British Political Parties

British Political Parties

“A Multiple Party System with Two-Party Dominance”

First-Past-The-Post & Single-Member Districts lead to emergence of two leading parties

Labour Party Largest party on the “left” of political spectrum Began in 1906 as alliance between trade unions and social groups

that were strengthened by expansion of workers’ rights Traditionally labor union have provided majority of funds for the

party Early history of the party defined by controversial “Clause 4” that

called for nationalization of the “commanding heights” of British industry

Trade Union Council (TUC) – a coalition of trade unions generally associated with the Labour Party, has traditionally been a force in British politics

Growing moderation of the party reflected by removal of clause in early 1990s

Labour Party in 1990s Shift in policies toward more centrist views Shift in political platform originated with Neil

Kinnock, party leader in the 1980s Moderate-centrist views have continued under

leadership of John Smith (1993-94) and Tony Blair (1997-present)

Tony Blair’s adopts “Third Way” platform and creates “New Labour” Party

Conservative Party Dominant party in Great Britain between WWII

and late 1990s Main party on the right Traditionally pragmatic as opposed to ideological Historically has supported a market controlled

economy, privatization, and fewer social welfare programs – symbolized by Margaret Thatcher in 1980s

Under Prime Minister John Major (1990-1997) gravitated towards center and away from Thatcherism

Conservative Party II Characterized by Noblesse Oblige Power centered in London Party organization viewed as elitist Leadership must submit to annual leadership elections Weakened by division of party in late 1990s:

Traditional Wing(one-nation Tories) – values noblesse oblige and elitism, supports Britain’s membership in EU

Thatcherite Wing – strict conservatives, support full free market, known as “Euroskeptics”, feel EU threatens British sovereignty

Liberal-Democratic Party Alliance between the Liberal and Social Democratic Parties

during the 1980s Formally merged in 1989 into Liberal Democratic party Attempted to create strong “in the middle” compromise to the

two dominant parties Won a party high 26% of vote in 1983, but because of

single-member district plurality system only secured 23 seats in Parliament

Secured only 62 MP seats in 2005 even though they won 22% of the popular vote

Also managed to gain support in reference to their stance on issues such as health, education, the environment, and the Iraq War

Other Parties Scottish National Party Plaid Cymru – Welch nationalist party Sinn Fein – political arm of the IRA Democratic Unionist Party – led by

Protestant clergymen

XVII. Mexican Political Parties Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI)

National Action Party (PAN)

Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD)

PRI In power from 1920-2000 Founded by coalition of elites led by President Calles Originally elites agreed to trade favors and pass around power from one

cacique to another (Sexenio)

Corporatist structure – interest groups woven into the structure of the party. Party has ultimate authority, but other voices heard by bringing interest groups under the umbrella of the party. Structure is not democratic, but allows for more input into government than other types of authoritarianism. Cardenas allowed peasant and labor organizations to be represented in the party and hold positions of responsibility

Patron-client system – party traditionally gets its support from rural areas where patron-client system is still in control. Patron-client system allowed the PRI to remain in control of Mexicans as long as majority of population was rural-based, this began to change in the late 1980s

PAN (Right of Center) Founded in 1939 Represents business interests opposed to centralization and

anti-clericalism PAN support strongest in the north PAN generally considered PRI’s opposition to the Right PAN candidate Vicente Fox won 2000 presidential election,

Felipe Calderon won 2006 election Platform

Regional autonomy Less government intervention in the economy Clean & fair elections Good rapport with Catholic Church Support for private and religious education

PRD (Left of Center) PRD considered PRI’s opposition to the Left

Presidential candidate in 1988 & 1994 was Cuahtemoc Cardenas (son of Lazaro Cardenas)

He was ejected from the PRI for demanding reform that emphasized social justice and populism

In 1988 Cardenas won 31.1% of the official vote, and PRD captured 139 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (500 total)

