Page 253 - DPOL202_COMPARATIVE_POLITICS_AND_GOVERNMENT_ENGLISH

Comparative Politics and Government

Notes 2. Political parties, in most of the cases, fight for their own interests. The members look at every
important point from the viewpoint of their party interest. As a result, in many situations, the
general interest is sacrificed at the altar of sectional interests. It narrows the vision of the members,
because they are more concerned with the gains of their party and not with the gains of the
community as a whole. Scramble for the ‘spoils’ goes on so that all benefits may be grabbed by
the men of the party and, more than that, by the group of the party in power.
3. Party system destroys the individuality of man. Whatever is decided by the party bosses must
be obeyed and followed by others. The dissenters are not taken happily; they are taken to task
for saying or doing anything against the rules or traditions of the party. There is hardly any
scope for most of the members to exercise their initiative in important policy matters. It is a
small coterie that rules the roost, the rank and file are like hand-raisers or carpet unrollers. In
case some man of initiative or enterprise displays his intrinsic mettle, it is not unlikely that he
may face the situation of a ‘purge’ or some other punitive action.
4. Parties become an instrument in the hand’s of vested interests. Big social and economic
organisations hire politicians for their selfish purposes. They finance political parties and provide
them necessary resources for contesting elections. When such party leaders get high political
officies, they do for the interest of their solicitors. Powerful pressure groups establish their links
with party leaders and thereby manage to set up their ‘colonies’ in the important areas of public
administration. In such a situation, the real policy-makers and the real administrators of a
country are not the so-called ‘representatives’ of the people, they are the ‘agents’ or powerful
interests having influential positions in the ranks of political parties.
5. Party system creates unnecessary politicisation from the level of national government to that of
municipal and rural administration.
Thus, the men of merit and integrity are replaced by the men of politics at all levels. The trends of
hollowness and insincerity grow more and more; favouritism and nepotism also develop side by
side. It all causes ‘degradation of political life by sectional interests’.
As a matter of fact, party system has its strong as well as weak sides and if a verdict is to be given on
the charges, it will hold it neither ‘guilty’, nor ‘not guilty’, but ‘greatly exaggerated’. In spite of its
weaknesses, the existence of political parties is essential. Therefore, the way out should be the reform
of the system so that it may work as satisfactorily as possible. The successful working of party system
in some leading democratic countries of the world should be referred to at this stage. Hence, we
endorse some suggestions for the successful working of political parties:
1. The number of political parties should not be unduly large. It is good that a country has four or
five big political parties and the alternation of power takes place among them smoothly. A
statutory check should be imposed on the proliferation of political parties.
2. When a new party is created, it should be put on a period of probation and it should be recognised
only after it has proved its bona fides. For this purpose, there should be very specific as well as
stringent rules and regulations.
3. The policies and programmes of every political party should be scrutinised. Recognition should
be given to a party if it has a distinct policy of its own. If some parties have similar programmes,
they should be merged. Importance should be given to the principles and not to the whims and
caprices of the personalities.
4. It is also necessary that only those parties should be allowed to function, which have faith in
democratic and constitutional means. No leniency should be shown to a party that expresses its
resolve to break the constitution or to subvert the democratic system by violent and
insurrectionary methods.
5. The funds of parties should be audited from time to time so that it may be given for public
information as to wherefrom they could get the funds and on what items the money was spent.
Lavish funding to political parties by private agencies should be banned.

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