Patronage
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Parties

Criticism of parties (I)

Parties are often accused of having expanded their important role in the state too far and of presiding over a position of power to which they are not entitled. Critics say that ample evidence of this is provided by the fact that in many German states individuals that are not members of the 'right' party have hardly any chance of being appointed to public office. Using Germany as an example, the text on this page addresses this problem of patronage.
The problem of patronage and - according to critics - the problem of political parties holding too much power has led to a discussion about the role of parties, which revolves around the terms of "party democracy and "party state". We have put together a special section that deals with the most important arguments in this debate [...to the section on " the party state"]

Patronage 

The number of people joining political parties during the seventies (West Germany) increased dramatically and, in an historical context, remains at a high level. Most members derive no advantage from their membership. Many members give up their time, labor and even money in order to achieve the political goals they regard as important. In many cases, however, people join political parties for more calculated reasons. In a country such as Germany the powerful parties are responsible for appointing people to positions. This also means, however, that there is a danger of appointments to public office being chosen according to membership of the 'right' party rather than ability (patronage). The political scientist, Wilhelm Hennis, from Freiburg hit the nail squarely on the head when he said:

"The fact that a qualified teacher can better his/her chance of being promoted to head teacher by having the right "party card" in his/her pocket is no more honorable than being deemed able because of army reservist status. At the end of the day, a free society is based on its splits, segregations and differences. As an alliance and system of career politicians, the democratic party state runs the risk of the public becoming conscious of this. And it is the democratic parties, essential as they are in forming the political will, that will benefit least from this situation in the long run."

Patronage and political "sinecure" might well prove to be detrimental to party democracy. Article 33, paragraph 2 of the German constitutional law on political parties states that every German should have equal access to public office according to his/her aptitude, ability and specialist skills. Therefore, if we take this law seriously, political parties (in their own interests) should not close their eyes in the face of abuse. However, self-critical voices do exist which point out that party disaffection, on no account comparable with anti-party sympathies, should not be lightly brushed aside and these voices are ready to admit that the tendency to protect party members has spread. Of course, this should not be taken as meaning that all those applying for public office should be disregarded as "public office predators". "Political officials" (for example state secretaries and high-ranking ministerial officers) in particular have to belong to a political party, since their own political convictions have to correspond with those of the government because of the influence they bring to bear. Indeed, it is for this reason that they can be sent into waiting at any time.

[Uwe Backes/Eckhard Jesse, taken from: Informationen zur politischen Bildung 207, Parteiendemokratie, Bonn BpB 1997]

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Subjects:  Human Rights  I  Democracy  I  Parties  I  Examples  I  Europe  I  Globalisation  I  United Nations  I  Sustainability

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This online service on the subject of political education was developed by agora-wissen, the Stuttgart-based Gesellschaft für Wissensvermittlung über neue Medien und politische Bildung (GbR) (Partnership for the Exchange of Information Using New Media and Political Education). Please contact us with your questions or comments. Translation from German into English by twigg's Übersetzung deutsch-englisch.