Political Parties
What is a political party?
How does it differ from an interest group?
Why is a competitive party system essential for a healthy democracy?
Political scientists define a political party as an organization that meets the following criteria: it has a reasonably coherent set of beliefs (or ideology) about public policy; it attracts voters to its cause using rallies, advertising, etc;1 it recruits candidates who share the party’s beliefs to run for elective offices; it provides support to the candidates in the form of technical advice, financial aid, and links to voters; and if victorious, the party’s candidates will organize and manage their government offices following the party’s beliefs, ie, they will implement the party’s policy agenda.2
Of the criteria listed, the two most important, which distinguish a political party from an interest group, are that a party runs candidates for office and, if elected, the party’s candidates will follow the party’s policy agenda. An interest group, in contrast, will similarly have some set of beliefs, particularly about one or more public policy issues; it will attempt to attract members, and in some instances require a membership fee; and it may provide financial support to one or more candidates. An interest group’s support, however, is not restricted to only one party, and it will engage in lobbying elected officials, on behalf of its members, to adopt policies aligned with the group’s interests. Moreover, an interest group will not run its own candidates for office.
Scholars of democracy forcefully argue that a healthy democracy requires a vibrant, competitive party system — that is, one in which there two or more parties engaging in spirited contests to win elected positions. The winning party will control the government while the losing party or parties form the “loyal opposition.” The opposition party holds the party in government accountable for its actions, so that voters will have a choice in the next election. In countries with only one party, eg, China and North Korean, or with one dominant party and very weak opposition parties, eg, Russia, Hungry, Venezuela, or no parties at all, eg, Saudi Arabia and most of the Gulf states, the ruling party, family, or group faces no opposition that questions its decisions. Citizens in these countries have no real choice when elections are held.
Free and fair elections are often held up as hallmarks of a democracy. When voters can go to the polls and cast ballots for more than one party’s candidates without fear of punishment, where all parties operate without fear of retaliation should they lose, and when candidates are not limited in where and how they may campaign, then a country’s democracy is in reasonably good condition.3
- American parties do not require their members to sign a membership form, pay dues or swear allegiance to the party to become a member, or simply to vote for a party’s candidate. There are parties in some advanced democracies (eg, England) where voters are expected to officially (in some instances, even legally) declare their membership. (To the extent that some states require their voters to register to vote by party affiliation to cast a ballot in a party’s primary is as close to a “legal” declaration of membership that one will find in the US.) ⇧
- Note that each American state and many foreign countries have their own legal definition of a political party for the purpose of gaining ballot access and regulating party activity. ⇧
- Organizations that monitor democracies around the world, such as Freedom House, the National Endowment for Democracy, and the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, include other criteria or indicators to measure the strength of a country’s democracy — for example, the existence of a free press, the ability of the people to speak and assemble freely, the right to peacefully protest government policies, and the freedom to lobby the government. ⇧
Additional Information
For even more information, see:
- John Kenneth White and Matthew R. Kerbel. American Political Parties: Why They Formed, How They Function, and Where They're Headed. University of Kansas Press. April 2022.
- John Aldrich. Why Parties? A Second Look. University of Chicago Press, 2011.
- Marjorie Randon Hershey. Party Politics in America, 11th ed. Pearson Publishing. 2010.