'Tbe main role of political parties role is to provide good government,

not to represent voters'. Discuss.

As pollLlcal parLles are deemed as a vlLal player ln democraLlc governmenLs lL necesslLaLes Lhe
quesLlon of Lhelr role ln Lhe pollLlcal specLrum More Lo Lhe polnL we shall crlLlcally scruLlnlse Lhe
funcLlons of pollLlcal parLles as ma[or parLles conLlnue Lo perform Lhelr roles Such as rullng parLles
provlde dlrecLlon Lo Lhe governmenL Lhey recrulL and soclallse Lhe pollLlcal ellLe coordlnaLe and
devlse Lhe lnLeresL of Lhe publlc and pollcy formulaLlon LasL buL noL leasL pollLlcal parLles llnk Lhe
elecLoraLe and Lhe governmenL (Pague and Parrop2007 p231) lurLhermore Lo come Lo Lhe
evaluaLlon LhaL Lhelr maln role ls Lo provlde good governmenL neverLheless Lhe concepL of decllnlng
represenLaLlon whlch by some commenLaLors ls seen as a change a new moJos opetooJl a shlfL of
Lhe balance among Lhe dlfferenL faces of parLles (kaLz and Malr2002p113)

loremosL pollLlcal parLles sLrucLure Lhe pollLlcal cosmos Lhey are Lhe key lnsLrumenL for coheslve
and sLable governmenLs and parllamenLs yleldlng faclllLaLlon and harmonlsaLlon on all levels of
governmenL 1he role of Lhe rullng parLy ls Lo provlde guldance Lo manlfesL Lhe sLaLe ln Lhe rlghL
dlrecLlon (Pague and Parrop2007p231) elseways wlLhouL lnsLlLuLlonallsed llnk beLween Lhe
members of Lhe parllamenL Lhe resulL wlll be someLhlng close Lo chaos(Calagher and Malr p308
1oka 2006 pp121122)

ln Lhe same veln parLles recrulL and soclallse Lhe pollLlcal ellLe 1hey are accounLable Lo provlde Lhe
sLaLe wlLh powerful and experlenced pollLlcal leaders LeL's Lake Lhe lnsLance ln Lurope where Lo
become a member of Lhe parllamenL lL ls a necesslLy Lo be elecLed by a pollLlcal parLy as an elecLlon
candldaLe 1herefore Lo access Lhe house of power requlres Lo be accepLed by Lhe parLy beforehand
Moreover LhroughouL hls/her membershlp ln Lhe parLy Lhe one ls geLLlng hablLuaLed wlLh Lhe lnLra
parLy pollLlcs worklng ln llne wlLh Lhe parLy's poslLlon proacLlve cooperaLlon and dlsclpllnlng and
compasslng Lhe world Lhrough parLles' lenses 1hence parLles appear Lo execuLe Lhe lndellble role of
fulfllllng Lhe leglslaLure and Lhe execuLlve wlLh knowledgeable and experlenced candldaLes
(Peywood2007 p278 Calagher and Malr p308)

1he concepL LhaL Lhere ls a decllne ln Lhe represenLaLlonal role of Lhe pollLlcal parLles provldes us
wlLh a supporLlve parameLer LhaL Lhe maln role of Lhe parLles ls Lo provlde good governmenL

dAxlomaLlcally ln neodemocracles and well esLabllshed democracles Lhere ls volumlnous llLeraLure
whlch provldes us wlLh emplrlcal evldence LhaL Lhe parLles membershlp ls decllnlng ln Landem wlLh
deallgnmenL among elecLors Llkewlse loosenlng or dlssolvlng Lhelr represenLaLlon wlLh Lrade
unlons or speclflc soclal groups and Lhe lncreaslng dlsLrusL and allenaLlon by Lhe publlc (Pague and
Parrop 2007 p238 ulamond and CunLher 2001 p3Carey and 8eynolds2007 p334 Callagher eL
al2006p313)

ln addlLlon kaLz and Malr (2002 p126) speculaLe LhaL Lhe parLy on Lhe ground would marglnallse lLs
members wlLnesslng Lhe ascendancy of Lhe parLy ln publlc offlce due Lo sLrong poslLlonlng and
beLLer resources As parLles became less flrmly lmplanLed ln clvll socleLy Lhe relaLlonshlp beLween
Lhe parLles and Lhe sLaLe has become slgnlflcanL ollLlcal parLles rely more Lhan ever before on Lhe
sLaLe regulaLed channels of communlcaLlons as Lhe lnLervenLlon by Lhe sLaLe renders more complex
and Lechnlcal dally pollLlcal acLlvlLy (8arLollnl and Malr2001 p333)

