NCERT Textbook: Political Parties | Indian Polity for UPSC CSE PDF Download

 Page 1


46
Democratic Politics
Chapter 4
Overview
In this tour of democracy, we have come across political parties several 
times. In Class IX, we noticed the role of political parties in the rise of 
democracies, in the formation of constitutional designs, in electoral politics 
and in the making and working of governments. In this textbook, we have 
glanced at political parties as vehicles of federal sharing of political power 
and as negotiators of social divisions in the arena of democratic politics. 
Before concluding this tour, let us take a close look at the nature and 
working of political parties, especially in our country. We begin by asking 
two common questions: Why do we need parties? How many parties are 
good for a democracy? In the light of these, we introduce the national 
and regional political parties in today’s India and then look at what is 
wrong with political parties and what can be done about it.
Political Parties
Chapter 4.indd   46 08-04-2022   12:33:27
2024-25
Page 2


46
Democratic Politics
Chapter 4
Overview
In this tour of democracy, we have come across political parties several 
times. In Class IX, we noticed the role of political parties in the rise of 
democracies, in the formation of constitutional designs, in electoral politics 
and in the making and working of governments. In this textbook, we have 
glanced at political parties as vehicles of federal sharing of political power 
and as negotiators of social divisions in the arena of democratic politics. 
Before concluding this tour, let us take a close look at the nature and 
working of political parties, especially in our country. We begin by asking 
two common questions: Why do we need parties? How many parties are 
good for a democracy? In the light of these, we introduce the national 
and regional political parties in today’s India and then look at what is 
wrong with political parties and what can be done about it.
Political Parties
Chapter 4.indd   46 08-04-2022   12:33:27
2024-25
Political Parties
47
Why do we need political parties?
Political parties are easily one of 
the most visible institutions in a 
democracy. For most ordinary 
citizens, democracy is equal to 
political parties. If you travel to 
remote parts of our country and 
speak to the less educated citizens, 
you could come across people who 
may not know anything about our 
Constitution or about the nature of 
our government. But chances are 
that they would know something 
about our political parties. At the 
same time, this visibility does not 
mean popularity. Most people tend 
to be very critical of political parties. 
They tend to blame parties for all 
that is wrong with our democracy 
and our political life. Parties have 
become identified with social and 
political divisions. 
Therefore, it is natural to ask – do 
we need political parties at all? About 
hundred years ago, there were few 
countries of the world that had 
any political party. Now there are 
few that do not have parties. Why 
did political parties become so 
omnipresent in democracies all over 
the world? Let us first answer what 
political parties are and what they 
do, before we say why we need them.
Meaning
A political party is a group of 
people who come together to contest 
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. Since there can be 
different views on what is good for 
So, you agree 
with me. Parties 
are partial, 
partisan and lead 
to partitions. 
Parties do 
nothing but 
divide people. 
That is their real 
function!
Election Commission has officially banned wall 
writing by parties during election times. Most 
political parties argue that was the cheapest way 
for their campaign. These election times used to 
create amazing graffiti on the walls. Here are some 
examples from Tamil Nadu. 
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
© (1) M Govarthan (2) A Muralidharan (3) M Moorthy (4) T Singaravelou, The Hindu
Chapter 4.indd   47 08-04-2022   12:33:31
2024-25
Page 3


46
Democratic Politics
Chapter 4
Overview
In this tour of democracy, we have come across political parties several 
times. In Class IX, we noticed the role of political parties in the rise of 
democracies, in the formation of constitutional designs, in electoral politics 
and in the making and working of governments. In this textbook, we have 
glanced at political parties as vehicles of federal sharing of political power 
and as negotiators of social divisions in the arena of democratic politics. 
Before concluding this tour, let us take a close look at the nature and 
working of political parties, especially in our country. We begin by asking 
two common questions: Why do we need parties? How many parties are 
good for a democracy? In the light of these, we introduce the national 
and regional political parties in today’s India and then look at what is 
wrong with political parties and what can be done about it.
Political Parties
Chapter 4.indd   46 08-04-2022   12:33:27
2024-25
Political Parties
47
Why do we need political parties?
Political parties are easily one of 
the most visible institutions in a 
democracy. For most ordinary 
citizens, democracy is equal to 
political parties. If you travel to 
remote parts of our country and 
speak to the less educated citizens, 
you could come across people who 
may not know anything about our 
Constitution or about the nature of 
our government. But chances are 
that they would know something 
about our political parties. At the 
same time, this visibility does not 
mean popularity. Most people tend 
to be very critical of political parties. 
