POLS 242 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Corporatism, Party System
Document Summary
Political parties: political parties: political organizations that seek to influence policy by getting candidates and members elected or appointed to public office, types: elite, mass, & catch all parties. Elite parties: political parties in which membership and scope were largely restricted to a small number of political elites. Mass parties: parties with large numbers of citizens as members and that undertake massive political mobilization. Catch-all parties: political parties that have flexible ideologies and aim to attract support from a broad range of interest groups and voters. Party systems: patterns of party politics characterized by the number of relevant parties in a country, types: dominant-party, two-party, and multiparty systems, dominant-party systems: country contains one large political party that predominates politically. Dominant party often controls legislative and executive branches. Can happen in democracies: ex: india (1947-1970s, ex: south africa (1994-present) Often less than fully democratic if dominant party has advantages (but oher parties are allowed: ex: mexico 1920s-2000.