Poltical Factionalism: Dividing the People

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Recommended: Relation between religion and politics

Political factions have played a fundamental role in shaping governments here and around the world in history and will continue to influence in the future. Factions divide a government based on different beliefs of key issue in policies, such as spending and warfare. Political factions are both beneficial to a society and detrimental.

A political party is “A group organized for the purpose of achieving and exercising power within a political system,” (Gwinn 960). They obtain their power by either election or revolution. Similarly, but not exactly is a group of people who attempt to influence the government, which would be a pressure group. Pressure groups attempts to influence both the government and political parties. A political party’s main goal is to put one of their own into office and is structured around the attempt to secure them in the election. Pressure groups can become political parties but are not limited to.

Early political parties, centered around aristocratic and monarchial regimes, only composed of nobles and influential people opposed to one another. There was no real involvement of what we would now call the lower and middle class. Modern political parties originated in the early 19th century in Europe and the United States with the development of the electoral and parliamentary system. Before, political parties would be centered on the ideals of one noble man. Now with the development of the parliamentary and electoral systems, parties could be centered on ideas ideal to someone more common such as the common worker. These parties were dependent on mass support. Later in the 20th century we see the spread of political parties to the rest of the world, such as in Asia where parties were often based on relig...

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...terest Groups." The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15th ed. Vol. 25. Chicago IL: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1995. 960-71. Print.

Harwood, John. "For Democrats, Internal Dissent Could Stop an Agenda Cold." New York Times 21 June 2010: A17(L). Infotrac Newsstand. Web. 4 Feb. 2012.

"LACK OF FUNDS AND FACTIONALISM HURT DEMOCRATS, LABOR CHIEF SAYS." New York Times 21 Mar. 1985. Infotrac Newsstand. Web. 4 Feb. 2012.

Mendelsohn, Lauren. "Party Factionalism: Bring on the Independents." The Diamondback. University of Maryland, 24 Jan. 2012. Web. 04 Feb. 2012.

Roland, John. "The Federalist #10." The Federalist #10. Constitution Society, 18 Oct. 1998. Web. 06 Feb. 2012. http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa10.htm

"Supremes start new session with no chance of harmony; United States." Times [London, England] 4 Oct. 2010: 27. Infotrac Newsstand. Web. 24 Jan. 2012.

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