Parties and Party Systems Overview

Parties and Party Systems

• A political party is a group of individuals organized to achieve governmental power, typically exhibiting ideological cohesion.
• Various classifications exist for political parties, with prominent ones including: cadre and mass parties, representative and integrative parties, constitutional and revolutionary parties, left-wing and right-wing parties, and mainstream and populist parties.
• Cadre parties (e.g., Chinese Communist Party) primarily rely on a politically active elite (often with quasi-military discipline) to offer ideological leadership to the masses.
• Mass parties, in contrast, emphasize widening membership and forming a broad electoral base (e.g., UK Labour Party).
• Mass party vs. Catch-all party (Kircheimer, 1966): This model contrasts mass and catch-all parties based on several factors such as objective, organization, partisan base, connections between party and voters, campaign types, ideology/identity, and electoral market types.
• Types of parties according to Neumann (1956):
  • Representative parties prioritize securing votes through reflecting rather than shaping public opinion, often employing a rational choice approach (e.g., politicians are power-seeking).
  • Integrative parties adopt proactive political strategies, aiming to mobilize, educate, and inspire masses, instead of only reacting to their concerns.
• Constitutional parties acknowledge the rights and entitlements of other parties, operating within established rules and constraints.
• Revolutionary parties (anti-system or anti-constitutional) aim to seize power and overthrow an existing constitutional structure.
• Different political spectrums exist, including Linear (Communism, Socialism, Liberalism, Conservatism, Fascism) and Horseshoe (circular arrangement). A two-dimensional system also illustrates political views in terms of authority and liberty.
• Mainstream parties generally accept the established political rules and status quo.
• Niche parties include populist and anti-party groups.
• Party systems are relatively stable networks between parties structured by their ideological orientations, size, and quantity.
• There are crucial distinctions in party systems:
  • One-party systems (e.g., China)
  • Two-party systems (e.g., USA)
  • Dominant-party systems (e.g., Japan)
  • Multiparty systems (e.g., Germany). The typology of multiparty systems can be analyzed from a moderate vs. polarized perspective (Sartori).
• There is evidence for a decline in political parties as agents of representation in recent decades. This decline often focuses on mainstream or mass parties, arguably linked to their perceived oligarchical nature, associated political insiders, perceived corruption, and their lack of connection to the public sphere.

Explore the various types of political parties and their classifications in this quiz. You'll learn about cadre parties, mass parties, and their differences, as well as the concepts of representative and integrative parties. Test your knowledge of party systems and their impacts on governance.