Political Parties | CBSE Class 10 Political Science Notes

This note covers the meaning, components, functions and necessity of political parties; party systems; popular participation; national and State parties in India; challenges to parties; and legal reforms, reform proposals and citizens’ participation.

What is a political party and what holds it together?

Definition: A political party is a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in government. Its members agree on policies and programmes intended to promote the collective good.

The collective good means what benefits society together. People disagree about what this requires. Parties therefore try to persuade voters that their policies are better than alternatives. By winning popular support in elections, they seek the power to implement those policies.

What are its three components?

A party is identified by the section of society it stands for, the policies it supports and the interests it upholds. Parties reflect fundamental political divisions within society. They represent a part of society while presenting their programme as a way to promote the collective good.

A partisan is someone strongly committed to a party, group or faction. A faction is a group taking a particular side. Partisanship involves a tendency to take sides and an inability to consider an issue in a balanced way.

Does visibility mean popularity?

Political parties are among the most visible institutions of democracy. Even people who know little about the Constitution or government may know something about parties. However, most people tend to be very critical of parties and blame them for problems in political life.

Criticism and visibility can exist together. To judge parties, distinguish what parties are required to do from how well particular parties perform those functions. Their association with political divisions does not by itself explain whether democracy could function without them.

What functions do political parties perform?

Political parties fill political offices and exercise political power. Their work extends from selecting candidates to helping citizens reach government services. A ruling party runs the government; the opposition consists of parties that challenge and criticise the parties in power.

What are the seven major functions?

1. Contest elections: In most democracies, elections are fought mainly between party candidates. In the United States of America, members and supporters choose candidates. In India, top party leaders select candidates for elections.
2. Present policies and programmes: Parties group a large variety of opinions into a few basic positions. Voters choose between these programmes, and the government is expected to base its policies on the ruling party’s position.
3. Help make laws: The legislature, the body that debates and passes laws, formally makes them. Most legislators belong to parties and follow their leadership’s direction, irrespective of their personal opinions.
4. Form and run governments: Parties recruit and train leaders and make them ministers. The political executive, the political leadership responsible for major government decisions, comes from political parties.
5. Act as opposition: Parties that lose elections voice alternative views, criticise failures and wrong policies, and mobilise opposition to the government. Losing an election therefore does not end a party’s political role.
6. Shape public opinion: Parties highlight issues through members and activists. Many pressure groups, organisations seeking to influence government decisions, are extensions of parties. Parties sometimes launch movements to address people’s problems. Often public opinion crystallises along party positions.
7. Provide access to government: Parties help people reach government machinery and welfare schemes, programmes intended to assist people. Ordinary citizens find local party leaders easier to approach than government officers, even when they do not fully trust parties.

How are parties kept responsive?

Parties have to respond to people’s needs and demands because voters can reject them in the next election. This links their everyday activities with electoral competition. Access to local leaders helps explain why people can remain close to parties despite distrust.

Three photographs show women demonstrating, a minister handing over a cheque among a group of people, and a street rally with banners. These are photographs of political activity, not cartoons.

Reference: NCERT Class 10, page 50

The first photograph shows BJP Mahila Morcha activists demonstrating in Visakhapatnam against higher onion and LPG prices. The second shows a minister distributing a one lakh rupee cheque to families of victims of illicit liquor at their houses. The third shows CPI(M), CPI, OGP and JD(S) activists rallying in Bhubaneswar against the State Government’s permission for POSCO, a Korean steel company, to export iron ore from Orissa to feed steel plants in China and Korea.

Why are parties necessary in representative democracy?

Representative democracy is a system in which elected representatives govern on people’s behalf. Large and complex societies need organisations that gather different opinions, present them to government and bring representatives together. Political parties perform these tasks and help create a responsible government.

What would happen without parties?

Imagine an election in which every candidate is independent, meaning that the candidate does not contest for a party. No one would be able to promise major policy changes on behalf of an organised group capable of carrying them out.

A government may be formed, but its usefulness would remain uncertain. Representatives would answer to their constituencies, the areas they represent, for local work. Nobody would take responsibility for how the country as a whole should be governed.