Moreover parLles are now lncreaslngly dependenL on publlc funds and sLaLe supporL whlch means
Lhey have more money buL fewer members Pavlng access Lo more subsldles lL allows Lhem Lo sLaff
Lhelr organlsaLlons and cemenL Lhelr llnkage Lo Lhe sLaLus quo (Pague and Parrop 2007 p237240
kaLz and Malr2002p134)lurLhermore parLles are lncreaslngly sub[ecL Lo new sLaLe laws and
regulaLlons whlch someLlmes Lo a cerLaln degree has an lmpacL on Lhe parLy llfe ln oLher words Lhe
lnLraparLy pollLlcs and Lhe ouLslde acLlvlLles become regulaLed by law (Malr2003p19)

And flnally Lhe parLles ln publlc offlce seems Lo be wllllng Lo show respecLfulness Lo Lhelr supporLers
and ln reLurn for Lhelr supporL Lhey were more Lhan happy Lo use Lhe publlc resources puL
dlfferenLly Lhe parLy paLronage appears Lo be an 'lncreaslng phenomenon'(kaLz and Malr
1994p10) 1he mosL consplcuous example ls Lhe lLallan case dlscovered by Lhe 'mool pollte(clean
hands) anLlcorrupLlon lnvesLlgaLlon led by Mllanese prosecuLors lollowlng an lnqulry ln !anuary
1992 lL revealed LhaL Lhe LoLal amounL lllegally obLalned money by Lhe lLallan pollLlcal parLles'
esLlmaLes Lo 34 Lrllllon llre per year whlch ls aL leasL Len Llmes Lhe offlclal lncome of all lLallan
pollLlcal parLles (Morllno 2001 p120) 1hls suggesLs LhaL parLles are noL seen as represenLlng Lhe
voLers buL raLher consumed by Lhelr power and dlvorclng Lhemselves from Lhe people
(Peywood2007p290)


Powever pollLlcal parLles are sLlll performlng Lhelr essenLlal role of represenLaLlon 1hey help Lo
arLlculaLe and aggregaLe Lhe varlous lnLeresLs found ln socleLy 1hey acL as an lnLermedlaLor
Lhrough whlch Lhe dlfferenL groups elLher advance or defend Lhelr varlous lnLeresLs (Peywood
2007 p278) AnoLher lmporLanL role ls selecLlng reduclng and comblnlng pollcles AlLhough Lhe
advenL of Lechnology and Lhe change ln communlcaLlon has a dlrecL affecL on Lhe parLles on Lhe
ground Lhere are sLlll a small proporLlon of members regarded as acLlvlsLs who aLLend parLy
meeLlngs 1hey also become lnvolved durlng elecLlons Llmes ln moblllzlng Lhe loyalLy by handlng ouL
leafleLs puLLlng up posLers or even showlng loyalLy by golng from house Lo house knocklng on doors
such as ln 8rlLaln and lreland(Callagher eL al 2006 pp31417)

