"Party" is a multi-valued concept. If you ask the question: “What is a consignment?”, The answer will be one. And if we consider political parties, completely different concepts and definitions arise. What is a batch of products, we do not consider this topic. What interests us is precisely the concept associated with politics. Let's consider it in detail.
The concept of "party" in politics
Parties occupy a special place among the subjects of such a type of activity as political. They act as intermediaries between the state and citizens. Schwarzenberg Roger Gerard (born 1943), a French political scientist, answered the question of what is a party that has become a classic definition. In his opinion, a political party is a continuously operating organization that exists both at the local and national levels. It is aimed at sending and receiving power, striving for broad support of the masses for this purpose.
Party signs
We continue our answer to the question of what parties are. Let us consider in more detail their symptoms. The party unites the most active representatives of various social groups who have ideological and political views similar to them and strive in one way or another for state power.
The following party characteristics can be distinguished:
- long-term functioning, organization, the presence of the rules of internal party life and formal norms reflected in the charter;
- the presence of primary organizations (local branches) that maintain regular relations with the national leadership;
- focus on the conquest of power and its disposal (pressure groups are those that do not have this goal);
- voluntary membership, the support of the people;
- the presence of a common strategy, goal and ideology, expressed in the relevant political program.
Party Functions
They perform in modern society a number of specific external and internal functions. This should also be mentioned when answering the question of what parties are. Let us single out those and other functions, and dwell on them in more detail.
Internal ones relate to securing financing, recruiting new members, establishing effective interaction between local branches and management, etc.
External functions - determining for the activities of the party. This is the protection, upholding and expression of the interests of large social strata and groups, the integration of people within them on the basis of common goals, as well as the mobilization of the masses in order to solve important pressing social problems. They also include the formation of public opinion, the development of ideology, the spread of political culture, the training of various cadres for existing political institutions, participation in the creation of the elite, as well as opportunities for the socialization of the individual in politics. In addition, external functions include participation in election campaigns, their organization and the struggle for governance, as well as for state power.
Types of parties
There are several typologies by which political parties are divided.
So, they are distinguished by their ideological orientation such as the communist, conservative, liberal party.
"What is a federal party?" - you ask. It is distinguished by the following, territorial basis. According to it, parties are regional, federal and others. That is, this sign shows in which territory they exist.
On a social basis - entrepreneurial, peasant, workers and so on.
With respect to transformations in society - reactionary and progressive, reformist and revolutionary, moderate and radical.
By participation in power - parliamentary and non-parliamentary, legal and illegal, ruling and opposition.
However, the most famous is the classification by organizational structure, according to which mass and personnel parties are distinguished.
Personnel parties
"What are cadre parties?" - you ask. They are focused on the participation of parliamentarians, professional politicians and are united around a political committee - a group of leaders. They are usually elitist and few in number, financed from private sources. The activity of such parties during the elections is being intensified.
Bulk parties
On the contrary, mass parties are numerous, they are financed from membership dues. These are centralized organizations with statutory membership, characterized by discipline and organization, conducting extensive propaganda work in the field, as they are interested in their number growing (and, accordingly, the amount of contributions increased). Mass parties strive to mobilize the masses, and cadres - the elites.
You can also divide them into “right” and “left”. What are right-wing parties? They oppose fundamental reforms, for maintaining the existing regime. “Leftists” - for changing it, reigning social equality, carrying out large-scale reforms. These include the Social Democratic, Anarchist, Socialist and Communist Parties, as well as other political doctrines.
We examined theoretically what kinds are, and also what a party is. Does "United Russia" belong to the "right" or "left"? Try to answer this question yourself. What is the Communist Party, we all roughly represent and without definition.
Pressure groups, public organizations, and mass movements also belong to group subjects of activities such as political.
In the past few decades, the so-called universal parties have also appeared (in other words, the parties of all voters). In the strict sense of the word, they are not. Unlike traditional parties that focus on electoral groups in their activities, these associations strive to attract various groups of voters to their side. Their characteristic features are the following: a special type of a kind of a worldview symbol of an intellectual leader, an optional fixation of membership in this association, and the absence of any clearly defined social interests. The main function of universal parties is to protect the current political course, and not to aggregate and articulate the interests of society. Therefore, they are associated more with the state than with the people.
Party concepts
Answering the question of what a political party is, it is also necessary to define party concepts. A party is a non-profit voluntary social association based on political principles and ideological considerations, striving to achieve certain political goals and using political means for this.
It includes, as already noted, the most active members of society, this is their class or political association, expressing directly their interests, consisting of the most active representatives who are aware of these interests, fighting for the possession or retention of power, as well as the implementation of common goals.
In the tradition of Marxism, parties are seen as the highest form of class organization, embracing its most active part, reflecting political interests and pursuing long-term goals in its activities. As a political organization, parties express their attitude to power, participate in social and political events, are created in the name of consolidating and maintaining power or changing it.
In another tradition, liberal-democratic, they are interpreted as certain political forces organized, uniting representatives of a single political tradition and serving to participate in power or to conquer it in order to realize the goals pursued by party adherents. They, embodying the individual’s right to political association with other people, reflect some general group goals and interests of diverse sections of society (religious, national, social, etc.). People through this institution put forward their group demands to the state and receive requests for support from it at the same time in order to solve some political issues.
Elements mandatory for any political party
In order to better understand what a political party is, we highlight the elements that are mandatory for any of them. Any party is the bearer of some ideology, or at least it expresses a certain orientation of the vision of man and the world. This association is relatively long in time of existence, that is, an organization that has a certain territorial dimension (local, regional, national, and sometimes international) and structure. The goal of any party is to conquer power or to participate with others in it.
Each party wants to provide for itself the support of the population - from inclusion in the ranks of its members to the creation of a wide range of sympathizers.
Signs and role of a political party
Among the main features, one can single out: the presence of an organizational structure, the payment of membership dues, the existence of a charter and program, organizational ties between party representatives, party discipline, participation in the formation of government and parliamentary institutions, and the creation of public opinion.
Its role in the life of society: this is the connecting link between the state and the masses, the leader of the social class struggle, the regulator of social and political public life.
The main task of the party is participation in power, its seizure.
Political Party Functions
1. Theoretical:
- analysis of the state, as well as a theoretical assessment of various prospects for social development;
- identification of the interests of various public groups;
- development of tactics and strategies for the struggle for the renewal of society.
2. Ideological:
- upholding and disseminating among the masses of their moral values and worldview;
- propaganda of their policies and goals;
- the involvement of the population in the ranks and on the side of the party.
3. Political:
- struggle for power;
- selection of candidates for candidates for election to the local and central leadership, government;
- conducting various election campaigns.