CHALLENGES TO POLITICAL PARTIES
We know that how crucial political parties are for the democracy.They are the most visible face of the democracy and people blame them for whatever is wrong in the working of democracy.
This is a case of our country too. Popular dissatisfaction and criticism has focussed on four problem areas in the working od political parties.
1. LACK OF INTERNAL DEMOCRACY(with in the party):
all over the world there is a tendency in the political parties towards the concentration of power in one or few leaders at the top.
--parties donot keep membership registers, donot hold organisational meetings and conduct internal elections regularly.
--ordinary members donot get sufficient information on what happens inside the party.
--leaders assume greater power to make decisions in the name of party.
--more than layalty to the party principles and policies, personal loyalty to the leader becomes more important.
2.DYNASTIC SUCCESSION :
since most of the parties donot practice open and transparent procedures , there are very few ways for the ordinary worker to rise to the top in the party.As those in the position favour people who are close to them .
--in many parties top positions are always controlled by members of one family.This is unfair to the others and bad for democracy.,since people with not much experience or popular support come to occupy positions of power.
3.GROWING ROLE OF MONEY AND MUSCLES.(in parties during elections)
--since parties are focussed only on winning elections, they tend to use short-cuts to win elections.
--they tend to nominate candidates, who have or can raise money.Rich people and companies who give funds to the parties tend to have influence on the policy decisions of the parties.
--in some cases parties support criminals who can win elections.
4.PARTIES DONOT OFFER MEANINGFUL CHOICE:
In order to offer meaningful choice parties should be different, but in the recent yeras there is decline in the ideological differences among parties in most parts of the world.
--as in our country differences among all major political parties on economic policies have reduced. and also in Britain,the difference between the LabourParty and the Conservative Party is very little.
--sometimes people can not even elect very different leaders either,because the same set of leaders keep shifting from one party to another.
Q. HOW CAN PARTIES BE REFORMED?
Some of the recent efforts and sugesstions in our country to reform political parties and its leaders.
1.the constitution was amended to prevent elected MLA's and MP's from changing parties.This was done because many of them were indulging in Defections, inorder to become ministers for cash rewards.
--now the laws says that if any MLA or MP changes parties, he or she will lose seat in the legislature.The new law has brought defection down and has made dissent even more difficult.Now MLA's MP's have to accept whatever party leaders say.
DEFECTION--changing party allegience from the party on which a person got elected to a different party.
2.the supreme court passed an order to reduce the influence of money and criminals.
--now it is made mandatory for every candidate who conducts elections to file an affidavit giving details of his property and criminal cases pending against him.The new system has made a lot of information availble to the public.
AFFIDAVIT: a signed document submitted to the officer, where a person makes a sworn statement regarding her personal information.
3. the election commission passed an order making it necessary for the political parties to hold their elections and file their income tax returns.
--though parties have started doing so but it is a mere formality.
Many suggestions have been made to reform political parties as,
1. a law should be made regulate the internal affairs of political parties.
–it should be made compulsory for political parties to maintain a register of its members, to follow its own constitution, to have an independent authority ,to act as a judge in case of disputes, to hold open elections in case of disputes.
2. it should be made mandatory for the political parties to give a minimum number of tickets, one-third, to women candidates. Similarly there should be a quota for women in the decision making bodies.
3. there should be state funding of elections. The govt. should give parties money to support their elections expenses such as petrol, paper, telephone etc. or it could be given in cash on the basis of votes secured by a party in the last elections.
4. People can put pressure on political parties and this can be done through petitions, publicity and agitations. Ordinary citizens, pressure groups and movements & media can play an important role in this. If political parties feel that will loose public support by not taking up reforms they will become more serious about reforms.
5. Political parties can improve if those who want this join politics. As the quality of democracy depends upon the degree of participation. It is difficult to reform politics if ordinary citizens do not take part in politics & simply criticize it from outside .
These suggestions have not yet been accepted by all political parties but if accepted can lead to improvement.
But over regulation of political parties can be counter productive and this would force all the parties to find ways to cheat the laws, besides political parties would not like to pass the law they do not like.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Saturday, December 8, 2007
POLITICAL PARTIES
POLITICAL PARTIES
Political party:- it is a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in the govt.
--they agree on some programmes & policies for the society with a view to promote collective good.
--these parties try to persuade people why their policies are better than others.
