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Even though the USA is a multi-party political system, democrats and republicans are handling the most of the political business. Such parties as the Reform, Libertarian, Socialist, Natural Law, Constitution and Green Parties are still promoting their candidates in all kinds of elections. In order to participate successfully in the political process and to contribute to the consolidation of democracy, political parties have to demonstrate certain capacities. In political science, these capacities are called “functions” (Hofmeister and Grabow 16).
The recruitment process of selecting persons who are later presented to voters as candidates for election is the nominating function. The party’s interest is to get their candidates elected to the office. For the party itself, this function is the most crucial process as putting forward a successful candidate brings the party it’s power.
The informing and stimulation function’s purpose is to inform people and stimulate the interest and involvement in public affairs. By running campaigns for the candidates and taking position on different issues, political party can select the information to be presented to the nation to ensure the public trust to this particular power. It helps to enable political participation with the prospect of a party’s success (Hofmeister and Grabow 16).
The bonding agent function shows us how each political party is taking care of the best efficiency of its Federal candidates and office representatives. Moreover, the political party prompts its best candidates to perform well in the corresponding office. The democratic process imposes this bonding after function of a party, whether the party really wants to perform it or not.
After all, government in the US is government by party. As far as almost all appointments to offices are, usually created with political party considerations, we can clearly highlight the governing function. Moreover, political parties were strongly involved in the process of constitutional changes in the US.
The watchdog function’s purpose is to control the flow of the public’s business. It is, for sure, the role of opposition parties. Parties in opposition exercise an important function in a democratic system as a “watchdog” of government policy and as a political alternative in the future to gain power themselves (Hofmeister and Grabow 13). Putting all these key functions together gives us the essential principles of multi-party political system. As in a democracy the parties are still the most important connecting link between state and society (Hofmeister and Grabow 91).
Works cited
Hofmeister, Wilhelm, and Karsten Grabow. Political Parties. Singapore: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, 2011. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.
