Are political parties essential, or detrimental, to democratic decisionmaking? In answering this question, give careful consideration to the different ways political parties might assist or sabotage desirable forms of democratic rule, evaluating in each case their implications for the question.
A political party is a group of people who share similar ideas regarding the way a country should be governed and sought to obtain the majority of the seats in the political office to further the policies they advocate. Democratic decision-making is a participative decision making style in which citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Democratic decision-making is widely considered Goodin affirms that political parties are instrumental in fulfilling the central democratic idea of citizens giving ‘laws to themselves’ through participation in the elections not just as voters but also candidates. Political parties define, popularize and advocate a particular ‘ratio’, which represents the peoples’ needs and wants. A no-party system lacks the much-needed coherence and uniformity and leads to decision making on the basis of charisma and personality of the candidates and not the ‘ratio’ that they uphold. Healthy party practices aggregate common will, resolve clashes, address public needs and minimize abuse of democracy power. These are functions essential for a successful democracy and are often hard to accomplish without parties due to the sheer lack of a stable and defined structure. Political parties form a link between voters and the government and also the legislature and the executive branches of the government. Moreover, they provide a platform for voters to directly be a part of the government by giving party tickets so that they can participate in the elections. Parties give a collective identity to each individual candidate and bring together specialized political elites who are able to multiply the strength and effectiveness of the campaign and the policies. On the other hand, in a no-party democracy, similar policies would be debated and implemented separately by the individuals in a fragmented and unorganized way. Thus a party system