--they seek to implement these policies by winning popular support through election.
--they reflect fundamental political divisions in the society.They are about a part of society and involve PARTISANSHIP.
Political party has three components: the leader, the active members and the followers.
Q. Why do we need parties? Or
What are the functions performed by the political parties?
Parties perform series of functions.
Parties contest elections—in most of democracies, elections are fought mainly among the candidates put up by the political parties. In India, top party leaders choose candidates for contesting elections.
Parties put forward different policies and programmes: each one of us may have different opinions and views. In democracy large number of similar opinions have to be grouped together to provide a direction in which policies can be formulated by the govt. and parties do this .
–A party reduces a vast multitude of opinions into a few basic position which it supports.
–The govt. is expected to base its policies on the line taken by the Ruling party.
3.Parties make laws for the country: Though laws are passed by the legislature but most of the members belong to a party, they by the direction of party leadership, irrespective of their personal opinions.
4.Parties form and run govt.: Big policy decisions are taken by political executive that comes from the political parties.
--Political parties recruit leaders, train them and make them ministers to run the govt. in the way they want.
5. Those party who loose the elections, play role of the opposition. They voice different views and criticize govt. for its failures or wrong policies.
--opposition parties also mobilize opposition to the govt.
6.Parties shape public opinion: they raise and highlight issues.
--they do this through-pressure groups, which are the extensions of political parties and also launch movements for resolutions of problems faced by the people.
--Opinions in the society crystallise on the lines parties take.
7.Parties provide people access to govt. machinery and welfare schemes implemented by govt.
--for an ordinary citizens it is easy to approach a local party leader than a govt. official, they feel close to party even if they do not trust them.
--even parties have to be responsive to the people’s needs and demands otherwise people can reject parties in the next elections.
Q. How can we say parties are a necessity for democracy?
OR
Q. Why modern democracies cannot exist without political parties?
1.If every candidate in the elections will be independent, no will be able to make any promises to the people about any major policy changes.
2.The govt. may be formed ,but its utility will remain ever uncertain.
3.Elected representative will be accountable to their constituency for what they do in the locality.But, no one will be responsible for how country will run.
Also if we look at the non-party based elections to the Panchayats in many states, although, the parties donot contest formally, it is generally noticed the village gets split into more than one faction, each of which puts up a ‘panel’ of its candidates.
This is why we find political parties in almost all countries of the world.
RISE OF POLITICAL PARTIES
The emergence of political parties is linked to the emergence of Representative Democracies—large scale societies need representative democracy.
--as society become large and complex they also need some agencies to gather different views and various issues and to present these to the govt.
--they needed some way to bring various representatives together so that a responsible govt, could be formed.
--they need mechanism to support or restrain the govt. , make policies, justify or oppose them .
--political parties fulfill these needs that every representative govt. has.
HOW MANY PARTIES SHOULD WE HAVE—PARTY SYSTEMS
In different countries we have different political systems being followed.
There are three types of political party systems:--
1.ONE PARTY SYSTEM—In some countries only one party is allowed to control and run the govt.,these are called one party systems.
--we have this type in China.- Commuinist Party.
Any democratic system must allow at least two parties in to compete in the elections so that each party gets a fair chance to come to power..in this respect it is not a democratic option.
2.TWO-PARTY SYSTEM—In some countries power usually changes between two major parties.
Several other parties exist, contest elections and win few seats in the legislature . But only two main parties have a serious chance of winning and forming govt.
--examples are UK AND US.
MULTI-PARTY SYSTEM—If several parties compete for power, more than two parties have a reasonable chance of winning and coming to power either on their on their own or through an alliance with others.
--in India we have this system.
ALLIANCE/FRONT—When several parties join hand for the purpose of contesting elections or winning power, it is called front or alliance.
NDA—National Democratic Alliance, UPA-United Progressive Alliance are the examples.
COALITION—the govt. formed by various parties coming together in a coalition.
Present govt.—UPA govt. is an example of this.
Q. Which party system should a country choose?
Party system is not sometjing that a country can choose.
It evolves over the period of time, depending upon the nature of society, its social and regional divisions, its history of politics and nature of elections.
--each country develops a party system that ois conditioned by its special circumstances.for example in India we have evolved a multi-party system, it is because the social and geographical diversity is so large that it can not be accommodated by two-three parties.
--no system id ideal for all countries and all situations.
