6. PARTIES AND PARTY SYSTEMS

In modern political systems, an important element is political parties - stable political organizations that unite people with common interests and ideals . The parties express the interests, needs and goals of certain social groups; they either participate in the functioning of political power or act on it indirectly. Parties also have an ideological influence on the population, thereby forming public opinion.

The beginning of modern partology, the section of political science that studies political parties, is associated with the names of two scholars: Moses Ostrogorsky and Pope Michels . The main work of Ostrogorsky "Democracy and the organization of political parties", which was published in 1902, was the first comparative study of political parties. The work of Mikhels "Political parties. A sociological study of the oligarchic tendencies of modern democracy" was published in 1911. At present, a considerable amount of research has been published in the West on this issue. There are many definitions of political parties, but all of them, as a rule, name striving for power and representation of social interests as distinctive features. For example, the American political analyst C. Lawson gives the following definition: "A political party is an organization of individuals that seeks to extend, through elections, powers from the people or part of it to special representatives of this organization in order to exercise the political power of these government agencies, arguing that power will be exercised on behalf of this nation. "

The main functions of the parties are as follows:

1. definition of goals;
2. generalization and expression of social interests;
3. mobilization of social forces, especially voters, around party candidates for elections;
4. the organization of public opinion on issues affecting the vital interests of the nation;
5. preparation of the ruling elite and the formation of the government.

Political parties originated in ancient times, which clearly demonstrates the history of ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. However, the history of political parties as special, distinguished by a high degree of organization of political movements begins in the XVIII and especially in the XIX century, with the introduction of universal suffrage. It should be borne in mind that, both in the past and at present, many large organizations that have all the features of political parties, that is, are organized groups of citizens seeking to realize common goals through the struggle for power, have acted and are acting under different names : "clubs", "unions", "stacks", "unions", "fronts", etc.

In political science, the history of political parties has been divided into three main periods: parties, like aristocratic groups, parties, like political clubs, and modern swinging parties.

In addition to the main features common to all, there are significant differences between modern political parties that relate to their social nature, organization type, ideological image, place occupied in the system of power, etc.

From a social point of view, parties are distinguished by the interests of which social groups they express: they can be class parties (workers, bourgeois, peasant, etc.), non-class parties (bourgeois-landlord, etc.), parties of social groups, for example, intellectuals, national parties and even parties of socio-demographic groups, for example, youth, women’s.

According to the type of organizational structure , the division of parties into personnel and mass parties is widespread. The latter include a large number of members. The main source of their funding is the fees they pay. There is a close and constant communication between party members. The main activity of mass parties is ideological or educational in nature. The leadership in them belongs to professional politicians. The cadre parties are few, they lack a strictly defined and permanent membership, they do not have the institution of membership dues, they are characterized by organizational friability. Such parties become viable during the election period. They are led by a small number of professional politicians and, accordingly, power is in the hands of those who participate in the government on behalf of the party.

Depending on the ideological appearance, the parties are divided into ideological and political , whose activities are based on a more or less clearly defined ideology; pragmatic , or, in other words, selective, not having a stable ideology, using those or other ideas, slogans that are most attractive and relevant during the election period; charismatic-leader , uniting their members not so much around a particular idea, as around the very popular personality of the leader.

There is also a typology dividing parties into representative and mobilizing . The former express the views of their followers, with the change of which the policies of the party change. As for the mobilizing parties, their main feature is that they are aimed at "altering" the consciousness of the population, special emphasis is placed on propaganda, preventing counter-propaganda.

According to the place that parties occupy in the system of power , they are divided into legal ones , including those that play a significant role in the political system and have little influence, and illegal ones .

Finally, on such grounds as the nature of intra-party relations , the attitude of the party towards society and towards those or other elements of political life, it is customary to single out democratic and totalitarian parties.

Democratic parties are considered to be pluralistic, competing with other parties, representative, seeking to take into account different views in order to win over a wide circle of followers. Democratic parties subordinate their activities to constitutional norms. In inner-party life, they are characterized by wide pluralism, the presence of fractions, trends, etc.

Totalitarian parties are also called monopoly, since they set a goal to eliminate other parties from the political arena. Being in power, they seek to subordinate all classes and sectors of society to their interests, to put the constitution and laws at the service of party goals. In inner-party relations, totalitarian parties are characterized by rigid centralism, strict discipline, and the absence of factions.

The listed types of lots do not exclude each other, on the contrary, they often combine different characteristics. For example, the Communist Party, as a class party, can be a mass, legal or illegal, revolutionary, totalitarian or relatively democratic.

Analysis of parties as a political institution involves the study of party systems, which are an essential element of the political system of society. The party system is usually understood as the totality of the parties in society and the nature of the relations between them, which is expressed in rivalry or joint struggle for power and its implementation.

There are two main types of party systems: one-party and multi-party . In the first, one party is ruling, governing, there are no free elections, pluralism, etc. This is the most important feature of totalitarian systems. In multiparty systems, there are, as a rule, complex interparty relations of both rivalry and cooperation. Detailed classifications of a multiparty system have been developed. As an example, let us give the typology of D. Sartori , who identifies the following types of it.

1. A system with a party exercising hegemony , when there are several parties formally, but one actually and legally rules, there are no conditions for equal rivalry in free elections (such systems existed in the GDR, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Poland).

2. The system with the predominant party , when there are equal conditions for all parties, but one by its authority or influence far exceeds the others (the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan).

3. A bipartisan system , when the two main parties significantly outperform others (the democratic and republican parties in the USA).

4. The system of extreme pluralism , which is characterized by the presence of anti-system parties, i.e. parties opposing the existing socio-economic and political system, in other words, the opposition. These parties do not share the values ​​of the political system in which they operate, and have different ideologies. Another sign of this type of pluralism is the presence of a bilateral opposition, which is located on both sides of the government - left and right. These two oppositions mutually exclude each other and are in constant conflict. With extreme pluralism, access to the formation of the government is limited, it is possible for the parties of the center. Extreme parties opposing the existing system are excluded from participation in the government and become irresponsible opposition giving promises to the right and left without responding to their implementation (the responsible opposition hopes to form a government and therefore expects ", that is, to fulfill their promises). Systems of this type are party systems in many Latin American countries.

5. The "atomized" party system reaches such a quantitative threshold for the number of parties, beyond which its further increase does not play a significant role. An example would be modern Georgia.

6. The system of limited pluralism , the main feature of which is the absence of anti-system parties and bilateral opposition, the focus of all political parties in society on participation in the government. The party systems of many European countries are close to this type of system.

Of course, the above typology is relative, multiparty systems can also be classified on the basis of other characteristics.