What role do political parties play in a representative democracy, and how effectively are these roles fulfilled?

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What role do political parties play in a representative democracy, and how effectively are these roles fulfilled?

   A political party is a group of like-minded people who agree to abide by a set of rules and set out to win political power in order to achieve their common goals; in the UK this is done by standing candidates in elections. Political parties evolved into what is their recognisable state of today from the old Whigs and Tories. After the Great Reform Act in 1867 parties officially were separate entities in Parliament and gave birth to the system we have today. Nowadays political parties are of course well structured both regionally and nationally.

In representative democracy, political parties play a vital role- without them there would be severe problems. As far as the parties themselves are concerned their role is more ambitious than a pressure group which merely aims to influence the government. A political party aims to become the government. In the eye of the pluralist theory of democracy, political parties have other vital functions. The first is the most obvious and that is that the most popular party must form a government and create a Prime Minister. Without parties it would be difficult or impossible to draw out a government from the legislature. The whole aim of a party is to get power and once in power to stay there. This incentive of political parties to exist basically can call into question their actions sometimes. Does a party always go with public opinion in an attempt to win vote or does the party sometimes go against the grain of public opinion in order to keep its morale standing consistent? Or does a government withdraw an unpopular policy that it would usually agree with? For example Thatcher was torn between popularity and her political opinion when the poll tax met such huge opposition in the early 1990s. On the other side of the coin it also gives the public a means of government accountability as there is one single entity that can be held to account. However this point must be taken with a degree of leniency, parties such as the BNP will never really achieve governmental power so why do they stand for election, the answer is that they aren’t really a thoroughbred political party, their main aim is in fact to raise awareness of their cause to the public in order to influence the vote and the future government.        

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The second function is one which benefits both the common voter and the candidates standing in constituencies. If a candidate is standing for election as an independent MP he/she will have to be privately funded and will have to broadcast his views and policies to the constituency all on his/her own. However under the wing of a political party the candidate will have their campaigning funded for by the party, making it easier. However, if this candidate wins the seat, they may often find their loyalties split between party and constituency. An MP may face a difficult decision if on ...

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