Parties also provide a mechanism to support or restrain government. They develop policies and justify or oppose them. Their emergence is directly linked with the rise of representative democracy, rather than simply with the personal ambitions of individual candidates.

How do parties connect public views with government?

1. People hold different opinions about issues affecting society.
2. Parties gather similar opinions into a few basic policy positions.
3. They offer candidates and programmes for voters to choose between.
4. They bring representatives together to form a responsible government.
5. They support or oppose government policies, while voters can reject unresponsive parties in later elections.

Non-party panchayat elections provide a useful example. A panchayat is a local village governing body. In many States, parties do not formally contest these elections. Yet villages generally split into factions, each putting forward a panel, or group, of candidates.

This resembles the organising work of a party. The example explains why merely removing party labels does not remove the need to organise candidates and political choices. Parties meet needs that every representative government has and are a necessary condition for democracy.

How do one-party, two-party and multiparty systems differ?

A party system describes the pattern of competition between parties for power. Any group of citizens in a democracy is free to form a party, but usually only a handful are effective contenders. Count serious competitors for government, rather than merely counting registered organisations.

Why does a two-party system still allow other parties?

Smaller parties may exist, contest elections and win some legislative seats. The distinguishing feature is that only two main parties have a serious chance of winning a majority, meaning more than half the seats, and forming government. Two-party competition does not mean that two parties alone may legally exist.

In China, people are legally free to form parties, but the electoral system does not allow free competition for power. A one-party system is not a democratic option. Democracy must allow at least two parties to compete, with a fair chance of reaching power.

What are coalitions and alliances?

A coalition is an arrangement in which different parties come together to form government. An alliance, or front, joins several parties for contesting elections and winning power. In India’s 2004 parliamentary election, three major alliances were the National Democratic Alliance, United Progressive Alliance and Left Front.

The multiparty system often appears very messy and leads to political instability. At the same time, it allows varied interests and opinions to gain representation. These two features must be considered together when evaluating it.

No system is ideal for all countries and all situations. Party systems develop over time through social and regional divisions, political history and electoral arrangements. India’s social and geographical diversity is not easily absorbed by two or even three parties.

What does popular participation reveal about trust in parties?

Trust in parties and participation in their activities are different measures. It is often said that parties are in crisis because citizens dislike them and are indifferent to them. The survey evidence makes this belief only partly true for India.

What did the survey evidence show?

Political parties did not enjoy much trust in South Asia. More respondents expressed little or no trust than some or great trust. Parties were also among the least trusted institutions in most other democracies. Yet participation in party activities was fairly high.

Reported party membership in India was higher than in many advanced countries, including Canada, Japan, Spain and South Korea. Over the three decades covered by the evidence, reported membership in India went up steadily. The proportion reporting closeness to a party also increased overall.

The yellow bars show the percentage who feel close to a political party: 38 in 1971, 31 in 1996, 38 in 1999, 53 in 2004 and 48 in 2005. Party identification rose overall despite fluctuations.

Reference: NCERT Class 10, page 52

Here, party identification means feeling close to a political party, and a percentage measures a number out of every hundred. The party-identification figures describe the period from 1971 to 2005.

The bars do not show an uninterrupted rise. The value falls from 38 to 31 between 1971 and 1996, and from 53 to 48 between 2004 and 2005. Nevertheless, the final value is higher than the initial one.

Note: Low trust does not establish low participation. A person may criticise parties and still join one, support one or use a party leader to approach the government.

How are national and State parties recognised?

In a federal system, political power is shared between governments at different levels. Such democracies tend to have parties operating in one federal unit and others operating across several or all units. India has both State parties and country-wide national parties.

National parties maintain units in different States. By and large, these units follow the policies, programmes and strategy decided at the national level. A party’s national organisation and the electoral conditions for national recognition are related but distinct aspects of its position.

What is recognition?

Every party has to register with the Election Commission, the authority administering elections. It treats parties equally but gives large, established parties certain facilities. A recognised party receives privileges including a unique election symbol reserved for its official candidates.