NATIONAL PARTIES/REGIONAL PARTIES
At present there are more than 750 political parties registered with the election commission in India.
Democracies that follow a federal system all over the world have two kinds of political parties.,
Parties that are present in only one of the federal units and the ones that are present in several units of the federations. This happens in India as well.
National parties;-those parties which which are country-wide parties are called National parties.
--these parties have their units in various states.
--by and large they follow uniform policies, programmes & strategy that is decided at the national level.
--Election Commission declares those parties as national parties which have got 6% of the total votes and have at least won 4 seats in the LokSabha.
--Election Commission offers some special facilities to large and established parties. These parties are given a unique symbols and only the official candidates of that party can use that election symbol.
--parties that get this privilege and some other special facilities are called Recognised Political Parties.
--according to this classification in India we have six national parties.
REGIONAL PARTIES:-
Aparty that secures at least 6% of the total votes in the in an election to the Legislative Assembly of a state and wins atleast 2 seats is recognized as a regional party/state party.
--some of these are all India parties that happen to have succeeded only in some states.
--parties like this are Samajwadi Party, Samta Party and Rastriya JantaDal have national level political organization with units in several states.
--some of the partie like Biju Janta Dal,Sikkim Democratic Front & Mizo National Front are conscious about their state identity.
NATIONAL PARTIES
1.INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (INC)—
Popularly known as the Congress Party, is one of the oldest parties of the world.
--founded in 1885.
--Played an important role in Indian politics at the national and state level after the independence.
--Under Nehru sought to build a modern secular democratic in India.
--Ruling party at the centre till 1977 and then from 1980-1989, after which its support declined .
--A centrist party in its ideological orientation, it espouses secularism and welfare of weaker sections and minorities.
--Supports new economic reforms with a human face.--Emerged as an single largest party with 145 seats in 2004 elections and is currently a ruling as United Progressive Alliance coaltion govt. at the centre
BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY(BJP)
--founded in 1980 by reviving the Bharatiya Janata Sangh.
--wants to build a strong and modern India by drawing inspiration from India,s culture and values.
--cultural nationalism or Hindutva is an important element in its conception of Indian nationhood and politics.
--wants full territorial & political integration of Jammu &Kashmir with India, a uniform civil code for all people living in India irrespective of the religion, and ban on religous conversions.
--its support base has increased in the 1990's, it was earlier limited to north and north west and to urban areas, the party expanded its support in south, east, the north-east and to rural areas.
--came in power in 1998 as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance including state and regional parties.
--lost elections in 2004 and is the principle opposition party in the Loksabha.
BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY(BSP)
--formed in 1984, under the leadership of KanshiRam.
--seeks to represent & secure the power for bahujan samaj which includes dalits, adivasis, OBC's and religious minorities.
--draw inspiration from the ideas and teachings of ShauMaharaj, Mahatama Phule, Periyar Ramaswami Naicker and BabaSaheb Ambedkar.
--stands for the cause of securing interest & welfare od dalits and opperesed people.
--main base in the state of UP & substaintial presence in the states like MP, Chhattisghar, Delhi
Uttrakhand and Punjab.
--formed govt. in UP several times with support of different parties.
--in Loksabha elections in 2004 it polled about 5% votes and secured 19 seates in loksabha.
COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA-MARXIST(CPI-M)
--founded in 1964.
--believes in Marxism & Leninism.
--suports socialism , secularism and democracy and opposes imperialism and communalism.
--accepts democratic elections as useful means and helpful means to securing the objective of socio-economic justice in India.
--enjoys strong support in Kerela. westBengal & Tripura, especially among the poor, factory workers, farmers, agricultural laboures and intelligensia.
--critcal of new economic policies taht allow free flow of foreign capital and goods into the country.
--has been in power for 30 years in West Bengal.
--in 2004 elections it won about 6% votes and 43 seats in Loksabha.
--currently supports the UPA govt.from outside without joining the govt.
COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (CPI)
--formed in 1925.
--believes in Marxism & Leninism secularism and democracy.
--opposed to the forces of secessionism and communalism.
--accepts parliamentary democracy as the means of promoting the interest of working class, farmers and yhe poors.
--became weak after the split in the party in 1964 that led to the formation of the CPI(M)
--popular in Kreela, WestBengal, Punjab, AndhraPradesh and TamilNadu.
