John Samuel
Political parties are crucial for the vitality of a democracy. But across the world, political parties have been reduced to mere electoral mechanisms, networks to capture power
Political parties are one of the most crucial factors for the sustenance of a viable democratic system. There is a direct connection between the health of the political party system and the vitality and long-term viability of a democracy. But political parties across the world are facing a crisis. They have been reduced to mere electoral mechanisms, networks to capture power. They are less and less social institutions or legitimising agents of the political process and more and more 'interest-networks' promoted by economic forces and identity politics of various shades.
Political parties are socio-political institutions in the public sphere that help citizens to interface and negotiate with the State. They are also primary legitimising agents of the government and governing systems of the State. But the social function and legitimising role of political parties is under unprecedented strain. In most countries, political parties have a brief institutional history and few social roots. Many of them emerged as a corollary to State power, mere instruments to sustain State power.
In the absence of a multi-party system with grassroots presence, a committed cadre of leaders and a wide network within society, the democratic process can be subverted and the political process appropriated by minority vested interests. In many decolonised countries, the nation-state as well as political parties are the consequences of decolonisation rather than the causes of decolonisation. The very process of decolonisation in most countries also involved the sowing the seeds of conflict based on ethnicity, religion and identity. Unlike India, there were not many mass struggles or wider political mobilisations for freedom from colonial powers.
The struggle against colonisation and imperialism was in many ways the beginning of the process of democratisation and a political process in most countries. The process of decolonisation also ensured the emergence of faulty and fragile democratic systems and processes – more often initiated by an educated elite minority in conjunction with the erstwhile colonial powers. In poor countries, the absence of a vibrant middle class and a healthy economy make political parties less viable socio-political institutions. A vibrant multiparty system, with a multiple ideological and identity base, helped to sustain, stabilise and strengthen the unique Indian democratic system.
In fact, apart from the Congress party, the left parties and the parties on the right also contributed to make India a viable multiparty democracy. However, in many of the other South Asian countries, the absence of a vibrant multi-party system weakened governance as well as democracy. During the cold war period, most of the left political forces in other parts of South Asia were subverted or eradicated by a nexus of the ruling elite and western political and economic forces. The eradication of left political forces from Pakistan and Bangladesh actually had a long-term political impact in weakening the foundations of the democratic process in both countries. Deep-rooted feudal values and identity politics based on caste, religion, ethnicity and sub-nationalities shaped the very character and hierarchy of political party systems in South Asia, including India. As a result, secular values, a cosmopolitan political ethos and democratic values are skin-deep in almost all the political party systems in India and the rest of South Asia.
Political parties are filled with career politicians with a single-point agenda of getting a piece of State power and the privileges and paraphernalia that come with it. Many political parties are now controlled by power-cliques, fund-managers and telegenic leaders blessed by the media and sustained by corporate funding. Elections are reduced to media stunts with 'brand' slogans and empty policy rhetoric devoid of in-depth political processes or social mediations. The increasing dependence on media-centric campaigning and corporate funding undermines the very character and autonomy of the political party system.
New political-corporate elites are in the business of subverting politics and the policy framework of the State to maximise profits for a few dominant economic forces in a given economy. As many social activists, writers and intellectuals choose to work within civil society, political parties are facing an acute deficit of creative and ethical leadership.
