PARTIES AND PARTY SYSTEMS

Parties and Party Systems

A party system is a concept in comparative political science concerning the system of government by political parties in a democratic country.

 The idea is that political parties have basic similarities: they control the government, have a stable base of mass popular support, and create internal mechanisms for controlling funding, information and nominations.

PARTY SYSTEMS

One-party system: this is a state where one party rules. Such states would include the remaining communist states of the world (Cuba, North Korea and China), and Iraq.

The old Soviet Union was a one party state.

One of the more common features of a one-party state is that the position of the ruling party is guaranteed in a constitution and all forms of political opposition are banned by law.

The ruling party controls all aspects of life within that state. The belief that a ruling party is all important to a state came from Lenin who believed that only one party - the Communists - could take the workers to their ultimate destiny and that the involvement of other parties would hinder this progress.

Two-party system: This is a state in which just two parties dominate. Other parties might exist but they have no political importance.

 America has the most obvious two-party political system with the Republicans and Democrats dominating the political scene.

For the system to work one of the parties must obtain a sufficient working majority after an election and it must be in a position to be able to govern without the support from the other party. A rotation of power is expected in this system.

The two-party system presents the voter with a simple choice and it is believed that the system promotes political moderation as the incumbent party must be able to appeal to the ‘floating voters’ within that country.

Those who do not support the system claim that it leads to unnecessary policy reversals if a party loses a election as the newly elected government seeks to impose its ‘mark’ on the country that has just elected it to power. Such sweeping reversals, it is claimed, cannot benefit the state in the short and long term.

Third parties, meaning a party other than one of the two dominant parties, are possible in two-party systems, but they are unlikely to exert much influence by gaining control of legislatures or by winning elections.

The multi-party system: as the title suggests, this is a system where more than two parties have some impact in a state’s political life.

A multi-party system can lead to a coalition government as Kenya, Germany and Zimbabwe have experienced.

In Germany these have provided reasonably stable governments and a successful coalition can introduce an effective system of checks and balances on the government that can promote political moderation.

Also many policy decisions take into account all views and interests. In Italy, coalition governments have not been a success; many have lasted less than one year.

In Israel, recent governments have relied on the support of extreme minority groups to form a coalition government and this has created its own problems with such support being withdrawn on a whim or if those extreme parties feel that their own specific views are not being given enough support.

Dominant-party system: this is different from a one-party system. A party is quite capable within the political structure of a state, to become dominant to such an extent that victory at elections is considered a formality. This was the case under the Kenyan government in the 90s.

In Kenya the elections of the 1987, 1992 and 1997’ were fought with competition from other parties - hence there can be no comparison with a one-party state.

During an extended stay in power, a dominant party can shape society through its policies.

THE KENYAN SITUATION

Kenya's system is one with characteristics comparable with a two-party system, since two dominant political parties.

Coalitions have dominated since the last general elections in 2007. However, it has been a multi-party system since 1992 and one of the ruling coalitions consists of several parties.

Kenya had over 160 registered political parties as of November 2007, but following the implementation of several Political Parties Acts starting with the 31 December 2008 act, the number has been coming down considerably since.