Political Science 1020E Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Party System, Oligarchy

• School: Western University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: Political Science 1020E
• Professor: Nigmendra Narain

Document Summary

Group of people: organized for the purpose of winning governmental power, usually with common ideological orientation and, a program covering a wide array of issues. A modern institution: emerging mainly 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, to manage representative government in an age of mass suffrage. Initial resistance e. g. after fre(cid:374)ch a(cid:374)d a(cid:373)erica(cid:374) re(cid:448)olutio(cid:374)s: parties as (cid:862)factio(cid:374)s(cid:863) Parties in the usa have pursued democratic and participatory reforms nominating primaries and caucuses. Efforts elsewhere to popularize leadership selection influenced by: party losing under existing arrangements, general concern over decline of party though decline of old cleavages and incomplete emergence of new ones also responsible. Party system: a relatively stable pattern of relationships amongst parties, as structured by their: (i) number (ii) size and (iii) ideological orientation. Only of value if systemic features, relationships and interactions, actually explains. As in sweden, is there a divided right and no major challenger to the left of the sap.