Question

"Political parties today face several challenges that impact their democratic functioning." Justify this statement.

Answer 1

1. The first challenge is the lack of internal democracy within parties. All over the world, there is a tendency in political parties towards the concentration of power in one or a few leaders at the top. Parties do not keep membership registers, do not hold organisational meetings, or conduct internal elections regularly. Ordinary members of the party do not get sufficient information on what happens inside the party. They do not have the means or connections to influence the decisions.
2. The second challenge of dynastic succession is related to the first one. Since most political parties do not practise open and transparent procedures for their functioning, there are very few ways for an ordinary worker to rise to the top in a party. Those who happen to be the leaders are in a position of unfair advantage to favour people close to them or even their family members. In many parties, the top positions are always controlled by members of one family.
3. The third challenge concerns the growing role of money and muscle power in parties, especially during elections. Since parties are focused only on winning elections, they tend to use shortcuts to win elections. They tend to nominate those candidates who have or can raise lots of money. Rich people and companies that give funds to political parties tend to influence the policies and decisions of the party.
4. The fourth challenge is that parties often do not seem to offer a meaningful choice to the voters. To offer meaningful choices, parties must be significantly different. In recent years, there has been a decline in the ideological differences among parties in most parts of the world. For example, there is very little difference between Britain's Labour Party and the Conservative Party. They agree on more fundamental aspects but differ only in details on how policies should be framed and implemented.
5. There is not much difference between the leaders either. They keep shifting from one party to another.