They tend to blame parties for all 
that is wrong with our democracy 
and our political life. Parties have 
become identified with social and 
political divisions. 
Therefore, it is natural to ask – do 
we need political parties at all? About 
hundred years ago, there were few 
countries of the world that had 
any political party. Now there are 
few that do not have parties. Why 
did political parties become so 
omnipresent in democracies all over 
the world? Let us first answer what 
political parties are and what they 
do, before we say why we need them.
Meaning
A political party is a group of 
people who come together to contest 
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. Since there can be 
different views on what is good for 
So, you agree 
with me. Parties 
are partial, 
partisan and lead 
to partitions. 
Parties do 
nothing but 
divide people. 
That is their real 
function!
Election Commission has officially banned wall 
writing by parties during election times. Most 
political parties argue that was the cheapest way 
for their campaign. These election times used to 
create amazing graffiti on the walls. Here are some 
examples from Tamil Nadu. 
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
© (1) M Govarthan (2) A Muralidharan (3) M Moorthy (4) T Singaravelou, The Hindu
Chapter 4.indd   47 08-04-2022   12:33:31
2024-25
48
Democratic Politics
Partisan: A person 
who is strongly 
committed to a 
party, group or 
faction. Partisanship 
is marked by a 
tendency to take a 
side and inability 
to take a balanced 
view on an issue. 
© RK Laxman - Brushing up the years 
all, parties try to persuade people 
why their policies are better than 
others. They seek to implement 
these policies by winning popular 
support through elections.
Thus, parties reflect fundamental 
political divisions in a society. Parties 
are about a part of the society and 
thus, involve partisanship . Thus, 
a party is known by which part it 
stands for, which policies it supports 
and whose interests it upholds. A 
political party has three components: 
? the leaders, 
? the active members and 
? the followers
Functions
What does a political party do? 
Basically,  political parties fill political 
offices and exercise political power. 
Parties do so by performing a series 
of functions: 
1 Parties contest elections. In most 
democracies, elections are fought 
mainly among the candidates put 
up by political parties. Parties select 
their candidates in different ways. 
In some countries, such as the USA, 
members and supporters of a party 
choose its candidates. Now more 
and more countries are following 
this method. In other countries 
like India, top party leaders choose 
candidates for contesting elections. 
2
 Parties put forward different 
policies and programmes and the 
voters choose from them. Each of 
us may have different opinions and 
views on what policies are suitable 
for the society. But no government 
can handle such a large variety 
of views. In a democracy, a large 
number of similar opinions have 
to be grouped together to provide 
a direction in which policies can 
be formulated by the governments. 
This is what the parties do. A party 
reduces a vast multitude of opinions 
into a few basic positions which it 
Chapter 4.indd   48 08-04-2022   12:33:33
2024-25
Page 4


46
Democratic Politics
Chapter 4
Overview
In this tour of democracy, we have come across political parties several 
times. In Class IX, we noticed the role of political parties in the rise of 
democracies, in the formation of constitutional designs, in electoral politics 
and in the making and working of governments. In this textbook, we have 
glanced at political parties as vehicles of federal sharing of political power 
and as negotiators of social divisions in the arena of democratic politics. 
Before concluding this tour, let us take a close look at the nature and 
working of political parties, especially in our country. We begin by asking 
two common questions: Why do we need parties? How many parties are 
good for a democracy? In the light of these, we introduce the national 
and regional political parties in today’s India and then look at what is 
wrong with political parties and what can be done about it.
Political Parties
Chapter 4.indd   46 08-04-2022   12:33:27
2024-25
Political Parties
47
Why do we need political parties?
Political parties are easily one of 
the most visible institutions in a 
democracy. For most ordinary 
citizens, democracy is equal to 
political parties. If you travel to 
remote parts of our country and 
speak to the less educated citizens, 
you could come across people who 
may not know anything about our 
Constitution or about the nature of 
our government. But chances are 
that they would know something 
about our political parties. At the 
same time, this visibility does not 
mean popularity. Most people tend 
to be very critical of political parties. 
They tend to blame parties for all 
that is wrong with our democracy 
and our political life. Parties have 
become identified with social and 
political divisions. 
Therefore, it is natural to ask – do 
we need political parties at all? About 
hundred years ago, there were few 
countries of the world that had 
any political party. Now there are 
few that do not have parties. Why 
did political parties become so 
omnipresent in democracies all over 
the world? Let us first answer what 
political parties are and what they 
do, before we say why we need them.
