Political Parties: An Indispensable Component of Representative Democracy - Research Paper Example

Political Parties: An Indispensable Component of Representative Democracy Introduction The core philosophy of representative democracy is one of tenet with the sanction of the governed. This is achieved in a major democracy through representative mechanisms. The public gives their consent to government by democratic processes and agreements intended to guarantee they are ‘represented’ in the government’s decision making process. And one of the key representative tools of a democratic government is the political parties. However, there is currently a decline in the public approval and importance of political parties (Gunther, Montero & Linz 2002). The objective of this study is to discuss the argument that ‘without political parties, representative democracy could not function’. In order to support this argument the forms and concepts of representation will be discussed. To evaluate the reliability of political parties requires a re-examination of premises of political representation. It is not credible to evaluate the importance of political parties in a representative democracy without first shedding light on what they pursue to achieve or whether they are unambiguous in what they pursue to achieve. The expression ‘political representation’ is beset by an uncertainty that hinders meaningful discourses of its weaknesses and potential solutions. The concept has several meanings and implications that structure the debate, whether one is taking into account the ‘representation’ of national, local or individual welfare, or the ‘representative’ obligations compelled on a representative or the larger legislative body, or what it signifies to be successfully ‘represented’ (Haskell 2001). Political representation has different connotations and implications to different people, and different meanings in different perspectives. But practitioners of representation have a tendency to speak without clarifying, supposing that what is being talked about is obvious to all. The failure to recognise the diversity of concepts, such as that of political parties, falling within the context of representation, or to clarify what is indicated by representation, excludes a general core of understanding to facilitate the argument about the importance of political parties in the functioning of representative democracy. Forms and Concepts of Representation This paper begins with the common forms of representation so as to reliably support the essentiality of political parties in the workings of representative democracy. Political representation is present in and stems from four fundamental sources: (1) representative endeavour for the interests of the represented; (2) representation existing in the affiliation between the represented and the representative; (3) descriptive representation from legislators who personify the values, attributes, and outlook of the represented; and (4) formal representation created by the modes and mechanisms of the electoral system. The ideal function of political parties fits into these four basic sources of political representation (Gastil 2000). The need for neutral agencies in representative democracies directly suggests politically involved organisations and groups. Successful political representation relies on an appropriate position being entrusted to, and a balance sustained between political parties and interest groups. Political parties are institutional foundations that resolve, or in any case restructures, the strains between homogeneity and diversity. By itself, they are useful organised instruments of political empowerment for citizens in a major democracy (Lakoff 1996). The theory of representation is basically tied up in and entwined with political parties’ subsystems. Groups serve as representative connections within, and are dominated upon, the accountable two-party system, whilst the party system is inherently pluralists in its processes and activities (Macedo 1999). Therefore, political parties are vital to the fulfilment of the mediating tasks in democratic rule. Political parties function as the key connections between the government and citizens in a ‘dual system of representation’. As intermediaries of governance, parties are the “effective agent [s] of political destinies” (Ryden 1996: 77). They are the important components in (Ryden 1996: 77): ... how the institutions of representative democracy work, and especially inquiry into the conditions under which the governors and governed are linked so that political responsiveness and responsibility are obtained. In other words, politically involved organisations are the indispensable components of representation that bind the governed to their rulers. The twofold structure of representation is functional in organising and unifying the four representational forms and concepts. On one hand, it is composed of the instruments by which representatives are selected, and on the other hand, of the means by which they are formally requested once in position. Formal representation is achieved through the primary point, as representative power is awarded and representative responsibility guaranteed through elections. Likewise, elections facilitate introspective or descriptive representation, as electors select their ‘kind’ of representative (Saward 2000). On the contrary, representation as endeavour is guaranteed through the second point. As the governed appeals to the government, those preferences, interests, and judgments that steer representative endeavour are shown to the representative. These two components of the twofold structure of representation are best appreciated by the basic differences that distinguish them. Primarily, they vary as ‘process’. Representation in the election of those who will represent is achieved mainly through the mechanisms of election, through factions and nominating assemblies, campaigns, and election itself. These institutional structures existing in the electoral system are integral connections, resolving the degree to which the approval of the governed is achieved through election (Miller 1999). A second difference is related with ‘timing’. Election takes place at regular