Political PartiesJuli What do citizenries find lamentable about political parties? political parties are corrupt, self-interested, elitist political parties do not stand for anything; no difference among them political parties waste time on petty grievances, not constructive or cooperative political parties become active only at election time political parties are ill prepared to govern Are political parties by nature divisive for society? To try and import the idea of a parliamentary opposition into Africa may very likely lead to violence because the opposition parties will tend to be regarded as traitors by the majority of our people, or at best, it will lead to the trivial manoeuvrings of
opposing groups whose time is spent in the inflation of artificial differences into some semblance of reality. Juluis Nyerere, Tanzanian Prime Minister, on British-style parliamentary system, 1963 Or.Are political parties vital in modern political systems? Emerging Canadian Political Parties Cadre Parties: Pre and post-confederation (1867) franchise (right to vote) was exclusive, inconsistent, & piecemeal Sought local elites to provide: Prestige & financial support during elections Short term organization election to election Mass Parties
Mass Parties Late 1800s franchise expands to mostly European male citizens 1910 1920s: franchise expands to most European women Mass parties challenge elite domination of political life Organize to gain support of masses Organized to translate a movement into a successful political party #4 Contemporary Political Parties Programmatic Parties
Key Assumptions: Parties articulate distinct, consistent, and coherent ideological agendas Policies & promises follow strict ideological standard. Splitter! Example: US Green Party Contemporary Political Parties Brokerage Theory: Parties have few coherent ideological interests Instead parties select ideas w/ widest appeal amongst targeted voters
Parties essentially pragmatic and opportunistic look to attract widest electoral universe. Parties do not have ideological coherent programs Examples: Federal Liberals Chocolate Bar Theory Most party systems feature some degree of ideological competition Canadian parties tend to have: Soft, sticky, wide
appealing exterior Chewy, crunchy ideological core Party Systems basic pattern of relationships among political parties Pattern established over several elections subject to transformation over time How many political parties should we have? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-fr3OPCffg 1 Party Dominant An elected government normally dominated by one party highly unlikely to change:
African National Congress (ANC) - South Africa Indian National Congress India (1947 1988) Progressive Conservatives Alberta (1971 2015) LDP Japan (1955 - 2000s) #10 Two-Party System: 2 main parties compete, although other parties are present USA (Republican vs. Democrats) 2012 US Presidential Election
8 Two-And-A-Half Party System: Pattern of electoral competition where: 2 major parties win at least 2/3 of vote But a third party receives a smaller, but significant, share of votes The Scottish National Party served exactly this role in UKs 2015 election. UK General Election - 2015 Conservative Party Total Seats: 330 % of total vote: 36.9% Labour Party Total Seats: 232 % of total vote: 30.4%
Scottish National Party Total Seats: 56 % of total vote: 4.7% 10 Multi-Party System: No dominant party 3 or 4 parties must come together to form governing majority Examples: Israel Denmark
France New Zealand Israel 2015 Election Results Conservative Party: Canadas national business party Canadas first organized political party originated as a elite cadre party with strong business ties 1867: First PM - John A Macdonald unites Canada in Confederation. 1980s: PCs introduce Free Trade Agreement and NAFTTA
1990: Regional splits divide and destroy Progressive Conservatives 2003: Conservative Party created A neo-liberal / New Right brokerage party that favours smaller government lower taxes Base supports traditional social values 2011: Leader Stephen Harper win majority gov. lead minority governments in 2006 & 2008 2016: lost election, but maintained raw vote # The Liberal Party Pragmatism and Classic brokerage Power party: Liberals take ideas from left and right following sway of electorate 1921 - 1948: Mackenzie King - longest serving PM - Conscription if
necessary, but not necessarily conscription. 1960s -1970s: Introduce Welfare State 1970 - 1980s: Promote bilingualism, multiculturalism, and the Constitution and Charter of Rights and Freedoms 1990s: Deficit reduction begins rightward shift 2000s: Declined from natural governing party of Canada to 3rd party status in 2011 elections 2016: Justin Trudeau returns party to surprise majority election victory New Democratic Party: Social Democratic Conscious of Canada Formed in 1961 when the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) joined w/ Canadian Labour Congress Played influential role as social conscience of the nation.