The 2023 recognition classification identifies six national parties: Aam Aadmi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Indian National Congress and National People’s Party. This date matters when interpreting the list.

Note: Do not confuse registration with recognition. Recognition brings special facilities. In each recognition rule above, the vote requirement and the seat requirement must both be satisfied; meeting the vote percentage alone is insufficient.

An election symbol is the identifying sign used by a party’s candidates. The restriction on a recognised party’s symbol applies to its official candidates. A national party can have different levels of electoral strength across States despite having a country-wide organisation.

What are the main features of the six national parties?

Political parties differ in their origins, social support, policy priorities and electoral record. Their ideology is the set of political ideas guiding their programmes. The following profiles combine formation details with the dated election results needed to compare their development.

How did AAP, BSP and BJP develop?

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was formed on 26 November 2012 after the 2011 anti-corruption movement. Its founding priorities were accountability, clean administration, transparency and good governance. Accountability means answering for decisions; transparency means making the working of government open to scrutiny.

In the year after its formation, AAP became the second-largest party in the Delhi Assembly election and formed government with Congress support. It also formed governments in Punjab and Delhi, and emerged as a third front in Gujarat after the 2022 Assembly election.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was formed in 1984 under Kanshi Ram. It seeks power and representation for the bahujan samaj, including dalits, adivasis, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and religious minorities. Dalits are communities historically oppressed through caste; adivasis are tribal communities. OBCs are socially and educationally backward classes; religious minorities are communities smaller in number than the majority religious community.

BSP draws inspiration from Sahu Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, Periyar Ramaswami Naicker and Babasaheb Ambedkar. It supports the interests and welfare of dalits and oppressed people. Its main base is Uttar Pradesh, with substantial presence in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Punjab.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was founded in 1980 by reviving the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, which Syama Prasad Mukherjee formed in 1951. It draws on India’s ancient culture and values and Deendayal Upadhyaya’s ideas of integral humanism and Antyodaya.

Integral humanism emphasises the development of the whole human being; Antyodaya concerns uplifting the person at the lowest social and economic level. Cultural nationalism, a view of nationhood centred on shared culture and also called Hindutva here, is an important element in BJP’s conception of nationhood and politics.

Its stated positions include full territorial and political integration of Jammu and Kashmir with India, a uniform civil code, meaning common civil laws irrespective of religion, and a ban on religious conversions. Its support expanded substantially during the 1990s, beyond earlier northern, western and urban strongholds.

BJP came to power in 1998 leading the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which included several regional parties. Its expansion reached the south, east, north-east and rural areas. In 2019, it emerged as the largest Lok Sabha party.

What distinguishes CPI(M), INC and NPP?

Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI(M), was founded in 1964. It believes in Marxism-Leninism, a communist political tradition associated with Marx and Lenin. It supports socialism, secularism and democracy, and opposes imperialism and communalism.

Socialism seeks greater social and economic equality; secularism rejects privileging a religion through the State. Imperialism involves domination of one country by another; communalism treats religious communities as having opposed political interests. CPI(M) accepts democratic elections as useful for socio-economic justice.

Its strong support includes West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, especially among poor people, factory workers, farmers, agricultural labourers and the intelligentsia, meaning intellectual workers. It criticises policies allowing the free flow of foreign capital and goods. It governed West Bengal continuously for 34 years.

Indian National Congress (INC), founded in 1885, is one of the world’s oldest parties and has experienced many splits. Under Jawaharlal Nehru, it sought a modern secular democratic republic. A republic has an elected, rather than hereditary, head of State.

Congress ruled at the Centre until 1977 and from 1980 to 1989. Its support declined after 1989, but it retained a country-wide presence across social divisions. It is centrist, occupying the political middle rather than either ideological side, and supports secularism and the welfare of weaker sections and minorities.

Congress supports new economic reforms with a human face, meaning concern for people’s welfare. It led the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), one of the major alliances in the 2004 parliamentary election.

National People’s Party (NPP) was formed in July 2013 under P. A. Sangma. It was the first party from North East India to attain national-party status. It recognises regional differences in development needs and supports education, employment and empowerment for all sections.

