Political Parties

1
Political Parties

• Interest Aggregation
• Interest Representation

2
Political Parties vs. Interest Groups

• both represent political interests
• political parties also aggregate interests
• interest groups strive to influence political
  outcomes
• political parties strive to become the governing
  party

3
Type of Political Parties

• basis of organization
• electoral-professional parties vs. mass parties
• basis of electoral competition
• pragmatic parties (brokerage parties)
• ideological-programmatic parties
• interest parties

4
Ideological/Programmatic Parties

• organized around social cleavages
• class
• religion
• ethnicity
• region

5
The Ideological Spectrum
The Left -- Socialist
The Right -- Conservative
Less Govt
More Govt

• greater reliance on the market
• fewer government regulations
• no special treatment for special interest groups
• lower taxes

• government regulation of the economy
• policies to help disadvantaged groups
• policies to redistribute income

6
General Trends, Political Parties

• the rise of pragmatism
• parties increasingly competing to occupy the
  centre of the political spectrum

7
The Ideological Spectrum The Rise of Pragmatism
The Left -- Socialist
The Right -- Conservative
Tony Blair (Britain) New Labour Bill Clinton (US)
New Democrats
George W. Bush (US) Compassionate Conservatism
8
General Trends, Political Parties

• single member plurality systems encourage
  pragmatic parties PR promotes ideological/interes
  t parties
• the rise of pragmatism
• parties increasingly competing to occupy the
  centre of the political spectrum
• reasons?
• the fall of communism

9
Political Parties Democracy

• mass parties vs. electoral-professional parties
• mass parties encourage greater participation in
  politics by the public
• majoritarian democrats
• electoral-professional parties
• elite democrats

10
Political Parties Democracy

• ideological/interest parties vs. pragmatic
  parties
• ideological/interest parties
• gives clear electoral choices
• help make elections meaningful
• encourages greater mass participation
• majoritarian democrats
• pragmatic parties
• depend on party elites
• elections
• differences between parties are limited
• electoral choice is really about best management
  team
• elite democrats

11
Interest Groups

• Interest Representation

12
Interest Groups

• are organizations whose members act together to
  influence govt policy on specific issues,
  without contesting elections (different from
  parties!)
• lobbying
• play an important role in representing citizen
  demands to govt

13
Determinants of Interest Group Influence

• size (membership) and cohesion
• information, expertise
• leadership, level of organization
• resources
• high-status (celebrity) membership
• values, goals, tactics, issue - compatible with
  broader political culture?
• e.g., Sierra Club vs Greenpeace vs Earth First!

14
Determinants contd

• links to decision-makers
• govt receptivity, is function of
• budgets
• philosophy compatible?
• public opinion supportive?
• media attention?
• credibility?
• institutionalization degree to which a group
  has become an acknowledged actor in/part of the
  political process
• institutional/associational/anomic interest
  groups
• co-optation?

15
Interest Groups and Democracy

• liberal democracy
• pluralism
• as long as individuals are free to form interest
  groups, interest group competition represents
  interests in society
• groups do not have to be equal have to have
  equal opportunity to compete

16
Interest Groups and Democracy

• majoritarian democratic critique of pluralism
• interest group politics is grossly uneven
• well-financed, privileged interests hold the
  advantage
• the paradox of interest group influence
• the strongest interest groups (e.g. economic
  interests) do not have to lobby in order to have
  influence

17
Interest Groups and Democracy

• elite democracy
• interest group competition and lobbying (even if
  grossly uneven) is fine so long...
• as political elites retain the power to make
  overall decisions in the general welfare
• the summation of all interest group demands does
  not equal the general welfare