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

Politics plays a very important role in the life of modern man. Whether it's good or not, it's up to each to decide individually. However, a person who wants to be the master of his life and in any situation be competent, should know, and more importantly, understand the 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

The political party is considered to be a specialized public organization, which includes the most active adherents of this or that idea, aimed at fighting for the receipt and use of power.

In Latin, the word "party" means "group" or "part". It was first used in the ancient world. For example, Aristotle talked about parties of mountain people, plains or coasts. In addition, he called this term a group of politicians, which is part of the closest circle of the ruler.

This concept was also used to describe the group of people in whose hands the government is in charge. And in the form in which political people used to see a common man in the street, they began to appear in the XVIII-XIX centuries, during the formation of parliamentarism.

Weber's interpretation

The modern political science adopted the evolution of political parties, which M. Weber proposed. According to his findings, the first stage in the formation of the party is the "aristocratic circle". As it develops, it grows 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 beginnings and amateur performance.

Different approaches

Getting acquainted with political science, you can stumble on at least a few approaches to determine a political party. From the point of view of the 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 links the definition of the party with the electoral process, the promotion of candidates, the pre-election race, as well as the desire to gain legislative and executive power.

And, finally, the Marxist approach looks at such a concept as a political party, from the point of view of class positions. The party, in this interpretation, is the most conscious and active part of the class, whose interests it defends.

The legal approach

It should be considered separately. The legal approach regulates:

1. Political status of the party, and its functions.
2. Continuous operation.
3. Mandatory participation in elections.
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. Number of members.
8. Name.

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

He also assumes that registration of the party in executive bodies is the most important procedure, which is nothing but an official recognition of the party and provides it with state protection.

Only after going through the formal registration procedure, an organization can put itself forward for elections, obtain state funding and get other opportunities that legalized political parties have. The table with classification of batches will be given a little lower.

Signs of the Party

For today in political science it is possible to meet such signs of these organizations:

1. Any party carries a certain ideology, or at least an orientation, a picture of the world.
2. The party is the organization or association of people, stable over time.
3. The party's goal is to win power. Here it is worth noting that in a multiparty system, a single party can not receive full-fledged power, but only participates in the realization of power functions.
4. Any party strives to enlist the support of voters, up to the adoption of the most active of them in their ranks.

The organizational structure of political parties

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

Functionaries are called party activists, who work at all levels, in local and central bodies of association. They organize the work of various parts of the party and spread its ideology. Leadership, ideologists, the most experienced and authoritative figures, which determine the vector of development of the organization, the goals and ways to achieve them, belong to the supreme leadership. Well, the ordinary members of the party are those who work in primary organizations and carry out the task of the leadership.

The external structure includes the electorate, that is, people who are close to the ideas of the party and who are ready to give their votes 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 exactly this way.

Financing

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

1. Contributions of party members.
2. Sponsorship.
3. Funds raised from own activities.
4. Budgetary funds (during the pre-election campaign).
5. Foreign financing (prohibited in a number of countries).

Objectives

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

1. Formation of public opinion.
2. Expression of civic position.
3. Political education and education of the people.
4. Nomination (introduction) of its representatives to the bodies of state power and local self-government.

Batch Functions

To more specifically understand the place of political parties in the political system, it is worth considering their functions. They are: political, social and ideological.

Political:

1. Struggle for power.
2. Recruiting leaders and the ruling elite.

Social:

1. Socialization of citizens.
2. Social representation.

Ideological:

1. Creation of ideology.
2. Propaganda.

The functions of political parties make it possible to determine the tasks that they solve. First, the party is a kind of link between the people and government bodies. Thus, it neutralizes the spontaneous forms of political activity of citizens.

Secondly, the party is a very effective form of overcoming civil passivity and apathy towards politics. Third, the party provides a peaceful way of distributing or redistributing political power and avoiding a public upheaval.

Classification

Now let's look at what political parties are like. The table with the classification to us in this will help:

Charter of the party

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

1. Goals and tasks of the party.
2. Attributes of the party.
3. Terms of membership.
4. The structure of the party.
5. Order of personnel operations.
6. Sources of financing and so on.

Conclusion

Today we have learned what political parties are in the political system. Summarizing the aforesaid, it can be concluded that the party is an organization aimed at gaining power in order to promote the interests of a particular class of the population. Political parties, the structure of which, if different, is insignificant, depends heavily on support, both from the electorate and from the sponsors.