--its support base has declined over the years, secured about 1.4%votes and 10 seates in 2004 Loksabha elections.
--adovocates coming together of all left parties to build a strong left front.
--currently supports UPA govt. from outside.
NATIONAL CONGRESS PARTY(NCP)
formed in 1999 following a split in congress party.
--supports democracy, gandhian secularism,equity, socail justice & federalism.
--wants high offices in the govt.to be confined to the natural born citizens.
--major pary in Maharashtra and has a significant in Meghalaya, Manipur and Assam.A coalition partner in the stae of Maharashtra in alliance with the congress .
--since 2004 a member of the UPA.
STATE PARTIES
Other than six national parties, most of the parties in India are classified as state parties or regional parties.
--some of these parties are all India parties that happen to have succeeded in only some states.
--parties like Samajwadi Party, Samta Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal have national political organization with
units in several states.
--some of these parties like Biju JanataDal, Sikkim Democratic Front & Mizo National Front are conscious
about their state identity.
--over last three decades the number and strength of these parties has expanded,this has made parliament of India more diverse.
--no national party is able to secure on its own a majority in Loksabha,as a result national parties are compelled to form alliances with state parties.
--since 1996, nearly every one of state parties has got an opportunity to be a part of one or other national level coalition govt.
Political party:- it is a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in the govt.
--they agree on some programmes & policies for the society with a view to promote collective good.
--these parties try to persuade people why their policies are better than others.
--they seek to implement these policies by winning popular support through election.
--they reflect fundamental political divisions in the society.They are about a part of society and involve PARTISANSHIP.
Political party has three components: the leader, the active members and the followers.
Q. Why do we need parties? Or
What are the functions performed by the political parties?
Parties perform series of functions.
Parties contest elections—in most of democracies, elections are fought mainly among the candidates put up by the political parties. In India, top party leaders choose candidates for contesting elections.
Parties put forward different policies and programmes: each one of us may have different opinions and views. In democracy large number of similar opinions have to be grouped together to provide a direction in which policies can be formulated by the govt. and parties do this .
–A party reduces a vast multitude of opinions into a few basic position which it supports.
–The govt. is expected to base its policies on the line taken by the Ruling party.
3.Parties make laws for the country: Though laws are passed by the legislature but most of the members belong to a party, they by the direction of party leadership, irrespective of their personal opinions.
4.Parties form and run govt.: Big policy decisions are taken by political executive that comes from the political parties.
--Political parties recruit leaders, train them and make them ministers to run the govt. in the way they want.
5. Those party who loose the elections, play role of the opposition. They voice different views and criticize govt. for its failures or wrong policies.
--opposition parties also mobilize opposition to the govt.
6.Parties shape public opinion: they raise and highlight issues.
--they do this through-pressure groups, which are the extensions of political parties and also launch movements for resolutions of problems faced by the people.
--Opinions in the society crystallise on the lines parties take.
7.Parties provide people access to govt. machinery and welfare schemes implemented by govt.
--for an ordinary citizens it is easy to approach a local party leader than a govt. official, they feel close to party even if they do not trust them.
--even parties have to be responsive to the people’s needs and demands otherwise people can reject parties in the next elections.
Q. How can we say parties are a necessity for democracy?
OR
Q. Why modern democracies cannot exist without political parties?
1.If every candidate in the elections will be independent, no will be able to make any promises to the people about any major policy changes.
2.The govt. may be formed ,but its utility will remain ever uncertain.
3.Elected representative will be accountable to their constituency for what they do in the locality.But, no one will be responsible for how country will run.
Also if we look at the non-party based elections to the Panchayats in many states, although, the parties donot contest formally, it is generally noticed the village gets split into more than one faction, each of which puts up a ‘panel’ of its candidates.
This is why we find political parties in almost all countries of the world.
RISE OF POLITICAL PARTIES
The emergence of political parties is linked to the emergence of Representative Democracies—large scale societies need representative democracy.
--as society become large and complex they also need some agencies to gather different views and various issues and to present these to the govt.
--they needed some way to bring various representatives together so that a responsible govt, could be formed.
--they need mechanism to support or restrain the govt. , make policies, justify or oppose them .
--political parties fulfill these needs that every representative govt. has.
HOW MANY PARTIES SHOULD WE HAVE—PARTY SYSTEMS
In different countries we have different political systems being followed.
