Concept of state, Government and Political Party

1. Concepts of State,
Government and Political
Parties

3. Elements of a state
 People
 Territory
 Government
 Sovereignty (সার্বভ ৌম ক্ষমতা)
 Supreme power of the state to command and enforce
obedience to its will from the people within its jurisdiction
and corollary to have freedom from foreign control

8. What is a government?

9. What are the signs of a good
government?
But we don’t have the answer to it, because everyone
wants to answer it in his own way:
 Subjects praise public tranquility, citizens praise individual
liberty;
 some prefer security of possessions, others security of the
person;
 some hold that the best government is the most severe,
others that it is the mildest;
 some want crimes punished, others want them prevented;
 some want the state to be feared by its neighbours, others
prefers that it should keep a low profile and be ignored
 some are content as long as money circulates, others
demand that the people have bread

10. What is politics?
 Politics is the process to organize how we live together
in a society.

11. What is a political party?
 Political parties are a special form of social organization
 A well-known definition of political parties comes from
the American political scientist Antony Downs, who
wrote: “A political party is a team of men seeking to
control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a
duly constituted election”.

12. Group work
 Why do parties exist?
 Why do we need intra-party democracy?
 Identify sources of party financing.

13. Why do parties exist?
 Within every society there are different opinions, needs, expectations
and views over daily issues;
 likewise “big” questions on the social organization, its norms and
procedures also exist.
 Something like a common will of the people or a predetermined
common good does not exist.
 In contrast, in every society there are rivalling interests that often
collide very hard.
 In order to peacefully mediate conflicts, the formation of political
views must take place in an open process of debate between different
opinions.
 A minimum of common conviction is necessary. This is the common
sense of democracy.
 It is based on the principle that each citizen has the right to represent
his opinion and conviction in a peaceful competition of minds.

14. Criteria to identify political parties
 A party strives to influence the formation of political opinion and
 aims to have a general political impact.
 The active influence of political opinion-making is aimed at a
longer period of time
 as well as a wider region and
 should not be concentrated on a local level
 or a single issue.

15. Criteria to identify political
parties
 A party is an association of citizens
 holding individual memberships, and
 shall have a minimum number of members,
 so that the seriousness of its targets and the prospects of
success remain clear.

16. Criteria to identify political
parties
 A party has to demonstrate the will to
consistently take part in the political
representation of the people during elections.

17. Criteria to identify political parties
 A party has to be an independent and
permanent organization; it shall not be formed
only for one election and cease to exist
afterwards.
 A party must be willing to appear in public.
 A party does not necessarily need to win a seat
in parliament, but it has to fulfil all the other
criteria.

18. Functions of political parties
 They articulate and aggregate social interests
(function of political opinion-making)
 They recruit political personnel and nurture future
generations of politicians (function of selection)
 Parties integrate various interests into a general
political project and transform it into a political
program, for which they campaign to receive the
consent and support of a majority (function of
integration)

19. Functions of political parties
Parties create a link between citizens and
the political system; they enable political
participation of individuals and groupings
with the prospect of success. (function of
socialization and participation)

20. Functions of political parties
 They participate in elections to occupy political
charges. (function of exercising political power)
 The parties contribute in anchoring the political
order in the consciousness of the citizens and in
social forces (function of legitimating)

21. Intra-party democracy
 Intra-party democracy is necessary in order to
increase the influence and contribution of the
politically involved citizens in a party. A
democratic state cannot be governed by parties
with undemocratic structures.

22. Respect of intra-party democracy
means
 Promotion of the participation of all members in the internal
matters of the party.
 Possibility for the members to voice their opinions within the
party.
 Possibility of participation for specific groups within a party (for
example, women, youth, and middle-class people).
 Tolerance towards different opinions as long as they are within
the limits of the basic party program.
 Compliance with the rules and regulations for membership
participation and decision-making processes within the party.
 Respect of the party leadership towards the “ordinary” party
members.

23. Party financing
 Membership fees is the least controversial source
of income.
 Financial contributions of parliament members and
similar regular dues of officials from the parties;
these persons contribute to the party beyond their
membership fees, as they owe their mandates or
positions in the public administration, etc. to their
party.

24. Party financing
 Revenues from capital, events etc.; some parties own
businesses (for example, print houses for the distribution of
party documentation and party brochures etc.) or carry out
other activities from which they generate revenue. In principle,
they should officially account for their entire revenues from
such activities and for their capital.

25. Party financing
 Donations are the most controversial public source of party
financing. This is especially so for big parties that obtain an
important portion of their revenues through donations. The
concern is that major donors from the economy could try to
exert political influence along this path. This would contradict
the principles of democratic equity.

26. Party financing
 Loans are an important but problematic source of financing of
political parties. Loans will lead to debts, and for many parties
indebtedness represents a serious problem.
 Refund for election campaign expenses. This is a common
practice of public party financing. The refund of election
campaign expenses is usually tied to the election results of a
party.

27. Resources for political party
financing

28. Group work
 Role of a political party in society?
 Role of a political party in government?
 Role of a political party in state?

29. The social contract
 Organize how we live together in a society.

30. Role in government
 Compete for peoples mandate by articulating and
aggregating social interests

31. Role in state
 Uphold Sovereignty of the state
 Uphold rights of the people