What is POLITICAL PARTIES? (Meaning):

• A political party is a group of people with similar thought who come together to contest in election and to hold power in a government.
• They all agree on some policy and program to promote the society.
• As different groups have different views, these political parties try to persuade people why their policies are better than others.

COMPONENTS OF POLITICAL PARTIES

·        The three main component of political parties are

1.     The Leaders

2.     The Active Members

3.     The Followers

FUNCTIONS OF POLITICAL PARTIES:

1)      Contesting in Election :

a)      In democracy, political parties contest in election by putting the candidates in the election

b)      Parties select their candidate in different ways

i)        Members and supporters choosing the candidate. Eg: USA

ii)       Top leaders of the parties choosing the candidate. Eg: India

2)      Policies and Programs:

a)      Parties put forward different policies and programs, so that the voters can choose from them.

b)      These policies and programs are implemented when the parties come to the power.

3)      Role in Making Laws:

a)      Parties play a decisive role in making laws for a country.

b)      Laws are debated and passed in the legislature where the members are belong to a party.

4)      Form and Run governments:

a)      Those parties that win the elections are referred as Ruling party.

b)      They forms and runs the government.

5)      role of opposition :

a)      Those parties that lose in the elections play the role of opposition to the ruling party.

b)      They voice different views and criticize the government for its failures or wrong policies.

c)       Opposition parties also mobilize opposition to the government.

d)      Hence they are referred as Watchdog of the Democracies.

6)      Shaping the public opinion:

a)      They raise and highlight social issues.

b)      Parties also launch movements for the resolution of problems faced by people.

7)      Access to government machinery and welfare schemes:

a)      Parties provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes implemented by the government.

b)      For an ordinary citizen it is easy to approach a local party leader than a government officer.