There are three types of political party systems:--
1.ONE PARTY SYSTEM—In some countries only one party is allowed to control and run the govt.,these are called one party systems.
--we have this type in China.- Commuinist Party.
Any democratic system must allow at least two parties in to compete in the elections so that each party gets a fair chance to come to power..in this respect it is not a democratic option.
2.TWO-PARTY SYSTEM—In some countries power usually changes between two major parties.
Several other parties exist, contest elections and win few seats in the legislature . But only two main parties have a serious chance of winning and forming govt.
--examples are UK AND US.
MULTI-PARTY SYSTEM—If several parties compete for power, more than two parties have a reasonable chance of winning and coming to power either on their on their own or through an alliance with others.
--in India we have this system.
ALLIANCE/FRONT—When several parties join hand for the purpose of contesting elections or winning power, it is called front or alliance.
NDA—National Democratic Alliance, UPA-United Progressive Alliance are the examples.
COALITION—the govt. formed by various parties coming together in a coalition.
Present govt.—UPA govt. is an example of this.
Q. Which party system should a country choose?
Party system is not sometjing that a country can choose.
It evolves over the period of time, depending upon the nature of society, its social and regional divisions, its history of politics and nature of elections.
--each country develops a party system that ois conditioned by its special circumstances.for example in India we have evolved a multi-party system, it is because the social and geographical diversity is so large that it can not be accommodated by two-three parties.
--no system id ideal for all countries and all situations.
NATIONAL PARTIES/REGIONAL PARTIES
At present there are more than 750 political parties registered with the election commission in India.
Democracies that follow a federal system all over the world have two kinds of political parties.,
Parties that are present in only one of the federal units and the ones that are present in several units of the federations. This happens in India as well.
National parties;-those parties which which are country-wide parties are called National parties.
--these parties have their units in various states.
--by and large they follow uniform policies, programmes & strategy that is decided at the national level.
--Election Commission declares those parties as national parties which have got 6% of the total votes and have at least won 4 seats in the LokSabha.
--Election Commission offers some special facilities to large and established parties. These parties are given a unique symbols and only the official candidates of that party can use that election symbol.
--parties that get this privilege and some other special facilities are called Recognised Political Parties.
--according to this classification in India we have six national parties.
REGIONAL PARTIES:-
Aparty that secures at least 6% of the total votes in the in an election to the Legislative Assembly of a state and wins atleast 2 seats is recognized as a regional party/state party.
--some of these are all India parties that happen to have succeeded only in some states.
--parties like this are Samajwadi Party, Samta Party and Rastriya JantaDal have national level political organization with units in several states.
--some of the partie like Biju Janta Dal,Sikkim Democratic Front & Mizo National Front are conscious about their state identity.
NATIONAL PARTIES
1.INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (INC)—
Popularly known as the Congress Party, is one of the oldest parties of the world.
--founded in 1885.
--Played an important role in Indian politics at the national and state level after the independence.
--Under Nehru sought to build a modern secular democratic in India.
--Ruling party at the centre till 1977 and then from 1980-1989, after which its support declined .
--A centrist party in its ideological orientation, it espouses secularism and welfare of weaker sections and minorities.
--Supports new economic reforms with a human face.--Emerged as an single largest party with 145 seats in 2004 elections and is currently a ruling as United Progressive Alliance coaltion govt. at the centre
BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY(BJP)
--founded in 1980 by reviving the Bharatiya Janata Sangh.
--wants to build a strong and modern India by drawing inspiration from India,s culture and values.
--cultural nationalism or Hindutva is an important element in its conception of Indian nationhood and politics.
--wants full territorial & political integration of Jammu &Kashmir with India, a uniform civil code for all people living in India irrespective of the religion, and ban on religous conversions.
--its support base has increased in the 1990's, it was earlier limited to north and north west and to urban areas, the party expanded its support in south, east, the north-east and to rural areas.
--came in power in 1998 as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance including state and regional parties.
--lost elections in 2004 and is the principle opposition party in the Loksabha.
BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY(BSP)
--formed in 1984, under the leadership of KanshiRam.
--seeks to represent & secure the power for bahujan samaj which includes dalits, adivasis, OBC's and religious minorities.
--draw inspiration from the ideas and teachings of ShauMaharaj, Mahatama Phule, Periyar Ramaswami Naicker and BabaSaheb Ambedkar.
