To understand what universal parties are, it is necessary to trace the development of the political process. Let's touch it briefly, highlighting the semantic points. The fact is that universal parties are a product of our time. They appeared as a result of a certain political evolution. This happened naturally, given the tasks of these organizations. But first things first.
The emergence of parties
In its modern form, public organizations began to appear in the nineteenth century. They were formed by two paths: electoral and external. In the first case, the party was organized, as they say, from below. The leader united the masses with the help of an idea. The second is the compelled formation of a social movement based on the same interests. It was carried out by those forces that were already present in parliament.
One simple conclusion must be drawn from this information: for a political party to exist, a platform, an idea, uniting people on voluntary principles is necessary. In a class society, these were the interests of the strata and population groups. For example, the bourgeoisie, workers, peasants, industrialists, aristocracy and so on. Organizations were antagonistic, that is, unifying ideas came into conflict. Universal parties have a major difference from them. They strive to gather as many fans as possible in various sectors of society.
Political parties, their functions, signs and types
It should be noted that there are quite a lot of organizations of this kind. Everyone shares them:
- by class - peasant, workers, bourgeois;
- organizational structure - hierarchical, centralized, and so on;
- by ideological criteria - conservative, revolutionary, reformist.
It should be noted that the classification is very arbitrary. If you look from the point of view of the situation in society, then the ruling and opposition parties are distinguished. Some of them carry out activities illegally, while others act in the legislative field. Sometimes political forces are classified by membership: collective and individual. Each political force has several features at the same time. The main functions of these organizations are as follows:
- struggle for representation in government;
- recruiting new members and educating leaders from their midst;
- work with public opinion: study and formation in accordance with your idea.
Features of Political Parties
In modern society, there are many organizations and associations. Not everyone is a political force. The party has the following features, which is indirectly reflected in the legislation:
- Participation in the election process, the desire to gain power.
- The presence of a specific ideological orientation.
- The implementation of comprehensive support to the population.
- Creation of organizational structure and acquisition of legal status.
To explore how universal parties differ from the rest, we need to clarify two points.
- Social forces seek power.
- They need to have as many adherents as possible.
The political struggle in its modern form is losing its class features. In order to be successful, it is necessary to interest the broad masses, going beyond the boundaries of those sections of society that created the party. This is the sign of universality.
The evolution of ideas
Previously, the birth of political forces was the path of the few. Nowadays, technologies have been created that allow any active citizen to engage in political activities. By the way, this is often used by those who want to have access to legislative activity, influence on the parliament. Universal parties are political forces uniting people with different views. Agree, the matter is not simple, but not impossible. You just need the right idea, able to "light the hearts of people." An example is today's Russia. Universal parties in the country are trying to create on the principles of patriotism. Citizens may have different, even mutually exclusive interests. But most people love their homeland. They want to be proud of their country, to see it strong and developed. Peasants and residents of megacities, oligarchs and poor workers, teachers and rentiers living on dividends are happy to join such a universal patriotic party. In other countries they form their ideas.
Universal parties: examples
The Italian political scientist J. Sartori noted that society is now becoming more complex, changing its social structure and demographic composition. From this he concludes that the role of parties is changing. Now they do not represent the interests of classes and strata of the population in a generally accepted form. There is a process of sociopsychological penetration of parties into society. In his opinion, universal parties are pragmatic. They are aimed at successful electoral activities. They are based on the principles of a balance of various interests. In Europe, such forces are the Social Democratic parties. Another political scientist named among universal British conservatives and American Republicans. These forces are trying to attract as many people from various social groups into their ranks as possible. They are working to ensure that their interests are not in conflict.
The role of universal parties in society
These organizations appeared in the process of evolution of the political process. They have their positive and negative traits. The advantages of universal forces are to increase competitiveness in any election. They have more followers, therefore, their leaders have a serious chance of winning. In addition, the desire for balance contributes to the development of other ideas, the development of society itself, which should also be attributed to positive aspects. The negative side so far has to admit that these organizations cannot, due to understandable circumstances, satisfy all adherents when they come to power. They have to constantly balance. Sometimes this leads to decisions that do not suit the majority of the electorate. Dissatisfaction in society in this case will increase, which will lead to a crisis. Look at the modern European Union, which does not have the strength to overcome the flows of migrants. This is a typical case of the inability to work out a solution that suits everyone.