NPP formed government in Meghalaya and has a presence in many North Eastern States. Empowerment means enabling people to exercise greater control over their lives and decisions. Its emphasis on diverse regional needs connects its policy outlook with the country’s diversity.

What were their 2019 Lok Sabha results?

How do State parties contribute to federalism?

Most major parties other than national parties are classified as State parties. They are commonly called regional parties, but they need not be regional in ideology or outlook. Some have an all-India organisation and have achieved electoral success only in certain States.

Does a State party necessarily have a narrow outlook?

The Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal have national-level political organisations with units in several States. Their example shows why electoral classification should not automatically be treated as a description of a party’s ideas or geographical ambitions.

Other parties are conscious of their State identity. Examples include Biju Janata Dal, Sikkim Democratic Front, Mizo National Front and Telangana Rashtra Samithi. Their presence allows different regional interests to become part of parliamentary politics and negotiations over government.

The map is dated 13 April 2018 and marked “Map not to scale”. Boxes containing party names and symbols connect to States. Examples include Biju Janata Dal in Odisha and Sikkim Democratic Front in Sikkim.

Reference: NCERT Class 10, page 56

Why did coalition politics increase their influence?

The expansion of State parties made Parliament politically more diverse. In the period of coalition politics before 2014, national parties had to form alliances with State parties to govern. Since 1996, nearly every State party had an opportunity to join one or another national coalition government.

This contributed to stronger federalism, the sharing of power between different levels of government, and democracy. State parties could participate in national government through coalition arrangements. Their importance therefore extends beyond forming governments within their own States.

What four challenges do political parties face?

Parties must overcome failures in their own functioning to remain effective democratic institutions. The four major challenges concern internal democracy, dynastic succession, money and muscle power, and meaningful electoral choice. These problems affect who can influence parties and what voters can choose.

Why are internal democracy and dynastic succession linked?

Internal democracy means members have opportunities to participate in party decisions and leadership selection. There is a tendency across the world for power to concentrate in one or a few leaders. Problems include missing membership registers, failures to hold organisational meetings and irregular internal elections.

Ordinary members do not get sufficient information about what happens inside the party and lack the means or connections needed to influence decisions. Those who disagree with powerful leaders find it difficult to remain in the party. Personal loyalty to leaders becomes more important than loyalty to party principles and policies.

Dynastic succession means leadership passing within a family. Most parties do not practise open, transparent procedures, leaving very few routes for ordinary workers to reach the top. Leaders can unfairly favour close associates or relatives; in many parties, one family always controls top positions.

This is unfair to other members and bad for democracy because people without adequate experience or popular support come to occupy positions of power. The tendency exists in some measure across the world, including in some older democracies.

A large figure of Berlusconi holds strings attached to small figures inside a television-shaped frame. Berlusconi was an Italian political leader and businessman who led Forza Italia, founded in 1993.

Reference: NCERT Class 10, page 57

Berlusconi had been Italy’s Prime Minister and led Forza Italia. His company’s interests included television channels, a major publishing company, the football club AC Milan and a bank. The cartoon brings together political leadership, business ownership and control over other figures.

How do money, muscle power and limited choice affect voters?

Money and muscle power refer to financial influence and coercive strength in politics. Parties tend to nominate candidates who possess or can raise large sums. Rich donors and companies tend to influence party decisions. In some cases, parties support criminals who can win elections.

Very often parties do not seem to offer a meaningful choice. Meaningful choice requires significant differences. Ideological differences have declined in most parts of the world. Britain’s Labour and Conservative parties differ very little on fundamentals, although they differ in policy details.

In India too, differences between major parties’ economic policies have reduced. Sometimes voters cannot even choose very different leaders because the same leaders move between parties. The problem concerns the substance of alternatives, rather than simply the number of names on a ballot.