--stands for the cause of securing interest & welfare od dalits and opperesed people.
--main base in the state of UP & substaintial presence in the states like MP, Chhattisghar, Delhi
Uttrakhand and Punjab.
--formed govt. in UP several times with support of different parties.
--in Loksabha elections in 2004 it polled about 5% votes and secured 19 seates in loksabha.
COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA-MARXIST(CPI-M)
--founded in 1964.
--believes in Marxism & Leninism.
--suports socialism , secularism and democracy and opposes imperialism and communalism.
--accepts democratic elections as useful means and helpful means to securing the objective of socio-economic justice in India.
--enjoys strong support in Kerela. westBengal & Tripura, especially among the poor, factory workers, farmers, agricultural laboures and intelligensia.
--critcal of new economic policies taht allow free flow of foreign capital and goods into the country.
--has been in power for 30 years in West Bengal.
--in 2004 elections it won about 6% votes and 43 seats in Loksabha.
--currently supports the UPA govt.from outside without joining the govt.
COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (CPI)
--formed in 1925.
--believes in Marxism & Leninism secularism and democracy.
--opposed to the forces of secessionism and communalism.
--accepts parliamentary democracy as the means of promoting the interest of working class, farmers and yhe poors.
--became weak after the split in the party in 1964 that led to the formation of the CPI(M)
--popular in Kreela, WestBengal, Punjab, AndhraPradesh and TamilNadu.
--its support base has declined over the years, secured about 1.4%votes and 10 seates in 2004 Loksabha elections.
--adovocates coming together of all left parties to build a strong left front.
--currently supports UPA govt. from outside.
NATIONAL CONGRESS PARTY(NCP)
formed in 1999 following a split in congress party.
--supports democracy, gandhian secularism,equity, socail justice & federalism.
--wants high offices in the govt.to be confined to the natural born citizens.
--major pary in Maharashtra and has a significant in Meghalaya, Manipur and Assam.A coalition partner in the stae of Maharashtra in alliance with the congress .
--since 2004 a member of the UPA.
STATE PARTIES
Other than six national parties, most of the parties in India are classified as state parties or regional parties.
--some of these parties are all India parties that happen to have succeeded in only some states.
--parties like Samajwadi Party, Samta Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal have national political organization with
units in several states.
--some of these parties like Biju JanataDal, Sikkim Democratic Front & Mizo National Front are conscious
about their state identity.
--over last three decades the number and strength of these parties has expanded,this has made parliament of India more diverse.
--no national party is able to secure on its own a majority in Loksabha,as a result national parties are compelled to form alliances with state parties.
--since 1996, nearly every one of state parties has got an opportunity to be a part of one or other national level coalition govt.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
DEMOCRACY AND POPULAR STRUGGLES
PRESSURE GROUPS:
--Pressure groups are organizations that attempt to influence govt. policies
--They do not directly control or share political power.
--these organizations are formed whith people with common occupation, interest, aspirations and opinions come together in order to achieve common objective.
These pressure groups are of two types.
SECTIONAL GROUP & PROMOTIONAL/PUBLIC INTEREST GROUPS.
Sectional:—seek to promote the interest of of a particular section/group of society.
--trade unions, business associations& professional lawyers doctors, teachers etc.
----they are sectional because they represent a particular section of a society.—workers, employees, businessmen followers of religion caste etc.
--the principal concern is the betterment & well being of its members & not of the society in general.
Public interest group:- they represent some common or general interest that needs to be defended.
--they are also called promotional group as they promote collective and not selective good.
--the members of the organization may not benefit from the cause that the organization represent. They aim to help groups other than their own members.
--in some cases the members of a public interest group may undertake activity they benefits them as well as others too.
--Eg.-:in Nepal Human rights was such organization, & in Bolivia FEDECOR, In India also we have BAMCEF
BMCEF-(Backward and Minorities Community Employees Federation)is such an organization that campaigns against caste discrimination, it addresses the problem of its members who suffer discrimination and its principle concern is with social justice and social equality for the entire society.
MOVEMENT GROUPS:
People’s movement word is used to describe many forms of collective action.
--it attempts to influence politics rather than directly take part in the electoral competition.
--these movements have loose organization.
--their decesion making is more informal and flexible.
--they depend more on spontaneous mass participation than an interest group.
