Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A group of people who come together to contest election is called a political party.
The party which wins majority seats in legislature forms the government whereas
which does not win in legislature forms the opposition.
i)political parties agree on some policies and programmes for the welfare of society
with a view to promote the collective good.
ii)since there can be different views on what is good for all, parties try to persuade
people why their policies are better than others.
i)Parties persuade people and tell them why their policies are better than others.
3. DECISIVE ROLE IN MAKING LAWS: Formally, laws are debated and passed in the
legislature but since most of the members belong to a party, they go by the
direction of the party leadership irrespective of their personal opinion.
4.PARTIES FORM AND RUN GOVT. The political party which gets the majority of seats
in the legislature forms and runs the govt. Parties recruit leaders, train them and
then make them ministers to run the govt. in the way they want.
i)They form govt. after winning elections i.e. the political party which wins majority
seats in the legislature forms the govt. whereas the political party which does not
win majority seats in the legislature forms the opposition. It criticises the govt. for
its acts of omission and commission.
I)One party system-When only one party is allowed to control and run the govt.it is
called one-party system. Eg-In China only Communist party is allowed to rule
because electoral system does not permit free competition for power.
ii)Two party system-When two parties have a serious chance of winning majority
seats to form govt., such a system is called two-party system. Eg-USA & UK. Several
other parties may exist and contest elections but only two major parties have a
serious chance of winning majority seats.
iii)Multi-party system-When several parties compete for power and more than two
parties have a reasonable chance of coming to power either on their own strength
or in alliance with others, this is called multi-party system.
Q.6.What is an alliance or Front?
A. When several parties in a multi-party system join hands for contesting elections
and winning power, it is called alliance or front. The govt. is then formed by various
parties coming together in a coalition Eg-major alliance in 2004 elections were
NDA(National Democratic Alliance),UPA(United Progressive Alliance).
A.7.i)It leads to political instability as coalition govts. are formed which are not very
stable.
ii)By and large all their units follow the same policies, programmes and strategies
that are decided at national level.
ii)A regional party has a regional outlook as it gives prominence to regional issues
and specific problems of people of that region and influence people of that region.
iii)Some of these parties are All India Parties that happen to have succeeded in
some states. Parties like Samajwadi party, Samata party and Rashtriya Janata Dal
have national level political organisations with units in several states.
iv)Some parties like Biju Janata Dal, Sikkim Democratic Front and Mizo National
Front are conscious about their state identity.
Q.12.On what basis does Election Commission recognises parties as national or
regional parties? A.NATIONAL PARTIES-A part that secures atleast 60% of total votes
in Lok Sabha elections or Assembly elections in four states and wins atleast 4 seats
in Lok sabha is recognised as a national party.
A.In the last three decades the no. and strength of regional parties has expanded
which has made our parliament more diverse. These days not a single national
party is able to secure a majority in Lok Sabha. Therefore, national parties form
alliance with regional parties. Since 1996,state parties have got an opportunity to
be a part of the national level coalition govt. This strengthened our democracy and
federalism.
2.DYNASTIC SUCCESSION: There are very few ways for ordinary people or workers to
rise to top in a political party. In many parties, the top positions are held by
members of one family. This is bad for democracy as people who do not have
enough experience and popular support come to occupy top and important
positions.
3.USE OF MONEY AND MUSCLE POWER: Sometimes political parties use shortcuts to
win elections. They tend to nominate those candidates who can waste a lot of
money. In some cases, political parties support criminals who use their muscle
power to ensure the victory of a political party in elections. 4.LACK OF MEANINGFUL
CHOICE TO VOTERS: In the modern era, there has been a decline in the ideological
differences among parties. Those who want different policies have no options
available to them.
A. i)The constitution was amended to prevent the elected MLAs and MPs from
changing the parties. It was done because elected members were indulging in
defection to become ministers or for cash rewards. Now the law says that if an MLA
or an MP changes his party, he will lose his seat in the legislature.
ii)The Supreme Court has passed an order to reduce the influence of money and
criminals. Now a candidate is required to fill an affidavit giving details of his
property and criminal cases pending against him.
iii)The Election Commission passed an order making it necessary for the parties to
hold their organisational and file their income tax return.
A.i)A law should be made to regulate the internal affairs of the political parties. It
should be made compulsory for political parties to maintain a register of its
members, to have its independent constitution and follow it, to have an
independent authority, to act as a judge in case of party disputes, to hold open
elections to the higher posts.
ii)It should be made mandatory for political parties to give tickets to about 1/3rd of
women candidates.
iii)There should be state funding of elections i.e. the govt. should give parties
money to support their election expenses.
ii)Ordinary citizens, pressure groups and media can play an important role as if
political parties feel that they would lose public support by not taking up reforms,
they would become more serious about reforms.
Ans.:-1. Political parties are easily one of the most visible institutions in a
democracy.
3. Political parties helped in making public opinion and farming the govt.
Ans.:-1. More than two parties have a reasonable chance of coming to power either
on their own strength or in alliance with others
2. This system allows a variety of interests and opinions to enjoy political
representation.
3. In India we have multi party system and the coalition govt. for last 15 years
which benefits all sections
of the population.
2. It agrees on some policies and programmers for the society with a view to
promote collective good.
4. It is known by which part it stands for, which policies it supports and whose
interest it upholds.
3. They contest elections and try to get the maximum number of their candidates
elected
5. The party which gets as absolute majority, forms the govt. others form opposition
Ans.:- 1. As a society become large and complex they also need some agenesis
together with different views on various issues and to present these to the govt.
3. They need a mechanism to support and restrain the govt. make policies, justify or
oppose them.
3. Making laws
4. Parties form and fun govt.
Ans.:- Following points can be given with explanation as the challenges of political
parties
in India
2. Lack of transparency
Ans.:- 1. Congress party was founded in 1885 and has experiences many splits.
2. It was ruling party at the centre till 1977 and then in 1880-89, 2000 to till
date
5. It emerged as the largest party with 145 seats in the Lok Sabha elections in
2004.
6. It currently leads the ruling united progressive alliance (UPA) coalition govt.
at the centre.