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Unit 13: Political Parties

• The culture of France has its salient trait in the absence of a stable consensus that has its definite Notes
impact on the existence and operation of both the political parties and the pressure groups.
• “There is no other major political system where the multiplicity of professional and occupational
groups is compounded to such an extent by the ideological element. The interest groups are
‘politicised’, that is, impregnated with political attitudes”.
• The result is that pressure groups “represent all the forces at work in political life rather than
political parties and groups”. An eminent student of this subject endorses that “for every
conceivable interest group, there seems to be an association or a spokesman. If we look at the
Paris telephone directory under ‘association’ or ‘union’ or ‘syndicate’, we shall quickly realise
that there is no possible interest that does not have an office or an organisation in France.
• The peculiar thing about this country is that here the distribution of power “is primarily a
function of the cabinet government and the British parliamentary system. So long as the parties
accept the system of government, effective decision-making authority will reside with the
leadership groups thrown up by the parliamentary parties (of whom one of the most important
individuals is the party leader); and they will exercise this authority so long as they retain the
confidence of their respective parliamentary parties.”
• The history of its origin and growth dates back to the early phase of the modern period when
two conditions contributed to the evolution of the party system, namely, the movement that the
Parliament should become a legislative body in all its essentials with its rights fully established
and that there should be political issues of a broad and deep character on which the people may
combine themselves in group. The rise of the political parties became natural after the Restoration
Movement (1660) when in 1679 a conflict developed over the passage of the Exclusion Bill.
• The party system of Britain docs not rule out the existence of other or ‘third’ parties. Even now
there are some small organisations like Scottish Nationalists in Scotland and Plaid Cymru in
Wales. However, what entitles Britain for being a model of bi-party system is that only two
major political parties play a determining part in the mechanism of representative government.
Power alternates between the two parties.
• The two parties of Britain have their sharp ideological distinctions despite the fact that both
have no faith in the doctrine of scientific socialism. While the Conservative party stands for the
protection and promotion of the interests of the affluent class having control over the means of
production and distribution, the Labour Party does the same by and large for the class of the
workers.
• A very important feature of British political parties should be traced in their being well-organised
and disciplined and by virtue of that in their enjoying a hard core of electoral support. There is
rigorous discipline due to which political maladies like cross-voting and floor-crossing are
uncommon.
• The Conservative party has never been a body of thoroughly superstitious men. Its name hardly
denotes its essential nature. As such, instead of calling it an organization of the opponents of
reform, democracy and social justice, it would be more appropriate to describe it as a body of
those who obdurately value their traditions and precedents and desire change at a very slow
pace as far as possible.
• If the party gets clear majority, he becomes the Prime Minister, if the party is in the opposition,
he selects his ‘shadow cabinet’. Whips are appointed by him. His authority is by no means
absolute in as much as the committee of the backbenchers (1922 Committee as it is called) may
impeach him for his acts of commission or omission and thereby force him to take a different
line of action.
• The Labour Party is a more socially representative organisation. It draws strength mainly from
the middle class intelligentsia and manual workers. Its members are of four main categories:
‘professions’ (like university and college teachers), ‘minor professions’ (like journalists, organisers,
public lecturers, insurance salesmen), small businessmen (like shopkeepers, accountants and
executives) and ‘working class occupations’ (like labourers, artisans, clerks, etc.).

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