Multiple Political parties and Mechanism of

Government
"A party of order or stability, and a party of progress or reform, are
both necessary elements of a healthy state of political life."

John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859

Political parties have often been portrayed in the popular media as corrupt or incompetent
and are frequently viewed as the cause of government gridlock or the failure of
democratically elected governments to deal with urgent issues. Political parties may
become vehicles for powerful economic interests seeking to dominate the political process
for their own private interests or serve as the basis for anti-democratic ideologies, such as
fascism or communism, that seek political control over the society. Such negative
manifestations of political parties, however, do not negate their essential importance as
representative institutions in a democracy, nor the positive impact they may have within
them. Political parties are the indispensable vehicles for citizens to engage in the
democratic process no modern democracy has existed without them.

In general, political parties are formed to reflect the spectrum of the people's views,
interests, and needs, from their highest ideals to their basest instincts. As the 19th-century
British philosopher John Stuart Mill suggests in the quote above, political parties in
electoral democracies generally act together to create a balance or compromise between
opposing and differing views. Just as importantly, political parties have been the means
for inspiring and mobilizing voters to support fundamental political change when it is
needed. Even in todays age of dispersed social communications, idealistic citizens
seeking change turn to political parties to carry it out.

More than two centuries of political history have shown that no democracy can survive
without a multiparty system in which the people are free to organize themselves into rival
political organizations or rival factions within political organizations. Absent the
organization of free and independent political parties, power is generally exploited by
narrow cliques that pursue their own interests or it is monopolized by a single party that
suppresses dissent and dispenses patronage to supporters.
Democracy Is Representative
The founders of the United States, both Federalists seeking a strong national government
and Anti-Federalists opposing them, had a strong aversion to democracy. To them,
democracy was direct popular rule and often cited the Greek political philosopher Aristotle,
who defined democracy as "rule by the passionate, ignorant, demagogue-dominated
voice of the people' . . . [that is] sure to produce first injustice, then anarchy, and finally
tyranny." What we know today as democracy is representative government. It was this
form of self-governance that the founders believed would provide the best protection of
liberty against tyranny and also the best means for reflecting the varied opinions and will
of the people. In their view, only representative government, with its capacity for debate
and deliberation, permitted the balancing of individual interests in a large political
community.

The Necessity of Political Parties

Yet, many of the founders were hostile to the idea of political parties. James
Madison's Federalist Papers essay No. 10 famously argues that the organization of
"factions" (meaning parties) would pose a serious danger to the new union. But Americas
own early elections, in which the founders divided among Federalists and anti-Federalists,
showed how necessary and natural political parties were as a democratic instrument
for representative government. They are the means by which citizens identify themselves
politically. They organize citizens around ideological and policy platforms, establish the
basis for voters to choose their representatives, and collectively represent the broad and
diverse interests of the people. It is only in the framework of a pluralist party system that
self-governance as the founders conceived it could be carried out.

Types of Electoral Systems & Their

Influence on Parties
The multiparty system has many variants, representing the history of the struggle for
democracy in different countries. Political parties in democratic countries are allowed
generally to develop on their own, without specific constitutional provisions or mandates
defining their number or nature. But partisan patterns are strongly influenced by a
country's electoral framework. In both the United States and the United Kingdom,
legislative elections are mostly conducted under a "first past the post" system. The
candidate with the most votes whether a majority or a simple plurality wins the
electoral contest. Legislative contests are held in geographically defined, single-member
districts. This system favors the development of a small number of large parties since
minor parties have difficulty contesting multiple districts.

Under proportional representation (PR) systems, used in most other countries, legislative
seats are allocated according to a party's percentage of the vote nationally, regionally, or
locally (depending on the election). This means that smaller parties can gain
representation without actually defeating larger parties. Because many parties take seats
in the legislature, coalitions of two or more parties are often needed to obtain a majority of
members in parliament to vote in favor of forming a government, although sometimes one
party may dominate to get a majority on its own. There are many forms of proportional
representation or PR. Some electoral systems divide the vote into regional multi-seat
districts, or require parties to win a minimum percentage to gain representation, or use
different formulas (some quite complicated) to convert vote percentages into seats. PR
systems generally have thresholds for the percentage of votes needed for political parties
to gain seats in parliament. These range from less than 1 percent in the Netherlands to 10
percent in Turkey. Obviously, more parties gain representation with lower threshold
requirements.

