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Particracy AI simulator
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Hub AI
Particracy AI simulator
(@Particracy_simulator)
Particracy
Particracy, also known as partitocracy or partocracy, is a form of government in which the political parties are the primary basis of rule rather than citizens or individual politicians.
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.
Spanish political scientist Antonio García-Trevijano described particracy in 2010 as a form of government where representation and separation of powers are nullified by the way the political party system is organized, turning democracy into an "oligarchy of parties" where voters have little to no actual control over them.
Particracy tends to install itself as the cost of electoral campaigning and the impact of media increase. Thus particracy 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 to dominate it.
The ultimate particracy is the one-party state, although some might consider a political party in this situation not a "true" party, since it does not perform the democratic function of competing with other parties. Exclusive one-party rule is often installed by law, while in multi-party states particracy cannot be imposed or effectively prevented by law.[citation needed]
In multi-party régimes, the degree of individual autonomy for members or factions within each political party can vary according to 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 power; on the other hand it provides the perfect excuse not to be accountable to voters for not delivering the party-program promises.
The party system which developed in the Federal Republic of Germany after World War II provides examples of particracies. More explicitly than in most European parliamentary systems, parties play a dominant role in the German Federal Republic's politics, far outstripping the role of individuals. Article 21 of the Basic Law states that "the political parties shall participate in the forming of the political will of the people. They may be freely established. Their internal organization must conform to democratic principles. They must publicly account for the sources of their funds." The 1967 "Law on Parties" further solidified the role of parties in the political process and addressed party organization, membership rights, and specific procedures, such as the nomination of candidates for office. The educational function noted in Article 21 (participation in the "forming of the political will") suggests that parties should help define public opinion rather than simply carry out the wishes of the electorate.
On the other side of the Iron Curtain, the former German Democratic Republic (or East Germany, 1949–1990) was hardly democratic, but at least in theory more democratic than the USSR insofar as the dominant Socialist Unity Party allowed the existence of eternally minority small interest-group parties in the National Front.
Particracy
Particracy, also known as partitocracy or partocracy, is a form of government in which the political parties are the primary basis of rule rather than citizens or individual politicians.
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.
Spanish political scientist Antonio García-Trevijano described particracy in 2010 as a form of government where representation and separation of powers are nullified by the way the political party system is organized, turning democracy into an "oligarchy of parties" where voters have little to no actual control over them.
Particracy tends to install itself as the cost of electoral campaigning and the impact of media increase. Thus particracy 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 to dominate it.
The ultimate particracy is the one-party state, although some might consider a political party in this situation not a "true" party, since it does not perform the democratic function of competing with other parties. Exclusive one-party rule is often installed by law, while in multi-party states particracy cannot be imposed or effectively prevented by law.[citation needed]
In multi-party régimes, the degree of individual autonomy for members or factions within each political party can vary according to 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 power; on the other hand it provides the perfect excuse not to be accountable to voters for not delivering the party-program promises.
The party system which developed in the Federal Republic of Germany after World War II provides examples of particracies. More explicitly than in most European parliamentary systems, parties play a dominant role in the German Federal Republic's politics, far outstripping the role of individuals. Article 21 of the Basic Law states that "the political parties shall participate in the forming of the political will of the people. They may be freely established. Their internal organization must conform to democratic principles. They must publicly account for the sources of their funds." The 1967 "Law on Parties" further solidified the role of parties in the political process and addressed party organization, membership rights, and specific procedures, such as the nomination of candidates for office. The educational function noted in Article 21 (participation in the "forming of the political will") suggests that parties should help define public opinion rather than simply carry out the wishes of the electorate.
On the other side of the Iron Curtain, the former German Democratic Republic (or East Germany, 1949–1990) was hardly democratic, but at least in theory more democratic than the USSR insofar as the dominant Socialist Unity Party allowed the existence of eternally minority small interest-group parties in the National Front.