The Role of Political Parties in a Democracy SS#71-6 – Kids as politicians SS#64B-16 – Fringe Parties SS#64B-13 – SMP Voting

The basis for good government and political stability is personal integrity and strong family life Proverbs 14:34

Political parties exercise the right to free and open competition for power by trying to persuade the electorate to support their policies and candidates

Definition and origin Political parties are voluntary organizations dedicated to promoting common policies and electing their members as representatives in constituencies across the country, hopefully gaining enough support to control the government

Responsible government requires that the government do the biding of the majority of the representatives. Political parties were formed, in part, to unite to ensure that this was carried out. The secret ballot and simultaneous voting encouraged candidates to commit to a specific political party before election campaigns.

The expansion of the franchise to those of adult age (universal), made it more difficult for candidates to make personal contact with the voters, requiring the help of friends within a political party to campaign for the candidate.

Increased campaign costs made it necessary for candidates to rely on political parties for donations of money (as well as time) in order to get elected.

This dependency has sometimes made wealthy contributors to political parties, and party workers and officials, more powerful than the elected representatives. Politicians will simply not likely win an election without political parties so they tend to obey them, rather than individual constituents.

One-party, two-party or multi-party systems A one-party system is one in which only one political party is likely to win an election, therefore hold political power, although other parties are allowed e.g. Mexico (at least until Vicente Fox’s victory in August, 2000)

This is still considered to be a democratic approach if everyone is free to join, express themselves and push for particular policies within the ruling party. The disadvantage is that the voter does not have a real choice.

A two-party system is one in which one of two political parties is likely to win an election, therefore hold political power, although other parties are allowed e.g. United States Generally this system provides the voters with a clear and definite choice, but only one. See p. 89 Ideologies

However, in the case of such controversial issues such as capital punishment, a two- party system would likely produce a vague choice, both parties trying to modify extreme positions so as to not alienate potential supporters in the middle of the spectrum.

A multi-party system is one in which more than two parties could win an election, therefore hold political power e.g. Canada, Sweden. Such systems tend to not elect majority governments requiring the formation of coalitions between political parties in order to maintain power.

In this system, parties are forced to carve out an original position on controversial issues, in order to distinguish themselves from the crowd. Coalitions tend to camouflage which party is responsible for a specific policy, as well as forcing the parties to compromise on their principles

Third parties (minor parties that receive a significant level of support, but not enough to form a government on their own), use their influence by extracting promises from larger parties within a coalition or hounding the governing parties e.g. NDP in Canada.

Caucuses The candidates elected under the banner of a political party form a caucus to discuss political strategies and policies that they will pursue in view of the public, especially the legislative branch e.g. House of commons in Canada .

Representatives, such as Members of Parliament, in a caucus meeting are expected to represent the views of their constituents. Naturally, there will be a wide range of opinions, which are shared privately. Once a caucus decision is made, however, the representatives are expected to speak with one voice i.e. party solidarity.

The same expectations are placed on government members of the Cabinet (known as cabinet solidarity). Representatives who do not support solidarity are likely to be disciplined by the party whip e.g. demoted, suspended or expelled.

Strengths of political parties in Canada Political parties provide a channel of communication between the people and the government. Political parties try to give the people (electorate) what the want (party platforms). The political party that does the best job will most likely receive the greatest number of votes and elect the greatest number of candidates in an election.

Political parties organize and educate the people Political parties organize and educate the people. During elections this takes the form of party platforms (campaign promises). Between elections, the party that forms the government tries to explain and defend government policies, and the parties in the opposition try to point out the weaknesses of the governing party’s policies and promote their own course of action.

Political parties recruit and train political leaders Political parties provide a method of choosing and changing leaders peacefully.

Weaknesses of political parties in Canada Due to the dependency of representatives on the party to fight election campaigns, the first loyalty of many representatives is to the party, not to the electors of the constituency that they were elected to represent. Note: only one independent MP was elected in the 1997 Federal Election (John Nunziata). Typically, the party name appears alongside the candidate’s name on the ballot. This decreases the level of representative accountability to the people.

Disobeying party loyalty by voting against the party’s position on an issue e.g. a rebel MP votes against his party in the House of Commons which holds control of the government, will most likely be disciplined. Occasionally free votes are allowed (after approval by the party caucus), usually on such controversial issues as capital punishment or gay rights, where representatives may vote independently, free from fear of party discipline.

Electors may chose to vote for a candidate based upon their party’s beliefs not the abilities or beliefs of the individual candidate.

Backbenchers are those members within the governing party with little power or influence within their caucus. This is likely due to not being part of the Cabinet where many major policies are formed or because they are less experienced and, therefore, less able to influence caucus colleagues. Many backbenchers feel like they are robots who simply vote as they are instructed to by the senior caucus members.

In Canada, the Prime Minister is the leader of the political party that includes a majority of the elected representatives or can maintain a vote of confidence in the House of Commons. As well, the PM can restrict which candidates are allowed to run under the party’s banner, appoint Cabinet members from the party caucus, appoint Senators, judges and other major government officials. Therefore, caucus members are more inclined to follow the wishes of the leader rather than lose out on any future opportunities for political advancement.

Party discipline is less restrictive in the United States due to the stronger separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches. The President, as party leader, is less able to help Congressional representatives get elected, therefore, there is less of an influence towards party solidarity.

As well, the President cannot directly appoint Cabinet members or judges (system of checks and balances), Senators are directly elected by the people in each state. Therefore, representatives in the legislative branch tend to be more responsive and accountable to their constituents rather than their political party. Parliamentary Debate

Party discipline Without party discipline, the governing party (from the executive branch) within a parliamentary system, such as Canada or Sweden, would not be able to maintain the confidence of the legislative branch by passing a bill into law and would be forced to resign (responsible government).

Party discipline allows a united front dedicated to achieving the promises the people voted for. - In the US, the lack of party discipline has sometimes made it impossible for bills to be passed into law, creating embarrassing situations like the 1996 fight over the federal budget: all but essential government agencies were forced to close due to the lack of a budget and the lack of money to operate until the political deadlock was resolved.