12. Parties and party systems

A political party is a group of people that is organised for the purpose of winning government power, by electoral or other means. Parties   are   often   confused   with   interest   groups   or   political movements. Four characteristics usually distinguish parties from other groups:

- Parties aim to exercise government power by winning political office

- Parties are organised bodies with a formal 'card carrying' membership. This distinguishes them from broader and more diffuse political movements.

- Parties typically adopt a broad issue focus, addressing each of the major areas of government policy.

- Parties are united by shared political preferences and a general ideological identity.

Political parties are important not only because of the range of functions they carry out, but also because the complex interrelationships between and among parties are crucial in structuring how political systems work in practice. This network of relationships is called a party system.  One-party systems A single party enjoys a monopoly of power through the exclusion of all other parties. A two-party system is duopolistic in that it is dominated by two major'   parties  that   have   an equal   prospect  of winning. Dominant-party systems is a system with a number of parties compete for power in regular and popular elections, but dominated by a single major party. A multiparty system is characterized by competition amongst more than two parties.

13. Theories of decision-making.

The making of decisions and reaching of conclusions is usually seen as the key feature of policy making. General theories of political decision-making: .Rational actor models - These models have generally been constructed on the basis of economic theories which have themselves been derived from utilitarism. A decision is made through the selection of the means more likely to secure the desired end. Incrementalism holds that policy making is a continuous, exploratory process. Bureaucratic and organisation models.These models try to get inside the 'black box'  structure of the policy making process by highlighting the degree to which process influences product. The 'organisational process' model highlights the impact on decisions of the values, assumptions and regular patterns of behaviour that are found in any large organization. The 'bureucratic politics' model emphasizes the impact on decisions of bargaining between personnel and agencies.  Belief system models.According to this model, decision makers have a mechanism to filter information in the form of 'advocacy coalitions'  which emerge within subsystems of a policy system. Advocacy coalitions comprise collections of individuals who share broadly similar beliefs and values.

 

14. System performance

Stability performance - Stable government must be rooted in consensus and consent. In this view, what ensures the long-term survival of a regime is its responsiveness to popular demands and pressures. In this case, the central dilemma of stable government is that responsiveness must be balanced against effectiveness. Government must be sensitive to external pressures, but it must also be able to impose its will on society.  Conservative thinkers have traditionally linked stability and order not to responsiveness but to authority.

Material performance - The central dilemma that arises from the use of material prosperity as a performance indicator is that growth must be balanced against fairness. The free-market view holds that general prosperity is best achieved by a system of unregulated capitalism.  The rival social-democratic view highlights the moral and economic benefits of equality.

Citizenship performance - A citizen is a member of a political community or state, endowed with a set of rights and a set of obligations. There are three sets of rights': civil rights, political rights and social rights. Civil rights are the rights necessary for 'individual freedom'. Civil rights are therefore rights that are exercised within civil society. Political rights provide the individual with the opportunity to participate in political life.  Finally, citizenship implies social rights which guarantee to the individual a minimum social status.