The cartoon dated 16 June 2004 shows a large elephant with smaller elephants in pockets labelled “HOUSE”, “SENATE”, “S. COURT” and “PRESIDENCY”. A smaller figure labelled “FOX & FRIENDS” hangs from its arm. A “ONE-PARTY COUNTRY” sign and a “CORPORATE AMERICA” flag with a dollar sign complete the image. The elephant represents the Republican Party during George Bush’s presidency.

Reference: NCERT Class 10, page 58

The cartoon seems to suggest that corporate America controls the country’s major institutions. This is a cartoon’s criticism of business influence. It does not establish that the United States has a one-party electoral system.

What reforms have been introduced and what are their limits?

Party reform concerns both rules and political behaviour. Leaders of political parties ultimately make decisions in a democracy. Citizens can replace them with other party leaders, but reform is difficult if leaders collectively resist change. Three major measures address different problems.

What does the anti-defection measure do?

Defection means changing allegiance from the party on whose ticket someone was elected to another party. The Constitution was amended to prevent elected Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) and Members of Parliament (MPs) from changing parties for ministerial office or cash rewards.

The anti-defection law provides for losing the legislative seat on changing parties. It has helped bring defection down. At the same time, it has made dissent, or disagreement within the party, even more difficult because legislators must accept their leaders’ decisions.

What information must candidates and parties provide?

The Supreme Court, India’s highest court, ordered candidates to file an affidavit: a signed document submitted to an officer containing a sworn statement of personal information. Election candidates must disclose their property and criminal cases pending against them.

This has made much information publicly available. However, there is no system to check whether candidates’ information is true. It is not known whether the measure has reduced the influence of wealthy people and criminals. Disclosure and a proven reduction in influence are different outcomes.

The Election Commission ordered parties to hold organisational elections and file income tax returns, documents reporting income for taxation. Parties started doing so, but sometimes this is a mere formality. It is not clear whether the step has increased internal democracy.

How can proposals and public participation improve parties?

Further reform proposals seek open party procedures, greater participation by women and government support for election expenses. These are proposals, distinct from the measures already introduced. If accepted, they could lead to some improvement, but law alone cannot solve every political problem.

What changes have been suggested?

• Regulate internal affairs: Require parties to maintain membership registers, follow their own constitutions, appoint an independent authority to judge party disputes, and hold open elections to their highest posts.
• Increase women’s representation: Require a minimum number of party nominations, about one-third, for women candidates and a quota, or reserved share, for women in party decision-making bodies.
• Provide state funding: Government support could meet election expenses through petrol, paper and telephone facilities, or through cash linked to the party’s votes in the previous election.

These suggestions have not yet been accepted by political parties. Excessive regulation can be counter-productive by encouraging parties to evade the law. Parties will also resist passing laws they dislike, so the existence of a proposal does not guarantee adoption.

What can citizens do?

Citizens can use petitions, written requests for action, publicity and agitations to press parties to reform. Pressure groups, movements and the media can participate. Parties become more serious about reform if they believe refusal would cost them public support.

People who want improvement can also join political parties. Democracy’s quality depends on public participation. It is difficult to reform politics if citizens only criticise from outside. Participation within parties and pressure from outside are complementary routes to change.

What does the Muhammad Yunus example raise?

Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. In February 2007, he decided to launch Nagarik Shakti, meaning Citizens’ Power, to seek better leadership, good governance and a new political culture through grassroots democracy, meaning democracy beginning with ordinary people at the local level.

Many welcomed Yunus’s decision. Government official Shahedul Islam hoped that a future government would stay free of corruption and prioritise fighting corruption and black money, meaning income concealed from lawful scrutiny. Leaders of traditional political parties were apprehensive about the challenges of politics, while a political observer questioned whether mentors outside the country were promoting Yunus’s entry into politics. The example invites evaluation of a new party’s organisation and aims; it does not prove that a new party will succeed.

