Civics: Political Parties

Quick Revision Notes: Political Parties

Class 10 - Civics (Social Science) MP Board

### Concept 1: What is a Political Party?

• Definition: A political party is a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in the government. They agree on some policies and programmes for the society with a view to promoting the collective good.
• Key Components of a Political Party:
  1. The Leaders
  2. The Active Members
  3. The Followers

### Concept 2: Functions of Political Parties

Political parties perform several crucial functions in a democracy:

1. Contest Elections: Parties contest elections by putting up candidates.
2. Policies and Programmes: Parties put forward different policies and programmes, and voters choose from them.
3. Law Making: Parties play a decisive role in making laws for a country. Laws are debated and passed in the legislature.
4. Form and Run Government: The winning party forms the government and runs the administration.
5. Role of Opposition: Parties that lose elections play the role of opposition by voicing different views and criticising government failures.
6. Shape Public Opinion: Parties raise and highlight issues, launch movements, and shape public opinion.
7. Access to Government Machinery: Parties provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes.

### Concept 3: Necessity of Political Parties

• Why do we need parties? Without political parties, democracies cannot exist.
• If every candidate in an election is independent, no major policy changes can be made.
• The rise of political parties is directly linked to the emergence of representative democracies. Parties gather different views on various issues and present them to the government.

### Concept 4: Party Systems

Different countries have different party systems based on their social and geographical conditions:

1. One-Party System (Single-Party System): Only one party is allowed to control and run the government.
   • Example: China (Communist Party of China).
   • Drawback: Not a democratic option.
2. Two-Party System (Bi-party System): Power usually changes between two main parties.
   • Example: USA and United Kingdom.
3. Multi-Party System: If several parties compete for power, and more than two parties have a reasonable chance of coming to power either on their own strength or in alliance.
   • Example: India (Coalition governments are common here).

### Concept 5: National and Regional Political Parties (India)

• National Parties: These are country-wide parties. They have their units in various states. They must secure at least 6% of the total votes in Lok Sabha elections or Assembly elections in four states and win at least 4 seats in the Lok Sabha.
  • Examples: Indian National Congress (INC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPI-M).
• State/Regional Parties: These are commonly referred to as 'regional parties'. They need not be regional in ideology; they are successful in only some states.
  • Examples: Samajwadi Party (SP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), DMK, AIADMK.

### Concept 6: Challenges to Political Parties

Democracy is judged by how well political parties function. Key challenges include:

1. Lack of Internal Democracy: Power is concentrated in the hands of one or few leaders at the top. Registers of members are not maintained, and organizational meetings are not held regularly.
2. Dynastic Succession: Top leaders favour family members and close associates, ignoring merit.
3. Money and Muscle Power: Parties are increasingly dependent on money and muscle power, especially during elections, to win seats.
4. Meaningful Choice: Often, parties do not offer a meaningful choice to voters because their ideological differences have reduced.

### Concept 7: How Can Parties be Reformed?

Steps and suggestions to reform political parties in India:

1. Anti-Defection Law: The constitution was amended to prevent elected MLAs and MPs from changing parties (Defection). If they do so, they lose their seat in the legislature.
2. Affidavit of Property and Criminal Cases: The Supreme Court passed an order making it mandatory for every candidate contesting elections to file an affidavit giving details of their property and criminal cases pending against them.
3. Mandatory Organizational Elections: The Election Commission passed an order making it necessary for political parties to hold their organizational elections and file their income tax returns.
4. State Funding of Elections: Providing financial support by the government to bear election expenses.
5. Public Participation: People can put pressure on parties through petitions, propaganda, and agitations.