Aside from the respective electoral frameworks that help to create them, there is no clear
dividing line between two-party dominant systems like that of the United States and United
Kingdom and multi-party systems. Even where two large parties dominate they must
represent broad interests and sometimes have a number of shifting factions within them.
Also, even in first past the post systems, third and fourth parties arise as alternative
outlets, while in multi-party systems with proportional representation, two larger,
broad-based parties routinely serve as the core or dominant parties of rival coalitions.

Platforms and Ideologies

Major political parties generally represent different ideologies, namely sets of ideas about
the role of government and the organization of society. In Europe, parties can be grouped
under a few general labels according to their places on the political and ideological
spectrum. The terms right and left were originally used to identify the two main sides of
the political spectrum in the French Revolution: those wanting to keep a constitutional
monarchy were seated on the right of the assembly hall and those favoring a citizens
republic on the left. Right now encompasses several political groupings supporting the
maintenance of the existing order of things: these include Conservatives, who defend
political, economic, and social traditions and practices; Christian Democrats, who support
traditional religious values and social welfare within a capitalist system; and Liberals, who
are backers of free market economic principles but base their ideology on secular
freedoms and not religious morals. Left is used to categorize several types of parties:
Social Democrats and Socialists, who advocate egalitarianism and a strong state role in
the economy, including ownership of property; Greens, who give priority to protecting and
preserving the natural environment; and other groupings that are skeptical of business or
oppose traditional social institutions or values. International organizations for each of
these ideological groupings allow similar parties from different countries to exchange
strategies and advice or be represented in regional or cross-regional bodies.

There are ideological movements that reject the central tenets of multiparty electoral
democracy but exploit the system's freedoms and processes to seek power when there is
opportunity to do so. These include fascism; Soviet and Chinese communism and their
variants; and some forms of religious fundamentalism and ethnic or racial nationalism.
Generally, parties with such ideologies use a utopian vision for the future to justify the
imposition of a dictatorship either by violent revolution or through a coup backed by
military, police, or paramilitary organizations. Other parties may sometimes be allowed to
exist under their rule, but they are generally surrogates or puppet parties. Real political
power is exercised solely by the governing ideological party. In these single-party systems,
the ruling party is also a source of patronage, the main vehicle for personal advancement
in politics and society, and a mechanism for strictly enforcing conformity to the dominant
ideology. Underground parties or movements organize against such regimes, but at the
risk of severe repression. Communist parties have also regularly participated in elections
in democratic countries but generally have lacked large enough support to create or
participate in a government. Often, these arose in support of (or as agents of) the Soviet
Union, but several evolved to accept the basic democratic structure of politics in their
country. Communist parties declined significantly following the collapse of communist
systems in 198991, although in Eastern Europe post-communist parties were reformed
and often continued to hold power.

Conclusion
The multiparty system is often criticized for the emergence of partisan conflicts and
political standoffs in decision making, resulting in political gridlock. While partisan conflict
and gridlock are indeed problems it has been a recent characteristic in American
democracy the multiparty system is the fundamental and necessary bulwark of a
democracy and in US history has been the means for resolving its most fundamental
conflicts and crises. No other model has emerged to replace the party system. Generally,
parties bring people with common interests together and provide a forum for the
discussion of key issues and public policies. By joining and voting for a political party,
people have the opportunity to express their support for its policy platform rather than
simply endorse an individual personality. They can also peacefully express opposition to
the policies of a rival party or use their vote to reject the system as it is currently
functioning. Elections are the opportunity to give a popular mandate to leaders to
implement their partys program and hold them accountable if they stray from the voters
wishes or if their initiatives fail in practice. The regular rotation of power among parties
prevents the entrenchment of power and tends to curb corruption and cronyism.

Ultimately, though, the multi-party system and democracy relies on the respect of
opposition parties for the will of the people as expressed in elections. Generally,
opposition parties that obstruct the legislative or governing initiatives of majority parties
tend to lose support. At the same time, democracy also relies on the understanding of
ruling parties that they may soon be in the opposition. This usually keeps ruling parties
from abusing the rights of their opponents so that their own rights will be protected in the
event they are no longer in power.