Glossary

• Political party — A group agreeing on policies and programmes, contesting elections and seeking power in government.
• Partisan — A person strongly committed to a particular party, group or faction.
• Ruling party — The political party that runs government and directs its policies.
• Opposition — Parties outside power that voice alternatives, criticise government and mobilise opposition to it.
• Representative democracy — Government through elected representatives who act on behalf of the people.
• Two-party system — A system in which two main parties have a serious chance of forming government.
• Multiparty system — A system where more than two parties can reasonably gain power independently or through alliances.
• Coalition — An arrangement through which several political parties come together to form government.
• Alliance — Several parties joining together to contest elections and win political power.
• Recognised party — A party receiving special Election Commission facilities, including a symbol reserved for its official candidates.
• Internal democracy — Opportunities for party members to participate in decisions and the selection of leaders.
• Dynastic succession — The passing of leadership within a family rather than through open competition.
• Defection — Changing from the party on whose ticket a representative was elected to another party.
• Affidavit — A signed document submitted to an officer containing a sworn statement of personal information.
• State funding — Government support for parties’ election expenses, provided through money or resources in kind.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: Parties only divide people. Correct: They also organise opinions, contest elections, run governments, make laws, act as opposition and help citizens access government.
• Misconception: A two-party system prohibits smaller parties. Correct: Other parties may contest and win seats; two main parties have a serious chance of forming government.
• Misconception: A multiparty system is ideal everywhere. Correct: No system is ideal for every country and situation; each develops under particular historical and social conditions.
• Misconception: Distrust means citizens do not participate in parties. Correct: The historical survey evidence combines low trust with fairly high participation and rising membership in India.
• Misconception: Every State party has only regional ideas. Correct: Some have national organisations or an all-India outlook despite electoral success in particular States.
• Misconception: Anti-defection measures have no democratic cost. Correct: They have reduced defection but also made disagreement with party leaders more difficult.
• Misconception: Affidavits prove criminal influence has declined. Correct: They make information available, but whether the influence of the rich and criminals has declined is not known.
• Misconception: About one-third of party tickets for women and state funding are already implemented reforms here. Correct: They are suggestions, distinct from introduced legal and disclosure measures.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. A party system allows several parties to contest elections and win some seats, but only two main parties have a serious chance of winning a majority and forming government. Identify the system and explain why the smaller parties do not contradict its name. [2 marks]

1. It is a two-party system because two main parties have a serious chance of forming government.
2. The name concerns effective competition for power, not the total number of parties legally allowed to contest elections.

Q2. An imagined election has only independent candidates. They can answer for local work, but no organised group promises major national policy changes or accepts responsibility for running the country. Explain three reasons this situation demonstrates a need for political parties. [3 marks]

1. Parties combine similar public views into policy programmes, giving voters a national direction to choose rather than a collection of unrelated local promises.
2. They bring elected representatives together to form a responsible government capable of taking decisions for the country as a whole.
3. They create an organised means to support or restrain government, justify or oppose policies, and take responsibility beyond individual constituencies.

Q3. Consider five activities: parties select election candidates; group opinions into programmes; guide legislators when laws are debated; recruit and train future ministers; and criticise government failures after losing elections. Explain the democratic function illustrated by each activity. [5 marks]

1. Contesting elections: Selecting candidates enables parties to offer people a choice of representatives. In the situation given, the selected candidates contest elections on behalf of their parties.
2. Presenting policies: Grouping similar views reduces a wide variety of opinions into basic positions. Voters can then choose between programmes for the direction of government.
3. Making laws: The legislators in this example receive party guidance while laws are debated. Parties therefore influence law-making through their members in the legislature.
4. Running government: Recruiting and training leaders prepares them to become ministers. Parties supply the political executive responsible for major policy decisions and government administration.
5. Providing opposition: After losing elections, parties continue to question government failures. This gives them an opposition role and shows that party activity continues outside government.

Q4. A party has four problems: a few leaders make decisions without informing members; relatives receive top positions; wealthy donors influence policies; and its main policies barely differ from its rivals’. Identify and explain the four challenges shown. [4 marks]

1. Lack of internal democracy: Concentrated power and poor information prevent ordinary members from influencing decisions within their own party.
2. Dynastic succession: Favouring relatives gives a leader’s family unfair advantages and restricts opportunities for other party workers.
3. Money power: Donors who finance parties can influence their policies, making financial resources a source of political influence.
4. Lack of meaningful choice: Similar policies leave voters with few substantial alternatives, even when several parties contest the election.