Meaning
A political party is a group of 
people who come together to contest 
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. Since there can be 
different views on what is good for 
So, you agree 
with me. Parties 
are partial, 
partisan and lead 
to partitions. 
Parties do 
nothing but 
divide people. 
That is their real 
function!
Election Commission has officially banned wall 
writing by parties during election times. Most 
political parties argue that was the cheapest way 
for their campaign. These election times used to 
create amazing graffiti on the walls. Here are some 
examples from Tamil Nadu. 
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
© (1) M Govarthan (2) A Muralidharan (3) M Moorthy (4) T Singaravelou, The Hindu
Chapter 4.indd   47 08-04-2022   12:33:31
2024-25
48
Democratic Politics
Partisan: A person 
who is strongly 
committed to a 
party, group or 
faction. Partisanship 
is marked by a 
tendency to take a 
side and inability 
to take a balanced 
view on an issue. 
© RK Laxman - Brushing up the years 
all, parties try to persuade people 
why their policies are better than 
others. They seek to implement 
these policies by winning popular 
support through elections.
Thus, parties reflect fundamental 
political divisions in a society. Parties 
are about a part of the society and 
thus, involve partisanship . Thus, 
a party is known by which part it 
stands for, which policies it supports 
and whose interests it upholds. A 
political party has three components: 
? the leaders, 
? the active members and 
? the followers
Functions
What does a political party do? 
Basically,  political parties fill political 
offices and exercise political power. 
Parties do so by performing a series 
of functions: 
1 Parties contest elections. In most 
democracies, elections are fought 
mainly among the candidates put 
up by political parties. Parties select 
their candidates in different ways. 
In some countries, such as the USA, 
members and supporters of a party 
choose its candidates. Now more 
and more countries are following 
this method. In other countries 
like India, top party leaders choose 
candidates for contesting elections. 
2
 Parties put forward different 
policies and programmes and the 
voters choose from them. Each of 
us may have different opinions and 
views on what policies are suitable 
for the society. But no government 
can handle such a large variety 
of views. In a democracy, a large 
number of similar opinions have 
to be grouped together to provide 
a direction in which policies can 
be formulated by the governments. 
This is what the parties do. A party 
reduces a vast multitude of opinions 
into a few basic positions which it 
Chapter 4.indd   48 08-04-2022   12:33:33
2024-25
Political Parties
49
Okay, granted 
that we can’t 
live without 
political parties. 
But tell me on 
what grounds do 
people support a 
political party?
supports. A government is expected 
to base its policies on the line taken 
by the ruling party . 
3 Parties play a decisive role 
in making laws for a country. 
Formally, laws are debated and 
passed in the legislature. But since 
most of the members belong to a 
party, they go by the direction of 
the party leadership, irrespective of 
their personal opinions.
4 Parties form and run governments .  
As we noted last year, the big policy 
decisions are taken by political 
executive that comes from the 
political parties. Parties recruit 
leaders, train them and then 
make them ministers to run the 
government in the way they want.
5 Those parties that lose in the 
elections play the role of opposition 
to the parties in power, by voicing 
different views and criticising 
government for its failures or 
wrong policies. Opposition parties 
also mobilise opposition to the 
government.
6 Parties shape public opinion. 
They raise and highlight issues. 
Parties have lakhs of members and 
activists spread all over the country. 
Many of the pressure groups are the 
extensions of political parties among 
different sections of society. Parties 
sometimes also launch movements 
for the resolution of problems 
faced by people. Often opinions in 
the society crystallise on the lines 
parties take. 
7 Parties provide people access 
to government machinery and 
welfare schemes implemented by 
governments. For an ordinary citizen 
it is easy to approach a local party 
leader than a government officer. 
That is why, they feel close to parties 
even when they do not fully trust 
them.  Parties have to be responsive 
to people’s needs and demands. 
Otherwise people can reject those 
parties in the next elections.
Necessity
This list of functions in a sense 
answers the question asked above: 
we need political parties because 
they perform all these functions. 
But we still need to ask why modern 
democracies cannot exist without 
political parties.  We can understand 
the necessity of political parties by 
imagining a situation without parties. 
Every candidate in the elections 
will be independent. So no one 
will be able to make any promises 
to the people about any major 
policy changes. The government 
may be formed, but its utility will 
remain ever uncertain. Elected 
representatives will be accountable 
to their constituency for what they 
do in the locality. But no one will 
be responsible for how the country 
will be run.
