Political parties: structure and functions. Political parties in the political system

Politics plays in modern lifevery important role. Whether this is good or not is up to everyone individually. However, a person who wants to be master of his life and be competent in any situation should know, and what is more important, to understand basic political concepts.

Today we will get acquainted with the simplest of them - the political party. So, political parties, structure and functions, as well as other important characteristics.

Definition

Political party is considered to bespecialized public organization, which consists of the most active supporters of a particular idea, aimed at the struggle for the receipt and use of power.

Translated from the Latin word "party"means "group" or "part". It was first used in the ancient world. For example, Aristotle spoke about the parties of residents of mountainous areas, plains or coast. In addition, he called this term the group of politicians who are in the closest circle of the ruler.

This concept has also been used in the description.groups of people in whose hands is the government. And in the form in which political parties used to see a simple man in the street, they began to appear in the XVIII-XIX centuries, during the formation of parliamentarism.

Weber's treatment

In modern political science adopted the evolutionpolitical parties proposed by M. Weber. According to his workings out, the first stage in the formation of the party is the “aristocratic circle”. As it develops, it develops into a “political club”, and then into a “mass party”.

According to Weber, the essential features of any political party were:

1. The desire to use power in accordance with the vision of solving problems (political and other), which is inherent only in this party.
2. Ideological and political orientation.
3. Voluntary start and amateur.

Different approaches

Getting acquainted with political science, you can stumbleat least several approaches to defining a political party. From the point of view of a liberal approach, it is an ideological union. And the institutional approach sees the party as an organization functioning in the state system.

Meanwhile, the traditional approach linksdetermination of the party with the electoral process, the promotion of candidates, the election race, as well as the desire to get the legislative and executive power.

And finally, the Marxist approach looks atsuch a thing as a political party in terms of class positions. The party, in this interpretation, is the most conscious and active part of the class, whose interests it defends.

Legal approach

It is worth considering separately. Legal approach regulates:

1. The political status of the party, and its functions.
2. The continuous nature of the activity.
3. Mandatory participation in the election.
4. The level of participation in the political life of the state.
5. Degree of organization.
6. The possibility of comparison with other political institutions.
7. The number of members.
8. Name.

From the point of view of the legal approach, the unions of voters, all kinds of associations and other non-permanent organizations, are not political parties.

He also assumes that party registration inThe executive branch is the most important procedure, which is only the official recognition of the party and provides it with state protection.

Only after passing the official registration procedure,an organization can nominate itself for elections, secure public funding, and gain other opportunities possessed by legalized political parties. The table with the classification of batches will be given a little below.

Signs of the party

Today in political science one can meet such signs of these organizations:

1. Any party carries a certain ideology, or at least an orientation, a picture of the world.
2. A party is an organization or association of people that is stable over time.
3. The aim of the party is to conquer power. It is worth noting here that in a multi-party system, a separate party cannot receive full power, but only participates in the implementation of power functions.
4. Any party to seek enlist the support of voters, including the most active of them in their ranks.

The organizational structure of political parties

Any party has an internal and external structure.So, the internal structure includes ordinary members and leadership. The latter, in turn, is divided into functionaries and senior management. Political parties, the structure of which is constructed in a different way, practically do not occur.

Functionaries are called party activists,who work at all levels, in local and central bodies of the association. They organize the work of various parts of the party and spread its ideology. Top management includes leaders, ideologists, the most experienced and authoritative figures who determine the vector of development of the organization, goals and ways to achieve them. But ordinary members of the party call those who work in primary organizations and perform the task of leadership.

К внешней структуре относят электорат, то есть people who are close to the ideas of the party and who are ready to give their vote for these ideas in the elections. Almost all political parties are based on this. The structure of each organization may have minor differences, but in general it looks that way.

Financing

The most important aspect of the development of any party is its financing. As a rule, the sources of material support are:

1. Contributions of party members.
2. Sponsorship means.
3. Proceeds from their own activities.
4. Budget funds (during the election campaign).
5. Foreign financing (prohibited in some countries).

Objectives

As a rule, political parties, the structure and the essence of which we already know, pursue the following goals in their activities:

1. Formation of public opinion.
2. Expression of citizenship.
3. Political education and education of the people.
4. Nomination (introduction) of their representatives to state and local government bodies.

Party functions

In order to more specifically understand the place political parties occupy in the political system, it is worth considering their functions. They are: political, social and ideological.

Political:

1. Power struggle
2. Recruiting leaders and the ruling elite.

Social:

1. Socialization of citizens.
2. Social representation.

Ideological:

1. Creating ideology.
2. Propaganda.

The functions of political parties make it possibleidentify the tasks that they solve. Firstly, the party is a kind of link between the people and government bodies. Thus, it eliminates the spontaneous forms of political activity of citizens.

Secondly, the party is very effective.a form of overcoming civic passivity and apathy towards politics. Thirdly, the party provides a peaceful way of distribution or redistribution of political power and avoids public upheaval.

Classification

Now consider what political parties are. The classification table will help us with this:

Party Charter

The main document to which all branches of an organization are subordinate is the charter of the party. It includes information about:

1. The goals and objectives of the party.
2. Party attributes.
3. Terms of Membership.
4. Party structure.
5. The order of personnel operations.
6. Sources of financing and so on.

Conclusion

Today we have learned what arepolitical parties in the political system. Summarizing the above, we can conclude that the party is an organization aimed at conquering power in order to advance the interests of one or another class of the population. Political parties, whose structure, if different, is insignificant, are strongly dependent on support from both the electorate and the sponsors.