544398
Description
Mind Map by Marcus Danvers, updated more than 1 year ago
|
Created by Marcus Danvers
over 10 years ago
|
|
(4) What is the function
of a political party?
- Representation
- Primary funation of a political party
- Parties link government to the
people by responding to and
articulating public opinion
- The major UK parties are
therefore "catch-all parties"
- A party that develops polices that will
appeal to the widest range of voters, by
contrast with a programmatic party
- A party that develops polices that will
appeal to the widest range of voters, by
contrast with a programmatic party
- Parties translate public
opinion into government policy
- The effectiveness of parties in ensuring
representation has also been questioned
- The electorate is not always well-informed and rational in
choosing between parties. Factors such as a party's image
and the personality of leaders maybe important as its policies
- The "first-past-the-post" election system,
means that parties may only need the suport
of 35-40% of the electoate to win a GE
- The electorate is not always well-informed and rational in
choosing between parties. Factors such as a party's image
and the personality of leaders maybe important as its policies
- Primary funation of a political party
- Policy formulation
- Political parties are one of the key means
through which societies set collective goals
and formulate public policy
- In the process of seeking power, parties
develop programmes of government
- Party forums
- Annual conferences
- Election manifestos
- Party forums
- Not only does this mean that parties often
initiate policy, but they also formulate coherent
sets of policy options that give the electorate a
choice of realistic and achievable goals
- The effectiveness of parties in formulating
polices has also been questioned
- As the major parties distance themselves from their tradtional
ideologies, they have becoem less interested in formulating
larger goals for society, and generally less interested in ideas
- Parties have become more eager to
follow public opinion than trying to shape
it by adopting clear ideological stances
- As the major parties distance themselves from their tradtional
ideologies, they have becoem less interested in formulating
larger goals for society, and generally less interested in ideas
- Political parties are one of the key means
through which societies set collective goals
and formulate public policy
- Recuitment of leaders
- All senior political careers start with
the decision to join a political party
- As a party member, a budding politician can
gain experience of canvassing, debating
issues and helping to run a constituency
party
- Parties recuit and train the
politcal leaders of the future
- The effectiveness of parties in recruiting and
training the leaders has also been questioned
- As government are appointed from the ranks
of the majority party in the Commons, they
rely on a relatively small pool of talent
- Electioneering and other party activites
may be poor training for running a large
government department
- As government are appointed from the ranks
of the majority party in the Commons, they
rely on a relatively small pool of talent
- All senior political careers start with
the decision to join a political party
- Organization of government
- The operation of government
relies on parties in many ways:
- Parties help to form governments,
meaning that the UK effectively has a
system of "party government"
- Parties give government a degree of stability and
coherence, especially as the members of the government
are usally drawn from a single pparty and are therefore
united by common sypathies and attachments
- Facilitate cooperation between the
two major branches of government
and Parliament and the executive
- Provide a source of opposition and criticism,
helping to scrutinize government policy and
provide a "governmnent in waiting"
- Parties help to form governments,
meaning that the UK effectively has a
system of "party government"
- The effectiveness of parties
in organizing government
has also been questioned
- The decline in party unity since the
1970s has tended to weaken the majority
party's control of the Commons
- The decline in party unity since the
1970s has tended to weaken the majority
party's control of the Commons
- The operation of government
relies on parties in many ways:
- Participation and
mobilization
- Political parties foster
participation in two ways:
- Provide opportunities for citizens to join
political parties and therefore help to
shape policy and government policy
- Help to educate and mobilize the electorate through a
range of activities - canvassing, public meeting, advertising
and poster campaigns, party broadcasts..
- Provide opportunities for citizens to join
political parties and therefore help to
shape policy and government policy
- Parties are at the heart of electoral machines,
operating though the building up of loyalty and
identification amongst the electorate
- The effectivness of parties in ensuring
participation and mobilization had also
been questioned
- Voters loyalty towards, and identification with, parties has declined. Whereas
44% of voters claimed to have a "very strong" attachment to a party in 1964, this
had fallen to a mere 10% by 2005 though the process of partisan dealignment
- Turnout in GE has fallen sharply since 1997, with only
59% voting in 2001, the lowest turnout since 1918
- The membership of parties in the UK has
fallen- from over 3 million in the 1960s to
around 800,000 in the early 2000s
- Voters loyalty towards, and identification with, parties has declined. Whereas
44% of voters claimed to have a "very strong" attachment to a party in 1964, this
had fallen to a mere 10% by 2005 though the process of partisan dealignment
- Political parties foster
participation in two ways:
Want to create your own Mind Maps for free with GoConqr? Learn more.