Political Parties and Pressure Groups - Essay Example

"POLITICAL PARTIES AND PRESSURE GROUPS: An Aid or a Hindrance to Democracy" Come election time, many politicians vie for a position in the government where people would vote and select their government officials. This is a situation on how a democratic government works. Democracy is often implemented as a form of government in which policy is decided by the preference of the real majority (as opposed to a partial or relative majority of the demos/citizens) in a decision-making process, usually elections or referenda, open to all or most citizens. (Wikipedia) In this kind of government, the general public practices a freedom where everybody can participate in making a decision especially in selecting a leader who will guide and rule the nation. On the other hand, public authorities were given power to rule and guide the society. However, some state officials use this power to fulfill their personal interest. The destructive activities were made possible by the use beyond the power vested upon these government officials. This is the greatest problem of governing. It is apparent that the state is now operating for their own benefits and disregarding the rights of the society. A criminal activity such as corruption which is stealing the money of the society is very visible, where politicians openly ignore their responsibilities as well as their sworn statement towards the public. This practice exhibits gross parasitism, malfeasance and criminality. While these practices were done by those government officials with whom the general public has elected, it has become a question as to why those criminal offences were committed by those "supposed to be" leaders. Are there other factors that greatly influence those practices Do these practices affect democracy Do these practices have any relation to political parties and pressure groups Are political parties and pressure groups a hindrance or an aid in democracy THE POLITICAL PARTIES According to Jack L. Davies (2001), political parties can be organized by anyone, can select their own membership and leadership any way they want, and can define any political positions that they want without consulting with anyone else. However, they do not represent any citizens, other than the members of the party itself. They must then present their candidates for election and political positions for approval by referenda as appropriate before their political agenda has any real relevance. Political parties are groups or organizations which aim for certain goals and have their own political ideologies and policies. They seek to attain political power in the government by electing a leader and running in the election in order for these political ideologies and policies to be implemented. Though political parties' aids in democracy by giving the general public a lot of choices of what political party will best serve the nation, political parties have also its own strengths and weaknesses. The bright side of political parties, aside from giving the general public a lot of choices, by free and open competition, is also, as stated by Kenneth Wollack, President of National Democratic Institute, (2005) in new democracies, governments, political parties and civil society are finding ways to work cooperatively to construct and consolidate their nascent democratic institutions. Political parties train political leaders and educate the general public by explaining and defending the government policies. They give the general public some points to ponder by pointing out the weaknesses of the governing party's policies and other party lists' policies at the same time promote their own course of action. These happen during the election campaigns. During election campaigns, these political parties serve as a channel for the general public and the government as well repair damage roads and do other things that the government has recently failed to do that will give benefit to the general public. Political parties have also its own disadvantages. First is, the political leaders who are dependent in wealthy political party contributors tend to follow their way of running the government. These wealthy contributors may tend to include personal interests. Second, vote buying is very common. Due to economic crisis, political parties saw buying votes as an advantage. Third, electors may chose to vote for a candidate based upon their party's beliefs not the abilities or beliefs of the individual candidate. These strengths and weaknesses are the aids and hindrances of political parties to democracy. PRESSURE GROUPS A pressure group is any group that tries to influence a political decision. More people in Britain are now active in pressure groups than are members of political parties. The best known pressure groups, like Child Poverty Action Group or ASH (Action on Smoking & Health), are so involved in politics they have full time people trying to put their case to government, politicians and the media. Pressure groups allow ordinary people to influence issues that concern them. Most people do not have the time, money or expertise to run a campaign on their own. Pressure groups can use their members' contributions and sometimes their time to employ staff, take out adverts, collect statistics, send out mail shots etc. The more members a group has the more influence it can exert. These pressure groups can aid democracy because they have the ability to get citizens involved in politics about an issue they feel strongly about - eg the closure of a school. Many people would not consider running for public office or joining a political party even but would join a pressure group. Pressure groups are also hindrances to democracy - because they are not elected, often unrepresentative and are not accountable. Effective pressure can include lobbying which often goes on unreported and favours organisations with resources. Some pressure groups break the law may also use violent methods in order to attract media attention for their cause. In a democratic society, everyone, including pressure groups, have a responsibility to work within the law. According to Peter Verhille from the Entente PR agency, the greatest threat to the corporate world's reputation comes from the Internet, the pressure groups newest weapon. "A growing number of multinational companies--such as McDonalds and Microsoft--have been viciously attacked on the Internet by unidentifiable opponents which leave their victims in a desperate search for adequate countermeasures." The danger emanating from the new telecommunication media cannot be over-emphasized, says Mr. Verhille. "One of the major strengths of pressure groups -in fact the leveling factor in their confrontation with powerful companies- is their ability to exploit the instruments of the telecommunication revolution. Their agile use of global tools such as the Internet reduces the advantage that corporate budgets once provided." His conclusions made a hard impact on the participants of the conference. In fact most companies appear slow to incorporate such tools into their own communication strategies. When asked what steps they planned to take to match pressure groups mastery of these channels, most respondents simply repeated their intention to expand into this area or admitted that their preparations were still in a preparatory stage. (Lubbers) CONCLUSION Pressure groups, like political parties are great influences to politicians. Both can influence how the government should be run, both can influence the general public and both have its own strengths and weaknesses which aid and hinders democracy. Pressure groups and political parties aid democracy if its main goal is purely of public service. To educate and provide choices but the general public will somehow make the choices in the end. However, too much craving for power of these two parties often hinders democracy. It in fact destroys democracy. The education that they shared to the public and the good deeds these two parties have shown during election campaigns, are more often than not, discontinued or violated as soon as leaders (especially of different parties) will be placed in a position. Vote buying itself hinders the democracy for it influence the voter's decision, not because of the capabilities of a leader but because of how much is given. Democracy, in a sense is lost, when an elected officer is assassinated to give way to a politician. The stiff competition of politics often disregards the true meaning of democracy. Just like a fact that these parties are strong influences to the public, buying and oppressing the general publics political views is like dictatorship, hiding in the guises of democracy through political parties and pressure groups. REFERENCES (4 May 2005) Statement by Kenneth Wollack, President, National Democratic Institute [online] Available from: http://www.accessdemocracy.org/library/1835_wollacktestimony_050405.html [Accessed 26 May 2006] Davies, Jack L. (2005) Reunification of the Somali People. Civic Webs Virtual Library [online] Available from: http://www.civicwebs.com/cwvlib/africa/somalia/1995/reunification/chapter_6.htm [Accessed 26, May 2006] Lubbers, Eveline. (no date). The Brent Spar Syndrome, Counterstrategies against online activism. Spinwatch [online] 11 September 2004 Available from: http://www.spinwatch.org/modules.phpname=Content&pa=showpage&pid=224 [Accessed 27 May 2006] Wikipedia.org. (2005). Democratic Government [online] Available from: http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Democratic+government [ Accessed 26 May 2006] Read More