--Eg.-Narmada Bachao Andolan,Movement of Right to Information,Anti-LiquorMovement, Environmental movement.
There are two types of movement groups:
SPECIFIC &GENERAL/GENERIC MOVEMENTS
Specific movements:-they are issue specific movements to achieve single objective
They work in limited frame of time and thus have usually short active life.--
Examples-The Nepalese movement for democracy arose with specific objective of reversing the king’s order that led to suspension of democracy.
In India, Narmada Bachao Andolan is also an example of this.
(This movement started with a specific issue of people displaced by the creation of sardar dam on the river Narmada.Its objective was to stop the dam from being constructed. Gradually it became a wider movement that questioned all such big dams.)
General/Generic movement:-these to achieve a broad goal in the long run.
--these are long term & involve more than one issue.
--there is no single organization that controls or guides such movements.
--Example—The Environmental movement and Women’smovements are such examples.
LOOSE UMBRELLA:-Some times these broad organizations have a loose umbrella. Various movement groups struggling on specific issues are constituent of this loose organization which coordinates the activities of a large number of people’s in our country.
Example-NAPM-National Alliance for People’s Movement is an organization of organizations.
Q. How do organizations and pressure groups influence politics?
They exert influence in variety of ways.
1.They try to public support and sy,pathy for their goals and activity by carrying out information campaign through organizing meetings,file petitions etc., they also make use of media.
2.They often organize protest activity like strike or disrupting govt. programmes.Workers organizations,employees associations etc. resort to these methods to force govt. to take notice of their demand.
3.Business groups often employ professional lobbyist or sponser expensive advertisements. Some persons from pressure groups may participate in official bodies or committees that offer advice to the govt. These groups exert influence on the political parties without being a party. They have political ideaology & political position
on major issues.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POLITICAL PARTIES AND PRESSURE GROUPS
It can take different forms, direct and indirect:
DIRECT:
--In some instances the pressure groups are either formed or led by the leaders of the political parties or act as the extended arms of political parties. for eg.—trade unions and students organizations in India are either established by or affiliated to one or the other major political parties.--most of the leaders of such pressure groups are usually the activist or leaders of party.
--Sometimes political parties grow out of movements. As had happened
in Assam movement led by students against the foreigners came to an end and it led the formation of ASSOM GANA PARISHAD and the roots of DMK AND AIDMK in Tamil Nadu can also be traced to the social reform movements during the 1930 and 1940’s
INDIRECT:
--They often take positions that are opposed to each other, yet they are in negotiation with each other.
--they do raise issues which are taken up by the political parties.
--most of the new leardership of political come from interest or movement groups.
IS THE INFLUENCE OF THE ORGANISATIONS HEALTHY?
It may appear that it is not healthy for the groups that promote interest of one section to have influence in democracy.
--A democracy must look after the interest of all, not just one section. Also, it may seem that these groups wield power with responsibility.
--political parties have to face the people in elections , but these groups are not accountable to the people.
--pressure groups and movements may not get their funds and from people. Some times with small public support but lots of money they can highjack public opinion in their favour.
--POSITIVE INFLUENCE
--they have deepened democracy, put pressure on unhealthy activities in democracy.
--govt. can often come under the pressure of rich & powerful group but these public interest groups and movements perform a useful role of countering this undue influence and reminding govt. of needs and concerns of ordinary citizens.
--even social interest groups play a valueable role.
--All groups function actively, no single group can achieve dominance over society.
--if one group brings pressure on the govt. the other will counter pressure.
--the govt. hears about what people want.
--this brings a rough balance of power and accommodation of conflicting interest.
--Pressure groups are organizations that attempt to influence govt. policies
--They do not directly control or share political power.
--these organizations are formed whith people with common occupation, interest, aspirations and opinions come together in order to achieve common objective.
These pressure groups are of two types.
SECTIONAL GROUP & PROMOTIONAL/PUBLIC INTEREST GROUPS.
Sectional:—seek to promote the interest of of a particular section/group of society.
--trade unions, business associations& professional lawyers doctors, teachers etc.
----they are sectional because they represent a particular section of a society.—workers, employees, businessmen followers of religion caste etc.
--the principal concern is the betterment & well being of its members & not of the society in general.
Public interest group:- they represent some common or general interest that needs to be defended.
--they are also called promotional group as they promote collective and not selective good.
