop alternative policy platforms, provide ideological direction, and define the agenda of the government in a country (Hofmeister & Grabow 2011). In Western democracies, the contribution of political parties to the political process, and their positions in the public mind, has invigorated a scholarly debate in the recent years. Various data from national election surveys and public opinions show that the public in most Western democracies such as the USA, Great Britain, Canada, among others, consider political parties to have declined (Gallagher, Michael & Mair 2000). Basing on relevant evidence and concepts, this essay focuses on how and why western democratic political parties are in a state of crisis today. First, Western democratic political parties are in a state of crisis today, as they have failed to perform their traditional roles in society appropriately. In the past, democratic political parties acted as an essential part of their governments, and were promoters of democracy. However, today, most democratic political parties have drifted from the traditional roles by serving below the expected standards (Kartz & Mair 1995). This decline in the function of western political parties and loss of party roots is evident in the way political parties today play their representative role. Instead of being representatives of the public as the case in the traditional mass party, parties today have shifted from the wider society, and gotten more close to the government and the state (Kartz & Mair 1995). Money has contributed to this shift in political parties in the west, as these depend on state funding from the state. Therefore, these have prioritized their linkage with the state and government, and not the public. This pattern will eventually result the total diminishing of the traditional mass party (Gunther, Montero & Linz 2003). Therefore, parties have considered outsiders, who donate money to them, and not the public. Today, the non-political bodies such as NGOs have taken over the representative roles of political parties, leaving political parties with the procedural roles only. A second way through which democratic political parties in the west are thought to be in a state of crisis is through the decline in their membership levels. According to Mair & Van Biezen (2001), in Western Europe, the overall membership levels of democratic political parties are on a decline. In 13 democracies in this region, statistics showed that the party membership as a percentage of the national electorate had fallen to 5.7% at the end of the 1990, from 9.8% in 1980. Over the years, the number of party members continues to decline, and this has become a trend. For instance, in France, the number of party members has fallen with more than 1 million, compared to the 1980’s. Overall, all democracies in Western Europe have experienced a 25% fall in the number of party members, compared to 1980, with an exception of Germany. This organizational decline of political parties (Mair & Van Biezen 2001) results from the assumption that people have become skeptical about political ideologies and motives of political leaders today. This has therefore, made political parties to stop acting as a guide to community opinion. The low membership has also forced the parties today to adopt mass media as their major campaign tool, as these no longer serve as a source of campaign workers. Additionally, the importance of political parties in the west has declined, and this shows that these are in a state of crisis. The rise of candidate-centered parties and campaigns has led to the decline in the importance of parties. The fact that voters select candidates of political parties, gives the party candidate more prominence, and not the party. In addition, during an election, the votes any political party acquires belong to specific candidates, and not the party, therefore, increasing the prominence and importance of the candidate, and not the party. According to Wattenberg (1981:947), "the effect of candidate images on the vote has increased over the years, while the effect of party images has declined.” Wattenberg (1981) argues that the present candidate-centered political parties have resulted in a political environment whereby an individual might not need a political party in order to win an election. Wattenberg has termed this trend as "the end of parties, as we know them” (Wattenberg 1981: 941). Finally, apart from the declining membership levels of political parties in the west, the partisan attachment of the remaining few members in these parties is also on the decline. Therefore, these parties are in a state of crisis, as their internal life is fading away. In most western parties, the major party members exhibit a lower level of commitment to their parties. Different studies in Europe indicate that few members attend the political party meetings, while most delay paying their annual subscription fees (Fritz 1999). Similarly, the level of participation in elections has dropped in the western democracies, with the USA registering the highest decline, compared to Western Europe (Gallagher et al 2000). Nonetheless, this issue of low voter turnout, decreased partisan attachment, and unreliability of key party members has forced parties to rely heavily on consultants for policy development. This situation has therefore, led to the rise of professionals in political parties. In the US, for instance, the Political Action Committees (PACs) are the center of US internal politics (Cakmak n.d). Overall, this has transformed the party landscape, since in most political parties in the west today, media specialists, professional campaign personnel, pollsters, fundraisers, PACs, and more outsiders have dominated the parties’ election campaigns. Therefore, instead of party members, the professionals have gained prominence and taken over party politics and the party image. In conclusion, western democratic political parties are in a state of crisis today. The different factors that prove this include the declining membership of political parties, the diminishing traditional roles of the political parties, the loss of importance of political parties due to their candidate-centeredness, and the declining partisan attachment of party members and rise of professionals in political parties. Democratic political parties in the west are core to democracy in the western democracies. Therefore, the crisis and decline of western democratic political parties might have a negative influence on democracy, including the development of indifference toward politics, by citizens. However, political parties can learn to adapt to their role in future by capitalizing on the aspect of democracy, and this might help them to re-establish themselves from the present crisis they face. Works Cited Cakmak, C n.d, “The Role of the Political Party in the United States: Is The Party Becoming Obsolete?” Journal of Turkish Weekly, Viewed 25 May 2013 Diamond, L. & Gunther, R 2001, “Political Parties and Democracy,” JHU Press, New Jersey. Fritz, S 1999, “Governing in Europe: Effective and Democratic?” Oxford University Press, Oxford. Gallagher, M., Michael, L. & Mair, P 2000, Representative Government in Modern Europe: Institutions, Parties, and Governments,” 3rd ed, McGraw-Hill, New York. Gunther, R., Montero, J. & Linz, J 2003, “Political Parties: Old Concepts and New Challenges,” Viewed 22 May 2013 < http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/0199246742.001.0001/acprof-9780199246748 > Hofmeister, W. & Grabow, K 2011, “Political Parties: Functions and Organization in Democratic Societies,” Viewed 22 May 2013 < http://www.kas.de/wf/doc/kas_7671-1442-2-30.pdf?120920114742 > Kartz, R. & Mair, P 1995, “Changing Models of Party Organization and Party Democracy: the emergence of the cartel party,” Party Politics 1(1): 5-28. Mair, P. & Van Biezen, I 2001, “Party Membership in Twenty European Democracies,” Party Politics, 7(1): 5-21. Wattenberg, M. P. (1981). "The decline of political partisanship in the United States: Negativity or neutrality.” American Political Science Review 75(4), 941-950. Wattenberg, P 1991, “The rise of candidate-centered politics: presidential elections of the 1980s,” Harvard University Press, London. Read More