intervals. Citizens choose, every second or fourth year, who will serve as representatives, re-electing representatives or discarding them for new ones. On the contrary, petitioning of chosen representatives is in progress. Attempts to manipulate the decisions of one’s official persist through that representative’s term. The intermittent, recurring practice of elections indicates a standing, formal representation. Representation that occurs between the formal mechanisms of elections is crucial to update and educate representatives in order that their legislative activity sufficiently captures the changing inclinations of the represented (Selden 1998). Lastly, the dual system of representation is defined by taking into account ‘who is acting as representative’. So far, we have plainly supposed the representatives to be those with official legislative obligations. These are the representatives who are positioned in public offices and are accountable, corporately and individually, for formulating and enforcing government policy. The twofold process of electing and petitioning introduces a second group of representatives working apart from the formal representative affiliation between legislator and citizen. These representational subsystems are the parties and factions that arbitrate between the elected and the general public. They enable individuals to partake and acquire value through association, at the same time as focusing and identifying the diversity of interests into evident policy standpoints, which decisively influence and direct governance (Valadez 2000). Hence, political parties are certainly crucial in the successful operation of representative democracy. Political Parties as Facilitators of Representative Democracy Justice Powell, in the 1976 ruling of Elrod v. Burns, advanced arguments that support the premise on the importance of political parties in the functioning of representative democracy. He perceived political parties as vital to the ability of the electorate to make knowledgeable preferences in elections. Merely through “established parties [are] the ‘people... presented with understandable choices” (Ryden 1996: 170). The transparency, stability and permanency of parties render party association a significant caution for voter decisions. Concurrently, government parties are the means to institutional accountability to the voting public. They allow dependability and discipline in government. Choices articulated through elections are achieved merely through rational, systematic government parties (Judge 1999). Moreover, Powell claimed that these tasks merit a forceful government interest in encouraging enlivened parties, validating judicial regard to practices of patronage. Well-built parties ascertain responsibility, awareness, and dependable organisation in government, as they elucidate electoral options, make decisions understandable, and advance sound governance. Patronage practices are essential means of enhancing these responsibilities. On one hand, it is the bond in organisations that guarantees individual and competitive political parties. On the other hand, it facilitates policy consistency in government by enabling an integrated, unified administration (Ryden 1996). Powell also identified political parties as ‘democratisers of the political process’ (Lawson 1994: 88), and viewed the practice of patronage as a fundamental motivation for greater involvement. Patronage encourages party advocates to sustain the operation and success of organisations, particularly at the lower echelons of the political process. In addition, Powell view local party organisations as the crucial phase in the process for realising extensive public participation. It was at this stage that motivations were specifically required (Ryden 1996: 171): Election campaigns for lesser offices in particular usually attract little attention from the media, with consequent disinterest and absence of intelligent participation on the part of the public. Unless the candidates for these offices are able to dispense the traditional patronage that has accrued to the offices, they also are unlikely to attract donations of time or money from voluntary groups... Long experience teaches that at this local level traditional patronage practices contribute significantly to the democratic process. Powell argued that the concerns in local contests are not sufficient to force people into a conflict. Nor are people encouraged by democratic inclination, selflessness, or public service. Instead, they are lured into politics by the prospective monetary rewards, power and prestige. Their contributions are based on the anticipation that they will eventually profit if their nominee wins and is capable of distributing those gains that go with the position (Ryden 1996). Contrary to the well-built pro-party argument, the plurality immediately assigned with the answerable party claims. A distinct puzzling statement was dedicated to the contention that political parties were fundamental to the representative democratic process, and that their indispensability required patronage. The rapid response to Powell overlooked the potential importance of patronage to the functioning of representative democracy, maintenance of group politics, or enrichment of political involvement. Rather, it proclaimed in blanket approach that (Ryden 1996: 171): We are not persuaded that the elimination of patronage practices... will bring about the demise of party politics. Political parties existed in the absence of active patronage practice prior to the administration of Andrew Jackson, and they have survived substantial reduction in their patronage power through the establishment of merit systems. However, the case for subsystems of party politics says a different thing. The party subsystems depend on a mutual affiliation between political parties and pressure groups. Parties and political organisations rely on each other as mediating representative connections between the government and citizens. Party systems unite the parties and other interest groups, by which political advantages flow to minor organisations through strengthened, uplifted political parties. Not merely are the political parties themselves expressions of