Many believe had it been an honest election Cardenas would have won

PRD has been plagued by poor organization, lack of charismatic leadership, and most importantly the lack of an economic alternative to the market-oriented policies of the PRI & PAN

Andres Lopez Obrador, former mayor of Mexico City, was the PRD candidate for president in the 2006 election. He lost by a slim margin to Calderon (PAN)

Russian Political Parties Began forming after Revolution of 1991 Small, factional Formed around particular leaders

“Bloc of General Andrey Nikolaev and Academician Svyaloslav Fyodorov”

“Yuri Boldyrev Movement” (“Yabloko”) Formed around particular issues

“Party of Pensioners” “Agrarian Party of Russia” “Women of Russia”

Political Parties Today (United Russia, Communist Party, Reform Parties)

United Russia Founded in April 2001 Merger between “Fatherland All-Russia” Party and the

“United Party of Russia” United Party put together by oligarch Boris Berezovsky

and other entrepreneurs to support Putin in the election of 2000

Merger put even more political support behind Putin United Russia won 221 of the 450 Duma seats in 2004

elections Putin won re-election in 2004 as the United Russia candidate United Russia is hard to define other than that it is pro-Putin

Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) Communist Party of the old Soviet Union (CPSU) After 1995 elections held 157 of the 450 Duma seats After parliamentary election of 2003 only retained 51 of the 450

Duma seats Party leader Gennady Zyuganov finished second in the 1996

and 2000 elections, but support for the party dropped each time, he withdrew from the race in the 2004 election

Party was weakened in 2004 when a breakaway faction led by Vladimir Tikhonov split from the party

Party is less reformist than other parties, Zyuganov opposed the reforms initiated by Gorbachev

Party emphasizes central planning and nationalism Would like to see Russia regain territories it lost after Soviet

Union dissolution

Reformist Parties Yabloko

Taken strongest stand for pro-democracy

Survived since 1993 Grigori Yavlinski, leader,

finished 3rd in 2000 presidential election

Name is acronym for its three founders, also means “apple”

Gained 4.4% of vote in 2003 parliamentary elections (4 seats) making it ineligible for proportional representation

Union of Right Forces “Rightists” only in the

sense of seeking truth Emphasizes

development of free market

Supports privatization of industry

Had 29 seats in Duma prior to 2003

After 2003 elections only won 3 seats (less than 5% of the vote)

Liberal Democratic Party Controversial party Headed by Vladimir Zhirinovsky

Extreme nationalist Anti-semitic Sexist Attacks reformist leaders and disliked Yeltsin Said he would use nuclear weapons on Japan if he were

elected Party reformulated as “Zhirinovsky’s Bloc” for 2000

presidential election, he received 2.7% of vote Party did receive about 11% of vote in 2003 Duma elections

(won 37 seats)

Iranian Political Parties Constitution legalized political parties, but they were not allowed until

Muhammad Khatami’s election (1997)

The Iranian Militant Clerics Society – left wing reform party led by Muhammad Khatami.

Khatami president from 1997-2005 Several prominent politicians belong to this party including former Majlis

speaker, and a vice-president Candidate in 2005, Mehdi Karroubi, came in third

The Islamic Iran Participation Front – reformist party led by Khatami’s brother, Muhammad Reza Khatami

Founded in 1998, motto “Iran for all Iranians” Did well in 2000 Majlis elections Guardian Council barred many members from running in 2004 so

membership declined

Political Parties II Executives of Construction Party – founded by several

former cabinet members of President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Important supporter of Rafsanjani and his political platform Rafsanjani lost election runoff to Ahmadinejad by a large margin

The Islamic Society of Engineers – member of the conservative alliance, party of current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who secured office in presidential election of 2005 The “society” however did not support Ahmadinejad in the

election, their candidate was Ali Larijani, who lost in first round

Reformist Parties Khordad Front (Alliance between Iranian Militant Clerics Society &

Islamic Iran Participation Front) – the alliance helped win reelection for Khatami in 2000.

