question_answer

Examine the role of political parties.

Answer:

The role of the political parties can be demarcated into:

Before Elections                  After Elections

Role Before Election:

Before elections parties unite like-minded people who belong to diverse backgrounds and thus form a wide coalition of people and give unity in diversity.

They seek to provide the highest common denominator. They aggregate and articulate public opinion.

Parties simplify and stabilise the political process. They seek to broaden the range of interests they represent and harmonise these interests with each other.

Before election by popularising the manifesto (which is a document that consists of all the promises) and in other ways also, parties educate, instruct, mobilise and activate the electorate. Thus they act as tran of ideas and opinions to social needs and national goals.

Role after Election:

After the elections are over, the party which gets the majority of votes forms the government as "Ruling party" and works for the welfare of the people. The parties which get a minority of votes forms the opposition and checks the government inside the Parliament by debates, question hour, cut motion, adjournment motion, etc.

Political parties provide social support, structure to governmental policies and programmes.

Parties act like a durable two-way link between the citizens and the government and between the electorates and representative institutions. Parties also give national dimensions to local policies and translate public opinion into public policy.