Political Parties
Politics is the term given to a process by which a group of people make important collective decisions. Politics generally refers to decisions and actions by governments, but a politic can also describe actions within a corporation, academic organization, or a religious institution. A politic decision generally involves social relations with a large group of people by a smaller group of people who hold power. A politic is also an action that is formulated and enforced by those in authority through specific methods and/or tactics. The actual word “politics” originates from the Greek word politika, from politic, a word modeled from Aristotle’s book “affairs of state”.
What is a Political Party?
A political party is an political organization with the goal of establishing power within a government by participating in elections to spread their influence and enforce their policies. They often have a firm structure of beliefs and ideology that fuels goals and means to obtain them. Politicians often team up with other members of the same political party who have similar interests.
Electoral Systems Within a Country:
A country’s electoral system is one of the prime factors for how a political party system works. A system where there are two political parties at the forefront of an election, is usually employed with a first past the post voting system. Countries with proportional representation, which is more prevalent in such places as Europe and Australia, three or more political parties are involved in close races within elections.
A nonpartisan system, political parties do not exist, mostly enforced by legal restrictions forbidding political parties. In these types of elections, each person who is a candidate for office runs on his or her own beliefs. George Washington’s Presidential administration was put into office in a nonpartisan system. In most cases, unless there is a law against nonpartisan systems, most nonpartisan systems develop strictly political parties.
Single Political Party Systems:
In a single-party system, one political party only is allowed to hold office. In most cases, minor parties are allowed to run, but are generally required to accepted the political views of the dominant party. Single political parties are generally found in communist countries such as China. As a result, this political system is associated with dictatorships.
Two Political Party System:
Countries such as the United States, Jamaica, and Ghana generally have a two political party system, where two parties dominate almost all elections held for office. The two parties within the system are powerful enough that any other parties generally have little to no success. In the United States, the Republican right-wing political party and the Democratic left-wing political party receive the majority of election votes. The United Kingdom is also considered a two party system, containing the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. Liberal Democrats, however, and some other parties hold seats within Parliament.