The Second Khordad Front did not survive in 2004 elections as Guardian Council banned many reformist candidates from Majlis elections

Liberation Movement – Moderate party, party founded by Mehdi Bazargan (Khomeini’s PM), in 1961 it was banned in 2002 as subversive organization

National Front – headed by Mossadeq in 1950, it was banned in late 1980s

Exile parties – Mojahedin (guerrilla group fought the shah); Fedayin (Marxist guerrillas modeled after Che Guevara); Tudeh (communist party)

XII. Nigerian Political Parties Factionalism led to creation of many political parties Failure to create coherent party system Parties formed and faded around personalities Multi-party system reinforced and strengthened

ethnic and religious cleavages Independent National Election Committee (INEC) –

registered a number of parties following the death of Abacha in 1998

In order to run candidates for the legislative and presidential elections of 1999, a party had to qualify by receiving at least 5% of the votes in two-thirds of the states in the 1998 election

This cut the number of parties significantly, only 5 parties were eligible to run candidates in the 2003 election

Political Parties II People’s Democratic Party (PDP)

Well-established Party Began running candidates in 1998 Party of President Olesugun Obesanjo (Igbo, Christian from the

North) Obesanjo received 62% of vote in 2003 election PDP gained majority in National Assembly and most of the

governors throughout the country

All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) General Muhammadu Buhari, Muslim from the North, ran

against Obesanjo Received about 32% of the vote

Other parties that ran presidential candidates include All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), The Movement for Democracy and Justice (MDJ), and the Justice Party

Alliance for Democracy (AD) did not have a presidential candidate in 2003, but did receive 9% of the votes for the legislative elections

Chinese Communist Party (CCP) The Communist Party of

China (CPC), also known as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and ruling political party of the China and is the world's largest political party

The party has about 70 million members, 5.5% of the total population of China

The CCP was founded in 1921, came to power in China after defeating rival Kuomintang (KMT) in Chinese Civil War.

Communist Party Ideologies: Communism, Marxism-

Leninism and Maoism Internal organization of the CCP is a

hierarchy of party congresses and committees extending from the top of the system down to the grassroots.

Inner party rules for decision making are based on democratic centralism

Democratic centralism is a Leninist doctrine that requires consultation until a decision for an issue is reached by the party. After a decision is made, discussion concerns only planning and execution.

Official flag and emblem of the CCP

Party Structures Chinese Communist Party

vests supreme authority in National Party Congress

The Central Committee determines the number of Congress delegates and procedures for their elections

National Party Congress ratifies important changes in broad policy already decided by smaller party structures and elects the Central Committee

K e y P ar ty S tru c tu res

T h e P o li tb u ro S tan d in g C o m m ittee

T he P o li tbu ro

C e ntra l C om m ittee

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Party Structures The Central Committee exercises

powers the congress between sessions.

Candidates for the Central Committee determined by Politburo before congress meets

Changes in policy or leaders at the political center need to be approved by this committee

It is the Chinese political elite It is a collection of the most powerful

several hundred political leaders in China

K e y P ar ty S tru c tu res

T h e P o li tb u ro S tan d in g C o m m ittee

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Party Structures The Politburo is elected by the

Central Committee The Politburo are all members

of the Central Committee It is a top political elite, usually

no more than two dozen leaders

The Politburo is in charge of overseeing policymaking in some issue area

K e y P ar ty S tru c tu res

T h e P o li tb u ro S tan d in g C o m m ittee

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Party Structures

The Politburo Standing Committee is also elected by the Central Committee

It is typically no more than a half-dozen leaders who meet about once weekly

The Politburo Standing Committee, as well as the Politburo, are the core political decision makers

K e y P ar ty S tru c tu res

T h e P o li tb u ro S tan d in g C o m m ittee

T he P o li tbu ro

C e ntra l C om m ittee

N a tio n a l P a r ty C on gre ss