Functions of political parties

Political parties have certain functions which include:

• Representation
• Policy formation
• Recruitment of leaders
• Organisation of government.

A function of political parties is representation of the people:

• This is their primary function.
• This is where parties develop policies that appeal to the mass of electorate.
• This makes them a 'catch party', such as major parties who are 'catch all' parties.
• It appeals to a wider range of voters.
  • E.g. The Conservatives have moved more centre in the political spectrum, meaning they may not represent just wealthy people. (currently, they pledge to add to the NHS).
  • Whereas the Green Party only represents those who want to protect the environment.

However, representation as a function of parties has been questioned:

• The electorate is not always informed about each manifesto of the parties.
• Some are rational when voting for a party. (Some may vote Labour just to spite Cameron etc).
• The image and personality of the Party leader usually overrides their policies.
• In addition, many people have partisan dealignment, where no party represents their views or interests.
• Whereas PGs, may represent more of their views and needs.

Another function of political parties is policy formation:

• This is where they set collective goals and formulate public policy.
• They do this through manifesto and conferences, which is the delevopment of programmes of govt.
• It also states the policies that the Party proposes to carry out and gives the electorate a list of achievable goals.

However, policy formation has been questioned as a function:

• Many political parties have recently distanced themselves from traditional ideologies.
• In addition, political parties are now more eager to follow public opinion abd include the views of focus groups.

Recruitment of leaders is another function of political parties:

• All senior political careers start with joining a party, to gain experience of:
  • Convassing
  • Debating issues
  • Running a constituency.
• Party membership could lead to political office, by being nominated as Parliamentary candidate, which leads to PM.
• Parties recruit and train the political leaders of the future.

However, the effectiveness of recruiting leaders has been questioned because:

• Governments are appointed from the ranks of majority party in the HOC.
• Therefore, only a small pool of talent is relied upon.
• Electioneering may be poor training for running a large govt department.

Organisation of government is the last function of political parties:

• Parties help to form government, which means that the UK effectively has a system of party government.
• It provides a source of opposition.
• Criticism helps to scrutinise govt policies.
• It also provides a 'govt in waiting.'

However, this function has been questioned because:

• Since the 1970s, the Party's majority control in the HOC has been weakened by the decline in party unity..
• E.g. In the 2010 GE, the Conservatives were 19 seats off a secure majority. Therefore, they had to form a coalition with the Lib Dems, to form a government.