What is a political party?

Is an autonomous group of citizens having the purpose of making nominations and contesting elections in hope of gaining control over governamental power trough the capture of public offices and the organization of the government. Ther were means necessary to win elections and provide direction to government (Huckshorn).. BUT... is that really so? many legitimate political parties exist fo reasons that have little to do whit winning elections (ejm. Beer Lovers Party...when these party had satirical origins, it became a force in Polish politics due to its ideas- not beacuse it was formed with the stated porpuse of winning elections) THEY (THIRD PARTY) HAVE ALMOST NO HOPE OF WINNING ELECTIONS Political scientist would unanimously classify thrid parties as legitimate parties Defining what a political party is and what functions it should assume is hardly an objective task...AQU DA UNA SERIE DE DEFINICIONES DE LO QUE SON LOS PARTIDOS POLTICOS PARA DIFERENTES AUTORES...NO CREO QUE SEA MUY RELEVANTE SI EL CONTROL ES DE UNA SOLA PREGUNTA, IGUAL ESTN POR GUINES EN LA PG.6 DE LA SEPARATA Y SE PUEDE RESUMIR AS.should parties emphesize their ideological roots, as Burke and Reagan prefer? Or are parties merely Tools for gaining access to governamental office, as Epstein, Sshleisinger and Aldrich indicate? Or are they important mediating instruments designe to organize and simplifyy voter choices in order to influence the actions of government as Downs, Key and Chambers imply? No hay con certeza una definicin de lo que es un partido poltico, ni los ciudadanos ni los acadmicos se pueden poner de acuerdo With the pasaje of time, scholars have sought to redefine political parties and distingus them from FACTIONS (interest groups).... Interest groups promote their interest by attempting to influence the government rather than by nominatin candidates and seeking the responsability for the management of government as political parties do OTHER SCHOLARS DISAGREE, noting that in an age of weakened political parties, interest groups frequently influence nominations, are instrumental in electing favorite candidates, and hepl manage the government by influencing both tha appointment of officials and the actual decision-making process itself

THE PARTY CONSENSUS: es una discusin acerca del comportamiento American Commonwealth 1888 Parties are inevitable. No free country has been without them. No-one has shown how representative goverment could be worked without them. They bring order out of chaos to a multitude of voters...SIX DECADES LATER we say.. modern democracy is unthinkable save in therms of the parties TODAS LAS COSSITAS QUE VIENEN SON AFIRMACIONES DE DIFERENTES PERSONAS Sartori claimed parties were the central intermediate structures between society and government

Clinton No America without democracy, no democracy without politics, and no politics without parties In the once communist-controlled Captive Nations of eastern Europe, the emergence of party competition is used to measure the varying progress of these countries toward democracy. Party government is withput doubt the distinctive feature of modern politics...Parties are fully accepted today as essential organizations for goverment in the modern state, recognized under varying conditions as entitled to give direction to the course of politics, and endowed either by law or usage with a special status and function in the constitutional system in wich they operate

THE VIEW FROM THE TRIPOD By linking parties so closely with government, politica scientists devised the tripod of party-in-the-electorate (PIE) party organizations (PO) and party-in-thegovernment (PIG) as a means of theaching what parties were and what ther were to mean to accomplish - Everett Carll Ladd, Jr. Maintained that the PIE-PO-PIG tripod could be used as a means of measuring social change and the institutional party response to it: 1. Party as Organization 2. Party as the Mass of Supporters 3. Party as Body of Notables But while parties have been inextricably linled to goverments performance, many reject the PIE-PO-PIG model, ENTONCES, AS COMO HAY ALGUNOS QUE DEFIENDEN EL MODELO, MUCHOS OTROS LO CRITICAN Y TMB. CRITICAN A LOS PARTIDOS POLTICOS Y TIENEN UNA IMAGEN NEGATIVA DE LOS MISMOS

PARTY PAREDIGMS One reason why academias relieve that political parties are Essentials to governing is the rather perverse and unorthodox belief that voters are not Tools. This rather idea has guided to especially important party paradigms that emerged inte 20th century : THE RATIONAL-EFFICIENT MODEL and THE RESPONSIBLE PARTIES MODEL RATIONAL-EFFICIENT MODEL emphasizes the parties electoral activities at the expense of virtually all other party functions. Thus, the retional-choice model envisions the winning of elections not as a welcome outcome but as the only outcome worth having. From the rational- efficient prespective, parties existe to win elections and all party-related projects are desinged to make that happen. Incentives to participate in the preocess come from the patronage jobs that are to be had once vistory ins ensured.

From the voters perspective, the party-in-the-electorate behaves rarionally using the information provided by the party candidates to make rational selections that will benefit them personally. The organizational structure of rational efficient parties consists of a cadre of political entrepreneurs. In the rational-efficient model, elected officials are allowed to do as they wish once elected, as long as their activities help to win the next election. As political parties wane in influence, Downs rational-choice model has become the most often used by political scientinst to explain voter behavior THE RESPONSIBLE PARTIES MODEL An effective party system requires first thet the parties are able to bring forth programs to wich they commint themselves and second that the parties possess sufficient internal cohesion to carry out these programs. Achieving party unity around a coherent set of ideas matters beacuse: 1 it gives voters clear choice in election campaigns 2 it gives the winning political party mandate for governing 3 it ensures the party as the likely instrument whereby voters can make a legal revolution It aslco envisins a vibrant role for opposition: the fundamental requirement of accountability is a two party system in wich the pposition party acts as the critics of tjhe party in powe, developoing, definind and presenting the policy alternatives

LUEGO SIGUE THE DECLINE OF MEDIATING INSTITUTIONS, QUE ES ENANSIMO, LEANLO TODO XFAA