cooperative activity, but they are an important conduit through which the electorate with common interests can manipulate the process (Gastil 2000). It is, thus, organisations operating through parties that sustain harmony between the twofold representation tasks of selection and petition. The significance of the relationship is apparent in the difficulties that occur in its absence. Factions exercise political influence outside the scaffold of the party system through a sequence of programmes performed outside of the electoral system, and greatly affecting policy. In the absence of electoral process that holds shared interests, groups directly articulate their case to legislators. As parties in representative democracies eroded, groups have adopted this technique persistently. Unfortunately, the discrepancies in group resources and influence are reinforced when group movement is unmonitored and unrestrained (Greene, Selden & Brewer 2001). Hence, the current decline in the importance of political parties and the amplified request for official group-oriented representation is explained by the disparity between party-group interactions. Provided that political parties performed a major function, first in facilitation the election of candidates, and then in allowing those people to really govern, group demands for direct representation were ignored. Groups may rely on a level of satisfaction through well-built, active and powerful political parties (Miller 1999). But as the influence of the parties weakens, direct group demands on government intensified. Through turning to the courts and lobbying, groups have progressively tried to attain legislative outcomes or legal standing that political parties are not capable to provide. Instead of reuniting their demands with other interests and objectives through political parties, groups at present claim direct representation for their specific demands (Saward 2000). Given this current situation of political parties, the electoral system should be sensitive to the interests and inclinations of visible political groups. Dependable parties are the conceptual instruments for achieving that. Just as a voter gains influence by joining with others who share his/her preferences, thus group members experience electoral representation through parties. Just as a vote gain value when wielded as fragment of a collective decision, political parties are the channels by which groups unite to exercise electoral authority. Parties function as spectrums through which a range of group objectives and interests are merged and integrated into political influence (Ware 1996). Through party relations, groups systematise and enhance their political power to wield influence on the system, and consequently the effective facilitation of representative democracy. Voters with shared interests are given the opportunity to articulate these common interests in the system through their contribution to the efforts of the parties to strengthen that partnership. To acquire votes from various groups, political parties are compelled to express their issues, through policy recommendations, programmes, or dispensing important positions in the party or the overseeing organisation (Gastil 2000). The intellectual element of the parties expresses the ideology, principle, and policy perspectives of the groups in their associations. Although political parties act simply roughly in this manner, they offer a biased solution to the public’s neglect of “the intermediate institutions that stand between the individual and the state” (Ryden 1996: 118). As institutional barriers between the public and the unfriendly bureaucratic government, united parties have an unmatched capacity for communicating the issues and interests of all groups in society, sanctioning the political structure in the process (Goodin 2005). Nevertheless, the party-directed structure does not function as an equally exclusive option to orient groups’ political activities. Groups still have a critical function in enhancing and achieving representation. Even the major political parties cannot fulfil entirely the requirement for, or the necessities of, other mediating organisations. The pluralist idea of society and politics renders it improbable that parties can adequately hold the entire range of group forces. The general public is not a unified entity or even made up entirely of distinct, holistic individuals. It is in fact numerous publics, each roughly structured, determining its political interest and objective, and pursuing it (Greiff 2000). Representative democracy embraces the premise that “the more complex the society, the greater the number of publics that comprise the public, and the greater the challenge for parties as representative organisations” (Ryden 1996: 118). Political parties should make a choice, taking into precedence the relevance of different groups to their association, and in turn ruling out many in general (Greiff 2000). Hence the requirement for groups is to still behave externally to the party systems, to pursue access openly when the political parties are incapable of addressing that need. Yet, in the twofold system of representation, groups enhance instead of replacing political parties in representing diverse unacknowledged interests. Conclusions Evidently, as demonstrated in the discussion, political parties are essential to the functioning of representative democracy and without these entities of representation representative democracy will cease to function. Primarily, political parties allow citizens to unite their interests and objectives. Individual articulations, so scattered as to be unidentifiable if unmediated, are elucidated and strengthened in group form. Moreover, collective activity provides the representative a means of encouraging involvement of citizens in the decision-making process. Individual choices articulated in group form can be evaluated by the representation to identify their position in policy deliberations. Ultimately, political parties enable the flow of information between representative and citizen, information vital to the fulfilment of official representative obligations. References Gastil, J. 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