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| The following text illustrates the function performed by parties within the political system and highlights the essential nature of this function for democracy itself. This section also features a text taken from the German Law on Political Parties, which describes the constitutional position of parties and their task [... to the Law on Political Parties].
Even if all state power is derived from the people in a parliamentary democracy, it is still important to bear in mind that the people are only able to exercise power when they are organized. In a representative system political parties are needed to act as a mediator or go-between between the people and government. Parties have become a constituent part of modern democracy and it's hard to imagine a system without them. Indeed, parties might be thought of as part of a "party democracy". In contrast, the problematic term of "party state" suggests that parties have a monopoly on forming public opinion. But by pointing out other non-party players in the political system it becomes clear that this is not a true reflection of the situation. Other players include, at a community level, the media, civil-action groups, associations and interest groups and, at a state level, public administration and state jurisdiction. Taken together these groups manage to remove a great deal of party influence.
Political opinion is created largely through political parties. They are responsible for taking the most important political decisions and giving citizens political direction. The political decision-making process is best influenced through participation in political parties. In line with democratic and constitutional principles, parties present their candidates to the electorate prior to an election. To this end, "pre-selection" has already been carried out before the electorate are given the opportunity to vote for the candidate who they would like to see in parliament. This pre-selection, however, is unavoidable, since there is no other way of giving the electorate a real choice between parties and personalities. Therefore parties play their part in preparing and providing a selection for the election. A party's "product" is its political program and this is put before the electorate. To this end, the manifesto proposed by parties performs two main functions. Firstly, it should articulate the interests of the people (parties as a mouthpiece of the people), and, secondly, manifestos also have the task of influencing public opinion (parties as formers of opinion). Parties are also responsible for the selection of the political leadership. Those acting with political responsibility today are usually members of a political party. Independents have disappeared almost entirely from the political landscape. Political parties that form the government are supposed to lead the nation. Their members hold senior government office. The possibilities open to a party to 'outvote' the minority are (next to the constitutional barriers) also limited in as much as the ruling party's mandate is subject to a time limit. Opposition parties regard their task as being one of criticizing, controlling and offering alternatives to government policy in order to bring about a quick change in administration. Parties bundle, select and express interests from many directions. Many concepts cannot be represented without first going through a filtering process. The aim of a party is to find compromise between differing groups and sections of society in order that the conflicting arguments do not come to a head. Democracy theory and parties Differing opinions, needs and social conflicts exist in every society and this is nothing new. The concept of a homogenous public will and a predetermined commonweal, in contrast, is a fixed idea. That is to say that in reality society is characterized by rival interests that often have a habit of clashing with little warning. In order to find a peaceful solution to conflicts, the process of forming a political will has to take place in an open atmosphere of debate between opposing interests; some common ground regarding the system must exist for this to be successful ("competitive theory of democracy"). To this end, parties represent certain interests and work with a wide range of interest groups. Only when these diverging interests are expressed openly and parties recognize reciprocally the right of other parties to represent other interests ("agreement on the basics") can a satisfactory solution to conflicts and compromise be achieved. It goes without saying that 'party freedom' has to be guaranteed. This means that everyone is free to found a political party; citizens have the right to become members of a party and to be active in it. Neither does party freedom mean that individuals can be forced into joining a particular party nor into remaining a member of it against their will. The positive way in which this party diversity is welcomed by society comes as a result of the competitive theory of democracy, which also matches the way in which democracy is understood in the West.
[Taken and translated from: Uwe Backes/Eckhard Jesse; from: Informationen zur politischen Bildung 207, Parteiendemokratie, BpB 1996]
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Subjects: Human
Rights I Democracy I Parties
I Examples I
Europe
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Globalisation
I United Nations
I Sustainability
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