Political parties act as an integral part to the working of democracy. It serves as an organization (of the people) to represent their common interest and needs. However, the effectiveness of a democracy can vary greatly and political parties play a significant role in doing so, thus, strengthening or weakening the democracy. In the following paragraphs, I hope to point out that Political parties do, in fact, help in promoting and strengthening democracy even if they are flawed. Democracy, as I see it, is a political system consisting of four key elements, (i) free and fair elections, (ii) active participation of people in politics, (iii) protection of human rights and (iv) rule of law. A democracy is strong when they execute these four-key elements with effectively although, it tends to weaken if even one of these criterions aren’t met. I analyzed how political parties such as PT in Brazil, the PJ in Argentina and PAN in Mexico helped in promoting democracy by proposing an alternative to the current political system and increasing the involvement of the citizens into the political system. Political parties can have both positive and negative impact on Democracy, however, they are indispensable for the working of a Democracy as well as promoting it.
(a) After the great depression, a military coup was initiated during the infamous decade in Argentina (1930-1943), characterized by electoral fraud, persecution of the political opposition (mainly against the UCR) and pervasive
The author, John H. Aldrich, argues that the contemporary political party are not in decline. John H. Aldrich want us to believe that contemporary political party are not in a decline but, instead in transformation. John H. Aldrich give cases for both the importance of political parties and for weak and weakening parties.
1.There were many causes for the growth of democracy and emergence of political parties in early 19th century. To begin with, the expansion of franchise was instrumental in the growth of democracy. This occurred because certain legislatures laid back on their policies regarding who was allowed to vote. Many states started to increase white male suffrage, starting with Maryland, Indiana in 1816, Illinois in 1818, and Alabama in 1819. By the mid 1820s majority of the states had expanding voting rights to all white men, or all that paid their taxes. This is a short term cause of the growth of democracy. A long term cause of the growth of democracy was the American Revolution. The revolution helped weaken the elite power at the top of society.
Our third and final major political party is the Partido Revolucionario Institutional or PRI. This political party was undefeated in all levels of the government up until 1946 and was the dominating party, under 3 different names (Partido Nacional Revolucionario or PNR 1929, Partido de la Revolucion Mexicana or PRM 1938, and finally in 1946 Partido Revolucionario Institucional or PRI), at the municipal, state, and national levels for most of the 20th century (71 years) (Padgett, 1966). PRI is currently the dominant party in the Chamber of Deputies and at the municipal and state level, and took primacy in the 2012 senatorial elections as well. A part of the Socialist International, it is now considered as a centrist party, with prominent members leaning from both the left and right, and supports a policy of mixed economy and
The Argentine Process Of National Reorganization, more commonly known as the “Dirty War,” was a period from roughly 1974 to 1983 when the president was deposed and the entire government was taken control of by the military. This decade of civil destruction, turmoil, and human rights violations was part of the military’s plan to rid the country of the radical left and communist subversion. The junta spoke of a “New Argentina,” one full of prosperity for all its citizens, order and no longer chaos, they preached they would bring back Argentina’s glory days. For all this talk of an Argentina that would be once again a world power, no one knew of the atrocities the military would commit in the process. They did not think of the innocent lives
1. What is an example a personal-background factor that will influence opinions about public issues?
The basis of federalism is the idea that the state and federal government should share power. The federalists were supporters of a strong national government, led by Alexander Hamilton. The Democratic-Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson, opposed the federal government, their beliefs were that majority of power should be held by local governments (The States).
A Political Party is defined as “a formal coalition of interests joined together to get their candidates for public office elected under a common label and agenda.” Political Parties, over time, have seemed to do more harm than good for our nation. The founders of America never even intended for this nation to be separated into two different Political Parties. “There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.” John Adams, The Works Of John Adams, Second President Of The United States.