We can also think about it by 
looking at the non-party based 
elections to the panchayat in many 
states. Although, the parties do not 
contest formally, it is generally 
noticed that the village gets split into 
more than one faction, each of which 
puts up a ‘panel’ of its candidates. 
This is exactly what the party does. 
That is the reason we find political 
parties in almost all countries of the 
world, whether these countries are 
big or small, old or new, developed 
or developing. 
The rise of political parties is 
directly linked to the emergence 
of representative democracies. 
Ruling Party: Political 
party that runs 
government.
Chapter 4.indd   49 08-04-2022   12:33:34
2024-25
Page 5


46
Democratic Politics
Chapter 4
Overview
In this tour of democracy, we have come across political parties several 
times. In Class IX, we noticed the role of political parties in the rise of 
democracies, in the formation of constitutional designs, in electoral politics 
and in the making and working of governments. In this textbook, we have 
glanced at political parties as vehicles of federal sharing of political power 
and as negotiators of social divisions in the arena of democratic politics. 
Before concluding this tour, let us take a close look at the nature and 
working of political parties, especially in our country. We begin by asking 
two common questions: Why do we need parties? How many parties are 
good for a democracy? In the light of these, we introduce the national 
and regional political parties in today’s India and then look at what is 
wrong with political parties and what can be done about it.
Political Parties
Chapter 4.indd   46 08-04-2022   12:33:27
2024-25
Political Parties
47
Why do we need political parties?
Political parties are easily one of 
the most visible institutions in a 
democracy. For most ordinary 
citizens, democracy is equal to 
political parties. If you travel to 
remote parts of our country and 
speak to the less educated citizens, 
you could come across people who 
may not know anything about our 
Constitution or about the nature of 
our government. But chances are 
that they would know something 
about our political parties. At the 
same time, this visibility does not 
mean popularity. Most people tend 
to be very critical of political parties. 
They tend to blame parties for all 
that is wrong with our democracy 
and our political life. Parties have 
become identified with social and 
political divisions. 
Therefore, it is natural to ask – do 
we need political parties at all? About 
hundred years ago, there were few 
countries of the world that had 
any political party. Now there are 
few that do not have parties. Why 
did political parties become so 
omnipresent in democracies all over 
the world? Let us first answer what 
political parties are and what they 
do, before we say why we need them.
Meaning
A political party is a group of 
people who come together to contest 
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. Since there can be 
different views on what is good for 
So, you agree 
with me. Parties 
are partial, 
partisan and lead 
to partitions. 
Parties do 
nothing but 
divide people. 
That is their real 
function!
Election Commission has officially banned wall 
writing by parties during election times. Most 
political parties argue that was the cheapest way 
for their campaign. These election times used to 
create amazing graffiti on the walls. Here are some 
examples from Tamil Nadu. 
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
© (1) M Govarthan (2) A Muralidharan (3) M Moorthy (4) T Singaravelou, The Hindu
Chapter 4.indd   47 08-04-2022   12:33:31
2024-25
48
Democratic Politics
Partisan: A person 
who is strongly 
committed to a 
party, group or 
faction. Partisanship 
is marked by a 
tendency to take a 
side and inability 
to take a balanced 
view on an issue. 
© RK Laxman - Brushing up the years 
all, parties try to persuade people 
why their policies are better than 
others. They seek to implement 
these policies by winning popular 
support through elections.
Thus, parties reflect fundamental 
political divisions in a society. Parties 
are about a part of the society and 
thus, involve partisanship . Thus, 
a party is known by which part it 
stands for, which policies it supports 
and whose interests it upholds. A 
political party has three components: 
? the leaders, 
? the active members and 
? the followers
Functions
What does a political party do? 
Basically,  political parties fill political 
offices and exercise political power. 
Parties do so by performing a series 
of functions: 
1 Parties contest elections. In most 
democracies, elections are fought 
mainly among the candidates put 
up by political parties. Parties select 
their candidates in different ways. 
In some countries, such as the USA, 
members and supporters of a party 
choose its candidates. Now more 
and more countries are following 
this method. In other countries 
like India, top party leaders choose 
candidates for contesting elections. 
2
 Parties put forward different 
policies and programmes and the 
voters choose from them. Each of 
us may have different opinions and 
views on what policies are suitable 
for the society. But no government 
can handle such a large variety 
of views. In a democracy, a large 
number of similar opinions have 
to be grouped together to provide 
a direction in which policies can 
be formulated by the governments. 
This is what the parties do. A party 
reduces a vast multitude of opinions 
into a few basic positions which it 
Chapter 4.indd   48 08-04-2022   12:33:33
2024-25
Political Parties
49
Okay, granted 
that we can’t 
live without 
political parties. 
