Political party QAns

Ch 6 political party

Answer the following questions

Q. Name the national political party which gets inspiration from India’s ancient culture and values. Mention features of that party. 

Answer:

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gets inspiration from India’s ancient culture and values.

Features:

1 This party founded in 1980 draws

2 Cultural Nationalism (Hindutva) is an important element in its conception of Indian nationhood and politics.

3 Wants full territorial and political integration of Jammu and Kashmir with India.

4 A uniform civil code for all people living in the country irrespective of religion and ban on religious conversions.

5 Earlier limited to north and west and to urban areas, the party expanded support in the south, east, the north-east and rural areas.

Q. What is meant by a ‘national political party’? State the conditions required to be a national political party. 

Answer:

National political parties have their units in various states. By and large all these units follow the same policies, programmes and strategy that is decided at the national level.

Conditions required to be a national political party:

1 A party that secures at least 6% of the total votes in general elections of Lok Sabha or assembly elections in four states.

2 A party that wins at least 4 seats in the Lok Sabha.

Q What is meant by regional political party? State the conditions required to be recognised as a ‘regional political party’. 

Answer:

A regional party is a party that is present in only some states. Regional parties or State parties need not be regional in their ideology. They have state identity as they are present only in some states.

Conditions required for a party to be recognized as a regional political party:

1 A party that secures at least six percent of the total votes in an election to the legislative assembly of a state.

2 Wins at least two seats in the legislative assembly.

Q. Describe the three components of a political party.

Answer:

Components of a political party are:

 *The leaders* The leaders are recruited and trained by parties. They are made ministers to run the government. The big policy decisions are taken by the political executives that come from the political parties.

 *Active Members* 

 Parties have lakhs of members and activists spread over the country. Many of the pressure groups are the extensions of political parties among different sections of society. But since most of the members belong to a party, they go by the direction of the party leadership, irrespective of their personal opinion.

 *The followers* The followers are the ordinary citizens, who believe in the policies of their respective party and give popular support through elections. Often the opinion of the followers crystallise on the lines parties take.

Q. Political parties are a necessary condition for a democracy”. Analyse the statement.

Answer:

“Political parties are a necessary condition for a democracy” in the following ways:

1 Without political parties democracies cannot exist. If we do not have political parties, every candidate in elections will be independent.

2 No one will be able to make any promises to the people about any major policy changes.

3 The government may be formed but its utility will remain uncertain.

4 Elected representatives will be accountable to their constituency, for what they do in their locality but no one will be responsible for how the country will run.

5 As societies become large and complex they also needed some agencies to gather different views on various issues and to present these to the government, that’s why political parties are needed.

Q. Explain different Party system.

Answer

There are mainly three types of party systems. They are:

 *One-party system* : Only one party is allowed to control and run the government. For example, in China, only the Communist Party is allowed to rule.

 *Two-party system:* Only the two main parties have a serious chance of winning a majority of seats to form a government. The United States of America and the United Kingdom are examples of a two-party system.

 *Multi-party system* : More than two parties have a reasonable chance of coming to power either on their own strength or in alliance with others. Thus in India, we have a multiparty system.

Q. Describe any five major functions performed by political parties. 

Answer:

Functions of a political party 

1 Parties contest elections.

2 Parties put forward different policies and programmes. 

3. Parties make laws for a country. Laws are debated and passed in the legislature.

4 Parties that lose elections play the role of the opposition. Opposition parties voice their views by criticizing government for its failure or wrong policies.

5 Parties shape public opinion. They raise and highlight issues and resolve people’s problems. 

6 Parties provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes. For an ordinary citizen it is easy to approach a local party leader than a government officer.

 Explain the three steps taken by the different authorities to reform political parties and their leaders in India.

The steps for reformations:

(i) The constitution was amended to prevent elected MLA and MP from changing parties, by bringing anti-defection law.

(ii) The Supreme Court had passed an order to reduce the influence of money and criminal. It is now mandatory for candidates to submit a record of criminal activities and the amount of property they own.

(iii) The Election Commission passed an order making it necessary for political parties to hold their organisational elections and file their income tax returns.

Q. “Lack of internal democracy within parties is the major challenge to political parties all over the world”. Analyse the statement. 

Answer:

1 Most political parties do not practise open and transparent procedures for their functioning like maintaining membership registers, holding organisational meetings or conducting internal elections regularly. Thus, ordinary members of the party do not get sufficient information on the happenings in the party and have no means to influence the decisions.

2 Also, there are very few chances for an ordinary worker to rise to the top in a party. Since one or, at the most, a few leaders exercise paramount power in the party, those who disagree with the leadership, find it difficult to continue in the party.

3 Those who happen to be the leaders are in a position to take undue advantage and favour people close to them or even their family members. And, in many parties, the top positions are invariably controlled by members of one family which is bad for democracy.

Q. Explain any five suggestions to reform political parties in India.

Answer:

Five suggestions made to reform the political parties:

1 Law to regulate the internal affairs of political parties like maintaining a register of its members, to follow its own constitution, to have independent authority, to act as judge in case of party dispute, to hold open elections to the highest post.

2 It should be mandatory for political parties to give one-third tickets to women candidates. Also there should be quota for women on the decision-making bodies of the party.

3 There should be state funding of elections. The government should give money to parties to support their election expenses in kind (petrol, paper, telephone, etc.) or in cash on the basis of votes secured by the party in the previous election.

4 The candidate should be educated, so that he can solve and understand people’s problems. His previous record should be cleared. He should be honest and there should be no criminal case against him.

4 Citizens can reform politics if they take part directly and join political parties. 5 People can put pressure on political parties through petitions, publicity in media, agitations etc.

Q. Identify and explain challenges which political parties need to face and over come in order to remain affective instruments of democracy. 

Answer:

Since parties are the most visible face in a democracy, people blame them for whatever is wrong with the working of democracy.

There are four major areas where the working of political parties faces challenge:

(i) Lack of internal democracy. There is concentration of power in one or a few leaders at the top. Parties do not keep membership registers, do not hold organisational meetings and do not conduct internal elections regularly. More than loyalty to party principles and policies, it is personal loyalty which becomes more important. The leaders assume greater power to make decisions in the name of the party. Since one or few leaders exercise paramount power in the party, those who disagree with leadership find it difficult to continue in the party.

(ii) Dynastic succession. In many parties, top positions are always held by members of one family. Most political parties do not practice transparent and open procedures for their functioning and it is very difficult for an ordinary worker to rise to the top. This is bad for democracy, since people who do not have adequate experience or popular support come to occupy positions of power.

(iii) Money and muscle power. Since parties are focused only on winning elections, they tend to use short-cuts to win elections. They nominate candidates who have or can raise money and thus are able to have influence on the policies and decisions of the party.

(iv) No meaningful choice. There has been a decline in the ideological differences among parties. They agree more on fundamental aspects, but differ only in details, on how policies are to be framed and implemented. Sometimes people cannot even elect different leaders as the same set of leaders keep shifting from one party to another.