Synthesizing information: I think that political parties hurt the political system because people that aren't knowledgeable of the different people in that party and the people that "just k now they're republican or democrat" would go to the polls and vote straight ticket but in reality they might not agree with their plans or views. Interest groups help because it brings attention to things that the politicians don't always see and it helps them focus on that topic a little more. The media damages it big time, because a lot of these new stations and things are biased and put up biased polls and things of that nature so the people see that their party is losing and wont even vote. Another thing is that every part of media is biased in some
Smith gives an overview of third parties by explaining their role in elections, listing the current third party candidates and their parties, and explaining why they rarely win. This helps readers to know more about third parties and their current role, which helps them better understand the rest of the information presented in the article. The article also includes colorful graphics that better explain concepts in the article. These graphics also keep the reader engaged by presenting information in a different way. Finally, the author provides evidence about how the current unfavorability of the major party candidates may allow a third party candidate to gain political status. The author’s appeals to the audience and command of the information help her article to be concise, informative, and
Although a matter of great complexity and dire need of contestation and reform, promotion and support for third parties is not a major focus in the political agenda of citizens or the government. Even if third parties do not necessarily provide the required change to U.S politics in general, I believe that these parties are crucial for they entice major parties to become more responsive to constituents, and consequently increase citizen’s involvement in politics. Therefore reviving third parties would be a great tactic to revive democracy in the U.S. In addition to making larger leading parties more liable to citizens, third parties would also allow for a true practice of democracy. In a system were many issues are dealt with for it is simply
The authors’ hypothesis in Democratic Practice and Democratic Theory states that requirements for voters exist to be followed but are difficult to follow, so only little of the electorate meet the requirements. The authors state that every voter should seek to have the requirements of great voters, including having great interest in politics, participating in discussions, and knowing much about politics. The authors declare that politicians have to accept the behavior of the voters. Also, even though the requirements are not met, the authors add that a positive side as the distribution of participation helps create
Political parties have many functions, one of which is to uphold the principles of a democratic political system. A democratic political system is one which involves various features, such as a peaceful transition of power from one government to another, free and fair regular elections, people having open access to independent information, government accountability to the people and representative institutions and that the government operates in the broad interests of the people. Democracy can take a number of forms, the main two being representative and direct democracy. In the UK a representative democracy is in place. Arguably, the mere existence of political
Political parties are critical structures in the modern society and universal phenomena in most democracies. In fact, they form major objects of intensive study as they are usually the centre of political and social power. They engage in most activities that are of significant consequence in the lives of citizens and link the common populace to the government. Therefore, it is important to understand political parties fully from every perspective of political systems so obtain their real importance in democracies. A political party is basically a group of citizens who converge as voters, activists, electoral candidates and office holders with a common party label and seek to elect party members into public offices. While modern political
Indeed, selectors who are not formally enrolled may enjoy by casting their vote for the party leader - as in the case of the Partito Democratico - a different experience of militancy with low costs and high benefits if compared to the full engagement of the party member. This is a crucial issue in understanding the impact of inclusive procedures on party organization, especially in the light of a candidate-centered parties and a such personalized context. The adoption of open and direct election for appointing the party leader lead to a new relationship between the party and its members on the one hand, and between the party and its supporters. The external legitimacy derived from the external body of supporters may weaken the control of middle level élites on the party leadership? According to Katz and Mair this is a quite obvious consequence. Inclusive procedures may marginalize the role of the party in central office and its capability to determine and participate effectively in party decision processes. On the other hand, the effect of inclusiveness may also redefine the very role of party
Moreover, instating the right to choose also facilitates the incentive for people to speak out against an unruly leader. When a large mass of civilians disagrees or is concerned with a party’s implementation of policies, they can extract their title from them. Just because a party is elected, does not mean that they will remain in power for the entire duration originally allotted to them. The presence of foreseeable change is crucial to a societies degree of satisfaction associated with their current governmental system. Alteration gives democracy the upper hand. For example, in Spain in 1982, when Prime Minister Leopolodo Calvo Sotelo completely terminated the party that supported what the people wanted, the people in office forcibly made him resign.