But tell me on 
what grounds do 
people support a 
political party?
supports. A government is expected 
to base its policies on the line taken 
by the ruling party . 
3 Parties play a decisive role 
in making laws for a country. 
Formally, laws are debated and 
passed in the legislature. But since 
most of the members belong to a 
party, they go by the direction of 
the party leadership, irrespective of 
their personal opinions.
4 Parties form and run governments .  
As we noted last year, the big policy 
decisions are taken by political 
executive that comes from the 
political parties. Parties recruit 
leaders, train them and then 
make them ministers to run the 
government in the way they want.
5 Those parties that lose in the 
elections play the role of opposition 
to the parties in power, by voicing 
different views and criticising 
government for its failures or 
wrong policies. Opposition parties 
also mobilise opposition to the 
government.
6 Parties shape public opinion. 
They raise and highlight issues. 
Parties have lakhs of members and 
activists spread all over the country. 
Many of the pressure groups are the 
extensions of political parties among 
different sections of society. Parties 
sometimes also launch movements 
for the resolution of problems 
faced by people. Often opinions in 
the society crystallise on the lines 
parties take. 
7 Parties provide people access 
to government machinery and 
welfare schemes implemented by 
governments. For an ordinary citizen 
it is easy to approach a local party 
leader than a government officer. 
That is why, they feel close to parties 
even when they do not fully trust 
them.  Parties have to be responsive 
to people’s needs and demands. 
Otherwise people can reject those 
parties in the next elections.
Necessity
This list of functions in a sense 
answers the question asked above: 
we need political parties because 
they perform all these functions. 
But we still need to ask why modern 
democracies cannot exist without 
political parties.  We can understand 
the necessity of political parties by 
imagining a situation without parties. 
Every candidate in the elections 
will be independent. So no one 
will be able to make any promises 
to the people about any major 
policy changes. The government 
may be formed, but its utility will 
remain ever uncertain. Elected 
representatives will be accountable 
to their constituency for what they 
do in the locality. But no one will 
be responsible for how the country 
will be run.
We can also think about it by 
looking at the non-party based 
elections to the panchayat in many 
states. Although, the parties do not 
contest formally, it is generally 
noticed that the village gets split into 
more than one faction, each of which 
puts up a ‘panel’ of its candidates. 
This is exactly what the party does. 
That is the reason we find political 
parties in almost all countries of the 
world, whether these countries are 
big or small, old or new, developed 
or developing. 
The rise of political parties is 
directly linked to the emergence 
of representative democracies. 
Ruling Party: Political 
party that runs 
government.
Chapter 4.indd   49 08-04-2022   12:33:34
2024-25
50
Democratic Politics
As we have seen, large societies 
need representative democracy.  
As societies became large and 
complex, they also needed some 
agency to gather different views 
on various issues and to present 
these to the government. They 
needed some ways, to bring various 
representatives together so that a 
 Categorise these photographs by the functions of political parties they 
illustrate. Find one photograph or news clipping from your own area for 
each of the functions listed above.
responsible government could be 
formed. They needed a mechanism to 
support or restrain the government, 
make policies, justify or oppose 
them. Political parties fulfill these 
needs that every representative 
government has. We can say that 
parties are a necessary condition for 
a democracy.
How many parties should we have?
In a democracy any group of citizens 
is free to form a political party.  In 
this formal sense, there are a large 
number of political parties in each 
country. More than 750 parties 
are registered with the Election 
Commission of India. But not all 
these parties are serious contenders 
in the elections. Usually only a 
handful of parties are effectively in 
the race to win elections and form 
the government. So the question is: 
how many major or effective parties 
are good for a democracy?
In some countries, only one 
party is allowed to control and run 
the government. These are called 
one-party systems. In Class IX, 
we noted that in China, only the 
Communist Party is allowed to 
1: Activists of BJP Mahila Morcha demonstrate against hike in prices of onions and LPG in 
Visakhapatnam.
2: Minister distributes ` One lakh cheque to the families of hooch victims at their houses.
3: Activists of CPI (M), CPI, OGP and JD (S) take out a rally in Bhubaneswar to protest against 
POSCO, the Korean steel company for being permitted by the State Government to export iron 
ore from Orissa to feed steel plants in China and Korea.
© (1) C V Subrahmanyan (2) K Gopinathan 
(3) A Chakrabarty, The Hindu
1
3
2
Chapter 4.indd   50 08-04-2022   12:33:38
2024-25