What is a political party
Uploaded by Giselle on Dec 02, 2004
In this assignment I will be researching three political topics.
What is a political party?
What is a party government?
How are parties elected to govern in the UK?
What is a political party?
It’s a group of people who share the same views and principles on how to govern a country. A political party covers all areas of life, whereas a pressure group focuses on a specific area for example Countryside Alliance seek to influence people on the countryside ( Fox hunting).
Many find it difficult to identify a political party from a pressure group as some parties fall into both categories for example the Green party have the right to form government but only according to its environmental principles.
It’s essential that we have political parties especially countries such as the United Kingdom, a practising democratical country. This allows the people to have freedom of speech and this intern enables the party to voice the views on national matters such as health and education.
There are many political parties in Britain, but throughout Britain as a whole there are three dominant political parties Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats. Anyone is able to form a party, but with these dominant parties having influential role on all major issues e.g. Education, taxes and because of the way our voting system, this makes it difficult for other parties to grow and make themselves known amongst the community.
Political parties are not funded by the government, they are funded by the subscription fees from party members, sponsors from particular companies, fund raising activities, donations from supporters etc.
The opposition parties who have Mp’s who have won the majority vote from their constituency to win a seat in parliament are given financial support from the short fund (Edward Short) introduced by him in the 1970’s. The opposition party receives this payment on a formula which is based on the amount of seats won an votes received in the most recent general election.
For every seat won £3,840, 66 is given to the party and a special bonus of £7.67 for every 200 votes gained.
The functions of political parties
It’s the duty of politicians to respond to what society in general (national matters) and individuals want out of their community. These are the values and beliefs that society in general has. The most common are likely to be
. Better and more effective law and order; an expansion of our police forces
. An improved public...