Political Parties.

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Rose Szarowicz                                                                  Tue 17th February  04

Political Parties

What is a political party? 

     A political party is a group of people whose aim is to win or gain governmental power by electoral or other means. They aim to gain power through public office, and acquire a following through appealing to part parts of the electorate with similar political ideologies to their party. They normally focus on broad issues e.g. better health care, more freedom, and greater social equality. Although some small parties focus on single issues to get into public office e.g. the unionists and nationalists.

     The UK is a two-party system which means that only two parties have a chance of becoming the government; Labour and Conservative. They retain power and their position by acting in the interests of the public, trying to stay popular so that they will be re-elected in the next general election. In doing this they sustain the political system by measures such as; certifying national unity in times of crisis, keeping public support, and ensuring a peaceful transition from one party to the next.  Political parties represent the views of different people. They have a set of ideologies which are used to create policies for a manifesto. They support or are against major issues e.g. the Euro, which gives the electorate a clear basis to choose which party they are in favour of.

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What are the functions of political parties?

Every society has different beliefs, values and ideologies of communities living in it. They all grant different demands of political parties, and the parties function is to represent these different interests. There are different demands on government such as ; the poor want greater welfare, the rich demand lower tax, industry demands government aid and unions want better employment protection.

      Ambitious MP’s who wish to rise through the ranks of a party, must take part in lots of community work, campaigning themselves creating a following and support. ...

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