Introduced Medicare, Old Age Pensions, and numerous social reforms in Canada Electoral success limited to provinces 2011 NDP made surprising gains in Quebec (+58 seats) to rise to Official Opposition status w/ 103 seats Popular Party Leader, Jack Layton, dies of cancer 2011 2015: Despite early poll lead, NDP falls to 3rd place showing 2106 - Thomas Mulcair loses leadership vote Party considers Leap Manifesto The Green Party: Programmatic (?) politics in Canada 1983: Founded as part of global environmental movement. 1997 - 2011: broadened platform beyond ecological activism to
include: human rights, poverty, health care, and anti-globalization. 2000 2008: electoral support grew from less than 1 percent to about 7 percent 2011 Elects first MP, Leader Elizabeth May Support down to 4% 2015: Support drops to 3.4, but May re-elected Tends to draw support away from NDP, but not exclusively. The Bloc Quebecois: Brokering Independence? A brokerage party from Quebec that draws from a wide ideological base Established to achieve an independent Quebec A significant political force in Quebec
diverts support from federalist parties 2011 Suffered serious set back from 47 4 seats in HOC 2016 Party struggles to 10 seats Unit Quiz (General) Comments & Feedback Good Overall Results good understanding of concepts - definitions stronger than significance Good use of examples and tie-ins from the course Students linked together different sections of the theories unit Sometimes offered their own examples too Length For future tests, aim for a page or so response Some students did not offer enough information to give points Repetition
In some ways unavoidable, but points for as many varied points as possible Vague answers/claims/not specific enough responses Most significant problem across class If EU is challenging sovereignty of the UK, explain how/why If talking about different types of liberalism (classic or welfare/reform) or liberal ideas (rule of law, individual freedoms), explain them, explain them, in addition to listing them Some responses on power especially vague and dont reflect discussions, readings in class (i.e. types of power, positive/negative power, institutional power or social forces) Typologies of Political Parties Liberal equality, legal and political rights, free trade Conservative traditional forms of social relations, nationalism, neo-liberal & free-market econ. Christian Democrats Catholic influenced, btw liberalism and conservatism, trad. authority relations Socialist/Social Democratic
workers rights and trade unions, control means of production, welfare systems Communist democratic centralism, party discipline, command economy, no private ownership Regional establishment of own state, popular in Europe, see Lega Nord (northern Italy) Environmental skeptics of free-market, advocate consensus-based decision-making, social justice Nationalist national values, former colonies, Eastern Europe w/ fall of communism Islamic like nationalist parties seek to speak for whole nation, banned in secular regimes The Political Class Self-interested, self-aware and dependent on the state for its moral and economic status OECD Democracies (the West, basically) emergence of political professionals
skilled in the art of winning elections candidates and advisers who have never held any other jobs Japan & Ireland high proportion of members of national legislator are children of former legislators How to reverse this phenomenon? Case Study: Uganda as a Non-Party State 1962 Independence from Britain Colony of former tribal kingdoms & principalities No tradition of democracy, even after 70 years of British rule Parties formed, elections held 1963 - Milton Obote (PM) One-Party State 1971 General Idi Amin overthrows Obote
President for Life tyranny, chaos, violence and economic collapse 1979 Amin overthrown; exiled Obote returns Est. of multiparty political system fails 1971-1986 1 million Ugandans killed 1986 Yoweri Museveni of National Resistance Movement sworn in as President to prevent further violence, he announces political parties will not contest elections Est. a system of local councils in keeping with local traditions and tribal consultation 2005 Referendum held; return to multiparty democracy - Museveni remains Pres Problems Facing Parties party memberships on the decline
but not in China why? Why lack of enthusiasm for party activism? A responsive electoral system? Minimum voting age lowered to 16 years? State funding for parties? Power Inquiry (UK), 2006 In USA 2004 Presidential Election $880 million spent b/w Democratic and Republican candidates 2008 Presidential Election $1.6 Billion (McCain, Obama & other candidates running.) party professionals v. party membership? Role of party professional class reflects declining party membership Ex. Democratic and Republican Parties Critics argue parties have reduced their presence in society, become part of the state Within politics, parties are either all governing or waiting to govern
Venezuela and the Downfall of Liberal Democracy Liberal Democracy or Popular Democracy? 1958 Perez Jimenez overthrown in military coup Democracy re-established pacted democracy Accion Democratica Comitida de Organizacion Politica Electoral Parties extended reach into many organizations professional associations, peasant federations Oil wealth 1970s stagnating economy, price of oil falls corruption and waste popular dissatisfaction, parties became isolated 1998 Lt. Colonel Hugo Chavez elected President Bolivarian revolution Attacks partocracy of two party system populist regime that promoted social polarization rather than consensus
new constitution that removed checks on presidential https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPdvYW4iwjc http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/inthefiel powers d/2016/07/life-line-venezuela-crisis-160715173158110.html Old party system fragmented
