question_answer

What are the advantages and disadvantages (drawbacks) of political parties?

Answer:

Political parties have their merits and demerits which are as follows: Merits:

Promote Unity in Diversity: Political parties aggregate and unite like-minded people belonging to diverse backgrounds to form a wide coalition of people giving unity in diversity.

Impart Political Education: Political parties educate the people politically by popularising the manifesto through campaigning and also by quizzing the government inside the Parliament.

Check the Government: Opposition political parties check the government from becoming corrupt and dictatorial through different means.

Mediate Between Pressure Groups: Political parties mediate between different pressure groups which represent various interests. They strike a compromise between demands of the different groups so as to satisfy the maximum number of them.

Promote national politics: Political parties alone make it possible for the enormous electorate to function effectively.

Demerits: At the same time political parties have demerits too.

Overcentralisation: Political party leaders and bosses become so powerful and dominant that they start acting like dictators in the party, shifting the-democratic participation of its members. This leads to the ovcrcentralisation and personalisation.

Corruption and malpractices: Since political parties are obsessed with coming to power, it increases corruption, as the parties will use all possible means to capture votes.

Encourages casteism and communalism: Many political parties encourage casteism and communalism etc. They keep the factors of castes, religion, alive as they act like their vote bank.

Create Factionalism: Sometimes political parties divide people on artificial lines and even the nation into hostile and antagonistic camps. Thus they create factionalism.

Absence of individual independence: The party discipline leaves no room for individual independence. The members become a cog in the party machinery always moving with the whole mechanism but never independently.