WhllsL Lhe parLy membershlp ls ln decllne a membershlporlenLed LradlLlon cannoL be dlsregarded
Lhe pollLlcal parLles need LhaL llLLle membershlp pald as lL would weaken Lhelr poslLlon (kaLz and
Malr2002 p127) And agaln kaLz and Malr supply us wlLh Lhe examples of AusLrla uenmark
Cermany and lreland where ln AusLrla Lhe head offlce lncome of Lhe SC and Cv ls ln Lhe range of
27 per cenL and for Lhe uanlsh pollLlcal parLles accordlngly for Lhe Su 8v Sl and k8l ls nearly 43
per cenL ln Cermany for Lhe Su and Cuu ls ln Lhe raLlo of 20 per cenL buL mosL sLrlklngly ls Lhe case
of lreland where Lhe lncome for llne Cael ls admlrably 80 per cenL Powever we need Lo be scepLlcal
when accesslng membershlp flgures as parLles Lend Lo clalm more members for leglLlmaLe reasons
(Callagher eL al2003p310)

lollowlng Lhe currenL for parLy membershlp members are valuable Lo Lhe parLy slmply as 'warm
bodles' whlch can be used by Lhe pollLlcal parLy Lo susLaln a presence ln local auLhorlLles advlsory
bodles and elecLlve agencles and Lhrough whlch Lhe parLy can boLh exerL lnfluence and avall lLself
of feedback We can see LhaL easlly ln Lhe case of llnland lllusLraLed by Sundberg where we have
Lhe requlremenL for more Lhan 33000 persons from Lhe parLy Lo serve on lnLernal parLy boards and
more Lhan 60000 persons are requlred Lo sLand as parLy candldaLes ln munlclpal elecLlons Lhe
number for candldaLes Lo sLand for parlsh counclls elecLlons ls 31000 and LhaL upwards of 300000
persons Lo occupy poslLlons of LrusL ln Lhe local admlnlsLraLlon whlch lncludes poslLlons on Lhe
varlous boards and counLs(kaLz and Malr 2002p127 kaLz and Malr 1994 p14)knowlng Lhe facL
LhaL Lhe llnnlsh democracy ls well coordlnaLed Lhls only pro[ecL Lhe relevance of parLy membershlp

noLwlLhsLandlng Lhe concepL LhaL parLles are ln decllne Lhey sLlll perform Lhelr mall role Lo provlde
good governmenL 1hey conLlnue Lo domlnaLe elecLlon from whlch Lhe pollLlcal leaders are drawn
from and lndeed Lhey conLlnue Lhe manlfesLaLlon of Lhe ellLe recrulLmenL Cn Lhe oLher hand Lhey
sLlll need Lhelr voLers and members (Malr2003p20) lollowlng Lhe argumenLs LhaL Lhe leadershlp
wlLh Lhe sLaLe ls more cemenLed Lhan before prlorlLlslng Lhelr role as governlng Lhe llnkage based
on LrusL accounLablllLy and represenLaLlon ls becomlng dlmlnlshed 1herefore havlng ln mlnd Lhe
changes ln Lhe organlsaLlon and consequenLly Lhe role of Lhe parLy l can reason ouL LhaL Lhe role of
Lhe parLles ls Lo provlde good governmenL


eferences:


Carey ! and 8eynolds A 2007 arLles and AccounLable CovernmenL ln new uemocracles
arLy ollLlcs !ournal 13pp238334Avallable from Sage ubllcaLlonsAccessed 9
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2009

Malr 2003 uemocracy 8eyond arLlesunlverslLy of Callfornlap1920 Avallable aL
hLLp//reposlLorlescdllborg/cgl/vlewconLenLcgl?arLlcle1032conLexLcsd Accessed 9
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2009

Callagher M and Malr 2003 8epresenLaLlve CovernmenL ln Modern Lurope 4
Lh
edlLlon McCraw
Plll 8osLon MassachuseLLs uS pp308317

CunLher 8 and ulamond L2001 ollLlcal arLles and uemocracy !ohn Popklns unlverslLy ress
8alLlmore Maryland unlLed SLaLes p3p120p334

CunLher 8 aL al 2002 ollLlcal arLles Cld ConcepLs and new ChallengesCxford unlverslLy ress
Cxford pp113134

Pague 8 and Parrop M 2007 ComparaLlve CovernmenL and ollLlcs An lnLroducLlon algrave
Macmlllan 8aslngsLoke unlLed klngdom231240

kaLz 8 and Malr 1994 Pow arLles Crganlze Change and adapLaLlon ln parLy CrganlzaLlons SACL
publlcaLlons London unlLed klngdom pp1014