POLS 1101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Cuban Americans, White Southerners, Tea Party Movement
24 Dec 2020
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Define political parties and their functions in politics. Political parties are organizations that seek influence over the government. A party seeks to control government, whereas interest groups seek to influence government. They organize politics and simplify complex issues for citizens. They also work on mobilizing citizens and representing them. It is hard for ordinary citizens to have an impact on policy, and much easier when they have a collective party backing. For an equal democracy, parties are necessary for competition in elections and to offer citizens a range of choices. They offer representation to a wider range of people than interest groups do. Competitive and responsible parties can increase voter turnout in all groups. Current political parties are more representative of upper and middle classes - unequal democracy. Another argument against them is that they are controlled by wealthy donors and sponsors as opposed to the public.
