Question

What are the major characteristics of political parties?

Answer 1

When people form organisations with the objective of achieving political power and participate in the electoral process, such organisations are called political parties.

The major characteristics of political parties are:

1. To attain power: It is the main objective of all political parties. They compete with each other for the same; there is nothing wrong with the objective of gaining power as long as the competition is fair.
2. To pursue an ideology: A party’s stand on certain social issues defines its ideology. In modern times, most political parties share similar ideologies, making it difficult for the average voter to decide whom to support.
3. To have a common agenda: On the basis of their ideologies, parties prepare their agendas. They aim to garner public support for their agenda in order to win elections and implement it.
4. To establish a government: The political party which gets the majority of votes in the elections forms the government; the parties with lesser votes form the opposition.
5. To act as a link between people & the government: Political parties are the connecting link between people and the government. They communicate the people’s demands and complaints to elected leaders, and, on the other hand, the government seeks the people’s support for its policies and programs through political parties.