POL 111: LECTURE NOTES ON POLITICAL PARTIES AND POLITICAL

CULTURE (COMPILED BY OKOJIE, T.A.)

Meaning and Origin of Political Parties

Political parties are an organized group of individuals to acquire or gain control of

political power solely or in coalition with others to adopt and implement policies
and programmes favourable to them.

Political parties originated majorly in the 19th century with the development and
expansion of competitive politics and adoption of universal suffrage.

The emergence of political parties revolves around the following platforms such
as groups, cliques, clubs, people of like minds, e.g. beliefs, orientations,
organizations, movements and groupings in parliament such as conservative and
liberal parties in Britain and the Republican and Democratic parties in the United
States of America.

The political parties that emerged from organization, association and movements
particularly in colonial states in Africa such as Nigeria, was in response to
colonialism and domination. The political parties that emerged from colonial
Nigeria were aimed to articulate and present ethnic, religious and geographical
interest of a particular group of people e.g. the Egbe Omo Oduduwa and the
Jamiyya Mutanen Arewa were associations that later metamorphosed into
political parties to protect and articulate the interest of their people.

Functions of Political Parties

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a) Political parties perform the task of leadership recruitment by selecting and
presenting candidates for elections to occupy public offices. They also
select people for appointive positions.

b) Political parties formulate programmes for implementation for the

government. Most of these policies and programmes are presented as
manifestoes usually to the electorates.

c) Political parties perform enlightenment functions by providing the citizens

with information on the actions of the government.

d) Political parties also perform helpful services to the government by always

informing them of the needs and desires of the citizens.

e) Political parties perform the unification functions in the political system

because their membership cut across different identities such as
ethnicities, cultural, sectional, religious, ideological, etc.

f) Political parties perform the function of promoting healthy electoral

competition which serves as an instrument of peaceful transfer of political
power to another without resort to violence.

Typologies of Party Systems

Party systems are the general operation of a political party in a political

environment, either in a democratic or autocratic system. The political
environment imparts largely on the degree of freedom on the activities of a
political party. Hence, the strength, number and organization of political parties
are also a question of how centralized, ideological, personalized and
monopolized a political party is.

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(a)One Party System: This is the political system where only one political party
is legally allowed to contest elections and control the government. The one-party
system can also be a result of the party strength or absence of formidable
opposition to contest elections, this makes room for a one-party system, e.g. the
Communist Party of Cuba and China are typical examples of a one-party system.

(b) Two-Party System: This is a political system where there is the existence of
two political parties or two dominant political parties; in this case, there may be
more than two political parties but only two have the strength to dominate the
political scene. Typical examples are the Conservative and Labour Parties in
Britain and the Republican and Democratic Parties in the United States of
America.

(c) Multi-Party System: This is a political system in which there are three or
more political parties with related equal chances of winning elections in a country.
In some multi-party systems, no party is strong enough to win elections, hence
the need for the formation of a coalition with other parties to form a stable
government. Countries with multi-party systems are Sweden, Netherlands,
Nigerian Second Republic, France, India, etc.

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Political Culture

Political Culture is the deep-rooted beliefs, attitudes, values that are consciously
held about a political system. The dominant orientation about a political system is
said to be the political culture of the political community. The political culture
determines what are the dos and don’ts in a political system. They are formal
rules, customs and traditions about a political system from one generation to the
other. The political culture dictates the constitution which regulates the conduct of
the citizens.

Basic Elements of Political Culture

(a) The Cognitive Element: This element depicts the understanding,

knowledge and awareness of citizens about the state, its institutions, roles,
functions, etc.

(b) The Affective Element: This element shows the citizens attachment,
affection, love, trust, mistrust, feelings towards the political system.

(c) Evaluative Element: This relates to or shows the kind of opinions, the
judgement of a particular political system. The opinions citizens have of
their political system depend on their knowledge and information they have
about the political system.

Types of Political Culture

(1) Parochial Political Culture: This is the political environment where people
or citizens have no understanding of the political process, hence do not
participate or expect anything from the political system.

(2) Subject Political Culture: This political system makes the citizens the
subject of government. In this system, people are aware of the political

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 process but not allowed to participate. The people do not have the power
to influence government policies and programmes.

(3) Participative Political Culture: This is a political system where the citizens
understand the political process, contributes and participate actively.