Role of Political Parties in a Democracy

Role of Political Parties in a Democracy

The existence of political parties is largely responsible for ensuring the quality and effectiveness of a democracy. In a federal multicultural and plural societies such as the United States of America and India, the maintenance of peace, unity and communal harmony are vital for social -economic progress. While single party system may have greater flexibility towards quicker decisions making and cohesive action, these decisions may not represent mass opinion and thus it would create greater opposition and dissent for the government.

In the dual party system due to the nature of the party structure and leadership, this usually result in public policies and decisions blocked in political polarization rather than collaboration. While in Multi party systems, the performance is on the basis of deliberation and negotiation between coalition members, and issues are mostly settled by reaching a mutually derived consensus after debate and discussion. Thus, political parties are the drivers of a democracy that are necessary to safeguard the rights and freedoms of the people. Through effective Citizenship training and greater civic participation, youth in democratic nations can play a greater role in political parties thereby fostering more mature and wider democratization in countries.

The Role of Political Parties in a Democracy

What are political parties?

 They recruit and run candidates for public office under the party level

 They try to organize and coordinate the activities of government officials under the party name.

Many political scientists believe that parties are essential to democracy

 The political party is seen by some as the main instrument of popular sovereignty and majority rule.

 When political parties are working properly they can be essential tools of popular sovereignty