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POLITICAL PARTIES REGISTERED IN INDIA
POLITICAL PARTIES REGISTERED IN INDIA
In a democracy, any group of citizens is free to form a political party. In this formal sense, there are a large number of political parties in each country. More than 750 parties are registered with the Election Commission of India. But not all these parties are serious contenders in the elections. Usually only a handful of parties are effectively in the race to win elections and form the government. So the question, then is: how many major or effective parties are good for democracy?
In some countries, only one party is allowed to control and run the government. These are called one-party systems.
In Class IX, we noted that in China, only the Communist Party is allowed to rule. Although legally speaking, people are free to form political parties, it does not happen because the electoral system does not permit free competition for power. We cannot consider a one-party system as a good option because this is not a democratic option. Any democratic system must allow at least two parties to compete in elections and provide a fair chance for the competing parties to come to power.
In some countries, power usually changes between the two main parties. Several other parties may exist, contest elections and win a few seats in the national legislatures. But only the two main parties have a serious chance of winning the majority of seats to form the government. Such a party system is called a two-party system. The United States of America and the United Kingdom are examples of a two-party system.
If 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, we call it a multiparty system. Thus in India, we have a multiparty system. In this system, the government is formed by various parties coming together in a coalition. When several parties in a multi-party system join hands for the purpose of contesting elections and winning power, it is called an alliance or a front. For example, in India, there were three such major alliances in 2004 parliamentary elections– the National Democratic Alliance, the United Progressive Alliance and the Left Front. The multiparty system often appears very messy and leads to political instability. At the same time, this system allows a variety of interests and opinions to enjoy political representation.
So, which of these is better? Perhaps the best answer to this very common question is that this is not a very good question. Party system is not something any country can choose. It evolves over a long time, depending on the nature of society, its social and regional divisions, its history of politics and its system of elections. These cannot be changed very quickly. Each country develops a party system that is conditioned by its special circumstances. For example, if India has evolved a multiparty system, it is because the social and geographical diversity in such a large country is not easily absorbed by two or even three parties. No system is ideal for all countries and all situations
Activity:
Let us apply what we have learnt about party systems to the various states within India. Here are three major types of party systems that exist at the State level. Can you find the names of at least two States for each of these types?
* Two-party system
* Multiparty system with two alliances
* Multiparty system
Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK
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A MORAL FORCE IN POLITICS
A MORAL FORCE IN POLITICS
The inspiration behind the following imaginary narrative is Shri Kishen Patnaik (1930–2004), also known as Kishenji. He was elected as a Member of Parliament from Sambalpur, Odisha in 1962.
What did Kishenji mean by an alternative political formation? The question came up in a conversation between Sudha, Karuna, Shaheen and Gracy. All four women had led very powerful people’s movements in different parts of the country. They were meeting in a village in Odisha, away from their day-to-day struggles, to think afresh the future of people’s movements.
The discussion naturally turned to Kishenji, who was regarded as a friend, political philosopher and moral guide by all the movement groups in the country. He had argued that people’s movement should embrace politics openly. His argument was simple yet powerful. Movements focused on a single issue are suitable as long as we wish to achieve limited changes in a particular aspect of life. But if we wish to bring about a fundamental social transformation, or basic change even in one aspect of life, we would need a political organisation. People’s movement must establish a new political formation to act as a moral force in politics. This was an urgent task, he said, because all the existing political parties had become irrelevant for social transformation.
“But Kishenji never clarified what that organisation will be. He talked of an alternative political formation or a third force in politics. But did he mean a political party?” said Gracy. She felt that an old-style political party was not the right instrument for social change.
Sudha agreed with her. “I have thought about it several times. I agree that all the struggles that we are involved with – the struggle against displacement, against globalisation, against caste and gender oppression and for an alternative kind of development – all this is political
But the moment we form a party, all the goodwill we have earned all these years will be lost. People will think of us as no different from other politicians.”
“Besides”, added Karuna, “we have seen that a lot can be achieved by putting pressure on the existing political parties. We tried putting up candidates in panchayat elections, but the results were not very encouraging. People respect our work, they even adore us, but when it comes to voting they go for the established political parties.”
Shaheen did not agree with them: “Let us be very clear. Kishenji wanted all the people’s movements to forge a new political party. Of course, he wanted this party to be a different kind of party. He was not for political alternatives, but for an alternative kind of politics.”
Activity:
Kishenji is no more. What would be your advice to these four activists? Should they form a new political party? Can a political party become a moral force in politics? What should that party be like?
Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK
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POPULAR PARTICIPATION IN POLITICAL PARTIES
POPULAR PARTICIPATION IN POLITICAL PARTIES
It is often said that political parties are facing a crisis because they are very unpopular and the citizens are indifferent to political parties.
The available evidence shows that this belief is only partly true for India. The evidence, based on a series of large sample surveys conducted over several decades, shows that:
* Political parties do not enjoy much trust among the people in South Asia. The proportion of those who say their trust in political parties is ‘not much’ or ‘not at all’ is more than those who have ‘some’ or ‘great’ trust.
* The same is true of most other democracies as well. Political parties are one of the least trusted institutions all over the world.
* Yet the level of participation in the activities of political parties was fairly high. The proportion of those who said they were members of some political party was higher in India than many advanced countries like Canada, Japan, Spain and South Korea.
* Over the last three decades the proportion of those who report to be members of political parties in India has gone up steadily.
* The proportion of those who say they feel ‘close to a political party’ has also gone up in India in this period.
Activity:
Does the cartoon reflect the data graphics shown above?
Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK