Particracy
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Particracy, also known as partitocracy, partitocrazia or partocracy, is a form of
As argued by Italian political scientist Mauro Calise in 1994, the term is often derogatory, implying that parties have too much power—in a similar vein, in premodern times it was often argued that democracy was merely rule by the demos, or a poorly educated and easily misled mob. Efforts to turn particracy into a more precise scholarly concept so far appear partly successful.[2]
Rationale and types
Particracy tends to install itself as the cost of campaigning and the impact of the media increase so that it can be prevalent at the national level with large electoral districts but absent at a local level; a few prominent politicians of renown may hold enough influence on public opinion to resist their party or dominate it.
The ultimate particracy is the one-party state, although in a sense that is not a true party, for it does not perform the essential function to rival other parties. There it is often installed by law, while in multi-party states particracy cannot be imposed or effectively prevented by law.
In multi-party regimes, the degree of individual autonomy within each can vary according to the party rules and traditions, and depending on whether a party is in power, and if so alone (mostly in a de facto two party-system) or in a coalition. The mathematical need to form a coalition on the one hand prevents a single party from getting a potentially total grip, on the other hand provides the perfect excuse not to be accountable to the voter for not delivering the party program promises.
Examples
The party system which developed in the
On the other side of the
In the West, the United States, in which the Democratic and the Republican parties have been in power continuously since before the American Civil War, could be viewed as a particracy or, as in Safire definition, as a political machine.
Particracy is one of the reasons for the
Some scholars[
The Republic of Ireland can also be seen[by whom?] as a particracy. Since the foundation of the state, one of two parties – Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael – has always led the government, either on its own or in coalition. Fianna Fáil is one of the most successful political parties in history.[citation needed] From the formation of the first Fianna Fáil government on 9 March 1932 until the election of 2011, the party was in power for 61 of 79 years. Fine Gael held power during the remaining years.
In South Africa, the African National Congress has been the ruling party ever since the first free and fair elections in 1994, despite several high profile controversies over the years.
Brazil could also be considered a particracy, and some consider the country a plutocracy. Similar
The Swedish Social Democrats have also been referred, to a certain extent, as a "political machine", thanks to its strong presence in "popular houses".[5]
Japan's
Italian partitocrazia
It has been alleged[
The nearly pure proportional representation system of the First Republic had resulted not only in political fragmentation and therefore governmental instability, but also insulation of the parties from the electorate and civil society. This was known in Italian as partitocrazia, in contrast to democracy, and resulted in corruption and pork-barrel politics[citation needed]. The Italian constitution allows, with substantial hurdles, abrogative referendums, enabling citizens to delete laws or parts of laws passed by Parliament (with exceptions).
A reform movement known as COREL (Committee to Promote Referendums on Elections), led by maverick Christian Democracy member Mario Segni, proposed three referendums, one of which was allowed by the Constitutional Court of Italy (at that time packed with members of the Italian Socialist Party and hostile to the movement). The June 1991 referendum therefore asked voters if they wanted to reduce the number of preferences, from three or four to one in the Chamber of Deputies to reduce the abuse of the open-list system by party elites and ensure accurate delegation of parliamentary seats to candidates popular with voters. With 62.5% of the Italian electorate voting, the referendum passed with 95% of those voting in favor. This was seen[by whom?] as a vote against the partitocrazia, which had campaigned against the referendum.
Emboldened by their victory in 1991 and encouraged by the unfolding
See also
References
- ^ "Political Science Quarterly: Conference Issue: Presidential and Parliamentary Democracies: Which Work Best?, Special Issue 1994: The Italian Particracy: Beyond President and Parliament". www.psqonline.org. p. 4.
- ^ "Political Science Quarterly: Conference Issue: Presidential and Parliamentary Democracies: Which Work Best?, Special Issue 1994: The Italian Particracy: Beyond President and Parliament". www.psqonline.org. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
- )
- ^
"German Political Parties". German Culture. Tatyana Gordeeva. 28 December 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
The educational function noted in Article 21 ('forming of the political will') suggests that parties should help define public opinion rather than simply carry out the wishes of the electorate.
- ^ ISBN 0078609801.
- ISBN 9780394502618. (although the book existed in an earlier version titled "The New Language of Politics")
- ^ Editorial Research Reports, vol. 1, Congressional Quarterly, 1973
- ^ STEVEN R. REED, ETHAN SCHEINER and MICHAEL F. THIES (2012). "The End of LDP Dominance and the Rise of Party-Oriented Politics in Japan". The Journal of Japanese Studies. 38 (2): 353–376.
- ISBN 978-1315290317.
- ^ Cesare M. Scartozzi (February 9, 2017). "Hereditary Politics in Japan: A Family Business". The Diplomat.