|
||||||||||
Building the World Movement for DemocracyInaugural World AssemblyFebruary 14-17, 1999 New Delhi, India Political Parties & Democracy: Reform & Renewal Workshop Leaders: Ivan Doherty and Judy Van Rest Condensed from report by Maryam Montague Political parties around the world are facing many challenges. As one Latin American workshop participant stated, "there is good democracy but bad parties." A South Asian political party activist added "our political parties and politicians no longer have a good reputation. Good parties are not making any progress." Why is it that, regardless of the country, so many political parties are facing challenges in making themselves relevant? We examined this issue in some detail during the workshop. Several reasons were suggested, some of which were linked to a particular phase of democratic development in a particular country. Many of the reasons pointed to what one participant called the lack of party contradiction and party identity. Party contradiction: The end of the Cold War and the decline of Communism appear to have created special problems for political parties. On one end of the political spectrum, this situation has created problems for those parties which originally had sympathies or leanings towards communist ideology. On the other end of the spectrum, the end of the Cold War has deprived some parties of an enemy, the existence of which had helped galvanize these parties. Party identity: Many political parties also face the collapse of a holistic ideology. It used to be that parties had a distinct answer for every problem. That seems to be no longer the case. Along these lines, the convergence of political parties towards the middle of the political spectrum has allowed for little differentiation between parties and has led to voter apathy in some instances. The loss of ideology has also led to fewer and fewer members in the parties, explained one Mozambican delegate. Related to this loss of ideology is the fact that many parties are facing new problems for which there are no clear answers--globalization, the economy, the environment, health. In other cases, problems that first motivated parties into action have now diminished, leaving a void. In the case of the Philippines, for example, there is no longer a real rallying point on human rights or agrarian reform. One delegate commented that earlier there was a much clearer set of issues for which a party could be for or against. The present situation, with fewer problems, made parties less relevant to people's lives. Democratic transitions, such as in Morocco, are foisting new challenges. Political parties in democratic transitions which discover themselves for the first time in government after a long time in opposition or underground, find that they must make policies, a situation for which some of them are not fully prepared. At the same time, these parties' that go into government for the first time must develop a new legitimacy. There is a certain legitimacy in being in the opposition and being against the form of government or the government's policies. It is a new challenge to be in the government and to develop and defend government policies. 
Additionally, parties appear to be facing a host of other challenges. In the case of the United States and many other countries, political parties face the need for vast sums of money to run campaigns. This puts elected public life out of the reach of many ordinary party workers and strengthens the hands of incumbents. There is clearly the need to grapple with the issue of political party and campaign finance, and some workshop participants advised developing new legislation to address this issue.
A lack of technical skills in the world of technology or the global economy is also daunting to political parties. Many parties are struggling with the need to adapt to the new high tech world. As one Chilean participant explained, "Most of our political parties are parties of the past, which belong to a culture of printed education. We look at political life as a kind of lecture. Today, that does not work." Parties from East to West and North to South are facing the problem of corruption. Corruption of government officials has undermined the faith and adherence to democracy among large sectors of peoples. The level and nature of corruption in political parties also strengthens anti-democratic forces and leads people to contemplate the possibility of politics without parties. Proposed initiatives: 
|
||||||||||
|
|| || Site map || |
||||||||||
