Describe any five major functions of political parties. 

The major functions of political parties:

i. Contesting election: In democracies, elections are fought mainly among the candidates put by political parties.

ii. Forming programmes and policies: Parties put forward different policies and programmes and the voters choose from them. A party reduces a vast multitude of opinions into a few basic positions which to supports.

iii. Making laws: Parties play a decisive role in making laws. Formally, laws are debated and passed in the legislature.

iv. Role of opposition: Those parties that lose in the elections play the role of opposition to the parties in power. Opposition parties also mobilise opposition to the government.

v. Access to government machinery and welfare schemes: Political parties provide access to government machinery and welfare schemes implemented by the government. Parties have to be responsive to the needs and demands of the people.

The explanations:

 (i) Modern form of democracies also need representatives from various political parties to form the government and to keep a check on the ruling party by being in opposition.

 (ii) Without political parties there would be chaos and turmoil in the society.

(iii) Existence of political parties in a representative democracy ensures that the country runs as per its policies and ideologies and has a responsive and accountable government that is answerable to the people.

 (iv) Without political parties, candidates elected will be independent, will be accountable to their constituency for what they do in the locality.

 (v) Political parties are required so that a country is governed as per set ideologies and will be responsible for how the country will be run.

The suggestions to reform the political parties in India are:

(i) A law to regulate internal affairs of political parties.

(ii) Making it mandatory for political parties to give minimum number of tickets, about one-third, to women candidates.

(iii) It has to be made mandatory for political parties to file income tax returns.

(iv) Making it mandatory for every candidate who contests elections to file an affidavit giving details of his property and criminal cases pending against him.

Political parties are a necessary condition for a democracy for the reasons mentioned below:

i. When societies develop, expand and become more complex in terms of social, economic and political relations, they need political parties to sustain governance.

ii. Political parties tend to provide the base on which the praxis of government is built.

iii. Political parties gather public views on various important issues, articulate them and then present them to the government, which is what democracy is.

iv. Parties bring various representatives together, support or restrain government and its apparatus, develop policies, justify or oppose them in the public domain depending on their political ideology.

v. Parties which fail to form the government form the opposition and monitor the actions of the ruling party, thereby preventing the misuse or abuse of limits
imposed by the Constitution.

A political party is a group of people who come together to contest in elections and hold power in the government. They agree on some policies and programmes for the society with a view to promote the collective good

A political party has three components:

(i) the leaders

(ii) the active members and

(iii) the followers