Q5. Candidate affidavits disclose property and pending criminal cases, but there is no system to verify the information and it is not known whether rich and criminal influence has declined. State the purpose, achievement and limitation of this reform. [3 marks]

1. Purpose: The affidavit requirement seeks to reduce the influence of money and criminals by making candidates disclose relevant personal information when contesting elections.
2. Achievement: It has made a great deal of information about candidates’ property and pending criminal cases available to the public.
3. Limitation: The information is not checked through a system, and a decline in the influence of wealthy people and criminals has not been established.

Q6. Reform proposals include membership registers and open leadership elections; about one-third of tickets for women and a women’s quota in party bodies; government assistance through petrol, paper, telephone facilities or cash based on previous votes; public petitions and publicity; and reform-minded citizens joining parties. Explain how each route seeks improvement, treating proposals as proposals. [5 marks]

1. Internal rules: Membership registers and open elections would give party organisation clearer procedures and more open routes to leadership, addressing concentrated power within parties.
2. Women’s participation: Giving about one-third of nominations to women and reserving a share in decision-making bodies would seek greater participation in electoral contests and party decisions.
3. State funding: Government support for election expenses could reduce parties’ dependence on wealthy donors and their influence over policies. Assistance could take the form of petrol, paper and telephone facilities, or cash based on votes in the previous election.
4. Public pressure: Petitions and publicity can make parties fear losing support if they refuse reform. Citizens, movements, pressure groups and the media can contribute.
5. Participation within parties: People seeking improvement can join parties and work for change. Simply criticising politics from outside makes reform more difficult.

Q7. The party-identification graph records people feeling close to a party: 38 per cent in 1971, 31 in 1996, 38 in 1999, 53 in 2004 and 48 in 2005. Identify the overall direction, give evidence against an uninterrupted rise, and explain what the measure records. [3 marks]

1. The overall direction is upward because the final value of 48 per cent in 2005 is higher than the initial 38 per cent in 1971.
2. The rise is not uninterrupted: the value falls from 38 to 31 between 1971 and 1996, and from 53 to 48 between 2004 and 2005.
3. The measure records the share of people who feel close to a political party. It should not be confused with the share formally belonging to a party.

Key takeaways

• A political party combines agreed policies with the aim of contesting elections and exercising power in government.
• Parties organise public opinion, offer candidates, make laws, run governments, provide opposition and connect citizens with government services.
• Representative democracy needs parties to bring representatives together and provide responsibility for governing the country.
• Party systems depend on effective competition for power and develop through a country’s history, divisions and electoral arrangements.
• Low trust in parties can coexist with substantial participation, so distrust and membership must be examined separately.
• National and State recognition concern electoral criteria; State parties need not have a narrowly regional ideology.
• Internal democracy, dynastic succession, money and muscle power, and limited meaningful choice are four major challenges.
• Reforms require careful assessment of legal measures, their limitations, proposed changes and citizens’ participation inside and outside parties.

Test yourself

What are the three components of a political party?

A political party consists of leaders, active members and followers.

Why does a one-party system fail the test of democratic competition?

Democracy requires at least two parties to compete in elections, with a fair chance for competing parties to reach power.

What distinguishes a coalition from an electoral alliance?

A coalition brings parties together to form government. An alliance joins parties for contesting elections and winning power.

Which three major alliances contested the 2004 parliamentary election?

The three major alliances were the National Democratic Alliance, United Progressive Alliance and Left Front.

Who founded BSP, and when was it formed?

The Bahujan Samaj Party was formed in 1984 under the leadership of Kanshi Ram.

What is the democratic drawback of the anti-defection measure?

It makes dissent within parties more difficult because elected legislators have to accept decisions made by party leaders.

What must an election candidate disclose in an affidavit?

The candidate must disclose details of property and criminal cases pending against them through a sworn statement.

What two routes allow citizens to improve political parties?

Citizens can press for reform through petitions, publicity and agitations, and can join parties to work for improvement from within.