The Effects of Political Parties on a Democracy
There are indeed several aspects in the composition of political
parties that threaten democracy in the UK, whilst other aspects may
promote democracy. Careful analysis must be done in order to establish
to what extent either is true.
On the one hand, it may be argued that parties in fact promote
democracy for a variety of reasons. Firstly, they assist the
electorate by offering them a coherent choice, allowing people to vote
democratically. Rather than the electorate having to choose between
several members of each party, and having to place votes for central
government subsequent to placing local constituency votes, voting is
made simple and straightforward. Voters have merely a choice between
separate parties, and beside each party is one pre-appointed MP
Representative. Furthermore, by engaging in extensive and vigorous
campaigns before elections, and thereby holding conferences; rallies
and distributing party manifestos, parties facilitate the electorate
to make educated decisions on polling day. This further ensures
democratic voting, as it not only assists the voters to vote for those
who they realise they most identify with ideologically, but party
campaigning also gets more of the public involved, ensuring a higher
turn out at the polls. Rather than a government elected by only 40% of
the electorate, which would establish poor roots for the democracy of
that government, election campaigns get more, and a wider range of the
electorate actively involved, ensuring higher turnouts at the polls,
and thus a higher standard of democracy.
Parties are also trying to encourage mor...
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...parties have shown themselves to
be adapting their policies, parties often water down these new ideas
to fit their ideological framework. They often avoid radical policy
change for the sake of political safety. This threatens democracy as
it narrows the scope for proper political debate on key issues.
In conclusion, although it can be argued that political parties are
indeed promoting democracy through several factors of their
composition, it is evident that there is still much room for
improvement. Perhaps stronger unity and communication between party
leaders and members or even electoral reform could be the next step.
Either way, it is clear that parties must re-evaluate their respective
standards of democracy, and ensure that steps are taken to raise these
levels, and thereby increase overall democracy in the UK.
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