--the members of the organization may not benefit from the cause that the organization represent. They aim to help groups other than their own members.
--in some cases the members of a public interest group may undertake activity they benefits them as well as others too.
--Eg.-:in Nepal Human rights was such organization, & in Bolivia FEDECOR, In India also we have BAMCEF
BMCEF-(Backward and Minorities Community Employees Federation)is such an organization that campaigns against caste discrimination, it addresses the problem of its members who suffer discrimination and its principle concern is with social justice and social equality for the entire society.
MOVEMENT GROUPS:
People’s movement word is used to describe many forms of collective action.
--it attempts to influence politics rather than directly take part in the electoral competition.
--these movements have loose organization.
--their decesion making is more informal and flexible.
--they depend more on spontaneous mass participation than an interest group.
--Eg.-Narmada Bachao Andolan,Movement of Right to Information,Anti-LiquorMovement, Environmental movement.
There are two types of movement groups:
SPECIFIC &GENERAL/GENERIC MOVEMENTS
Specific movements:-they are issue specific movements to achieve single objective
They work in limited frame of time and thus have usually short active life.--
Examples-The Nepalese movement for democracy arose with specific objective of reversing the king’s order that led to suspension of democracy.
In India, Narmada Bachao Andolan is also an example of this.
(This movement started with a specific issue of people displaced by the creation of sardar dam on the river Narmada.Its objective was to stop the dam from being constructed. Gradually it became a wider movement that questioned all such big dams.)
General/Generic movement:-these to achieve a broad goal in the long run.
--these are long term & involve more than one issue.
--there is no single organization that controls or guides such movements.
--Example—The Environmental movement and Women’smovements are such examples.
LOOSE UMBRELLA:-Some times these broad organizations have a loose umbrella. Various movement groups struggling on specific issues are constituent of this loose organization which coordinates the activities of a large number of people’s in our country.
Example-NAPM-National Alliance for People’s Movement is an organization of organizations.
Q. How do organizations and pressure groups influence politics?
They exert influence in variety of ways.
1.They try to public support and sy,pathy for their goals and activity by carrying out information campaign through organizing meetings,file petitions etc., they also make use of media.
2.They often organize protest activity like strike or disrupting govt. programmes.Workers organizations,employees associations etc. resort to these methods to force govt. to take notice of their demand.
3.Business groups often employ professional lobbyist or sponser expensive advertisements. Some persons from pressure groups may participate in official bodies or committees that offer advice to the govt. These groups exert influence on the political parties without being a party. They have political ideaology & political position
on major issues.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POLITICAL PARTIES AND PRESSURE GROUPS
It can take different forms, direct and indirect:
DIRECT:
--In some instances the pressure groups are either formed or led by the leaders of the political parties or act as the extended arms of political parties. for eg.—trade unions and students organizations in India are either established by or affiliated to one or the other major political parties.--most of the leaders of such pressure groups are usually the activist or leaders of party.
--Sometimes political parties grow out of movements. As had happened
in Assam movement led by students against the foreigners came to an end and it led the formation of ASSOM GANA PARISHAD and the roots of DMK AND AIDMK in Tamil Nadu can also be traced to the social reform movements during the 1930 and 1940’s
INDIRECT:
--They often take positions that are opposed to each other, yet they are in negotiation with each other.
--they do raise issues which are taken up by the political parties.
--most of the new leardership of political come from interest or movement groups.
IS THE INFLUENCE OF THE ORGANISATIONS HEALTHY?
It may appear that it is not healthy for the groups that promote interest of one section to have influence in democracy.
--A democracy must look after the interest of all, not just one section. Also, it may seem that these groups wield power with responsibility.
--political parties have to face the people in elections , but these groups are not accountable to the people.
--pressure groups and movements may not get their funds and from people. Some times with small public support but lots of money they can highjack public opinion in their favour.
--POSITIVE INFLUENCE
--they have deepened democracy, put pressure on unhealthy activities in democracy.
--govt. can often come under the pressure of rich & powerful group but these public interest groups and movements perform a useful role of countering this undue influence and reminding govt. of needs and concerns of ordinary citizens.
--even social interest groups play a valueable role.
--All groups function actively, no single group can achieve dominance over society.
--if one group brings pressure on the govt. the other will counter pressure.
--the govt. hears about what people want.
--this brings a rough balance of power and accommodation of conflicting interest.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
