Political parties, while often criticized, are an essential part of American politics. In simplest terms, a party consists of likeminded people w/ the single interest of gaining and maintaining political power. These likeminded people though are only a small percentage of people, as most people can’t identify 100% with either the Dem's or GOP. Bipartisanship is a direct result of this even, as legislators often cross the isle even in the name of moving ideas forward. The party is not representative of the people’s ideas fully, but they will help translate a majority of preferences into compromised outcomes that as Federalist No. 10 notes will be felt by a majority of the whole.
Parties have been around for as long as the American political system, as there have always been factions among people, and as society grows, the factions grow as well, because with a big society come more factions.
While the party is supposed to be working for the people, it is true that often times they are working for the interest group rather than directly for the people. However, looking at the interest groups such as the NRA or Labor Unions, they ARE working for the people and using their vast knowledge and resources as an intermediary between the people and the political system. These groups take peoples core beliefs, as stated in Federalist No. 10 by James Madison, or religion, how government should be run, and other points near and dear to personal interests, and lobby on the people's behalf. While initially parties only worked for those who owned land, the interest groups today ensure parties are working for everyone.
A party also "guard's one part of the society against the injustice of the other part" as Federalist No. 51 by James Madison illustrates. While Madison made this observation for the promotion of governmental checks and balances, the same holds true for parties. Parties bring each other back to the center of the political spectrum and keep the other in check.
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You bring up some good points concerning the modern political party structure and the seemingly corrupt direction they have taken towards the interests of private institutions. However, if an individual doesn't follow or believe in the direction of one party they often vote in favor of the other to simply block them from attaining power.
ReplyDeleteA great example of this is the recent presidential election. Barak Obama, a relative unknown in the world of politics, became an overnight hero not because he is the next Ghandi or Martin Luther King Jr, but simply because he is not George W. Bush. This is a classic example of how party politics can diffuse and redirect the potentially harmful zeal of the American voting populace.
I would tend to agree with your view of the party system. Parties are essential to American democracy, if for no other reason than to keep the political landscape balanced. Without the institutional influence of parties, American politics would surely veer into strange, even dangerous territory. Also, though parties, as you say, often cater more toward special interests, those interests invariably represent a sizeable portion of the populace, and are thus worth catering to.
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