Politics and political parties briefly. What are parties and what are they

Political parties

Political Party- an independent public association with a stable structure and a permanent nature of activity, expressing the political will of its members and supporters, setting as its tasks participation in determining the political course of a given state, in the formation of bodies (including representative ones) of state power and administration.

Today there are several "non-partisan" states. These are, as a rule, absolute monarchies in the form of government: Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bhutan (until 2008). In these countries, there is either a direct ban on political parties (Ghana, Jordan), or there are no appropriate prerequisites for their creation (Bhutan, Oman, Kuwait). The situation can be similar under an influential head of state, when the allowed parties have a small role (Libya at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries).

Parties and directions

Political parties are often associated with the political spectrum. In one of them (often mentioned when describing the political parties of Spain, Italy, etc.), “left” refers to supporters of radical change, and “right” - conservatives and founders of the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bpreserving traditions. The scale is more common, in which communists, socialists and social democrats are considered “left”, and liberals, conservatives and fascists are considered “right” (the latter also include national socialists, whose adherents are also sometimes referred to as far right). Center parties are those that uphold a list of rules from different parts of the political spectrum. Most parties have factions that support views that are somewhat different from the official policy of the party.

Party colors and emblems

Rally of supporters of Viktor Yanukovych in Donetsk, 2004

All over the world, political parties associate themselves with certain colors (mostly to stand out in elections). Red, as a rule, is the color of left-wing parties: communists, socialists, etc. The colors of conservative parties are blue and black. Exception: in the US, the color of the Republican Party is red, and the Democratic Party is blue.

Names of political parties

The name of a party may reflect the party's ideology (such as the Liberal Democratic Party or the Communist Party); the main goal (task) of the party's activities (Russian Network Party for the Support of Small and Medium Businesses, "Party of the Revival of Russia"); social, national (“Russian Party”), religious and other group whose interests it defends (Agrarian Party or the Automobile Club of Russia party), a simply memorable brand that does not carry a special semantic load, the initial letters of the names or surnames of the founders of the party (“Yabloko "- I vlinsky, B oldyrev, L ukin)

The name of a Russian political party consists of two parts: an indication of the legal form “political party” and the name of the party. It is interesting that tautology is often found in the names of political parties, for example, the Political Party "Communist Party of the Russian Federation", the Political Party "Russian Ecological Party" Greens ". The name of some parties is well chosen and does not contain the word “party” in the name (Political Party “Russian National Unity”). Names of parties can also be short and succinct, such as Will (political party). The tautology in the name, apparently, is connected with the period when there was no law on political parties, and the procedure for creating a political party was not streamlined. The parties then existed in the form of political public associations and, accordingly, their names contained an indication only of this organizational form. In order to show that the association is a political party, and not another public organization, the word "party" was included directly in the name of the political public association. Some political parties have had "historical" names, such as the Communist Party or the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. Political parties are characterized by an indication of their organizational and legal form directly in the name of the party.

A political party may use in its name the words "Russia", "Russian Federation" and words and phrases formed on their basis. At the same time, it is exempt from paying the state fee for the use of the names "Russia", "Russian Federation" and their derivatives (clause 1) part 1 article 333.35 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In the Republic of Belarus, on the contrary, a ban is established on the use of the words "Republic of Belarus", "Belarus", "national" and "people's" in the name of a political party, unless otherwise determined by the President of the Republic of Belarus (paragraph 4 of Article 14 Law of the Republic of Belarus of October 5, 1994 "On political parties"). The law on political parties does not contain a ban on the use of the names of other states, that is, the name of a political party may even coincide with the name of a foreign state, although this prohibition is established in relation to the symbols of political parties. The laws of the CIS countries on political parties bypass this issue. In some European states (Great Britain, Slovenia, Croatia) it is established that the name of a political party cannot contain the names of foreign states. For example, in the UK, a political party in its name can only use the words "Britain", "British", "England", "English", "national", "Scotland", "Scots", "Scottish", "United Kingdom", "Wales", "Welsh", "Gibraltar", "Gibraltar" and their derivative combinations. This variation is primarily due to the fact that in the UK it is allowed to create regional political parties.

The name of the party may have a semantic load, or it may represent an arbitrary set of words. There is also no restriction on the length of the name (for example, in Ireland, a party may be denied registration due to an excessively long name: as a rule, it should not consist of more than 6 words).

International political associations

Organization and structure of a political party

Different countries have different approaches to organizing the work of political parties. In Russia and many other countries there is a fixed membership, while in the US there is no fixed membership in the parties. In Russia, the structure of the party is built according to approximately the same system at three levels - the party - regional branches - local branches. At the level of the party itself, the supreme body is the congress, which forms the permanent governing bodies, at the regional level - the meeting (conference) and the governing bodies of the regional branch.

Notes

Links

  • Zhuravlev V. V., Korolev A. A. Parties for society or society for the party? Dialogue at the "Round Table" at IGI Moscow State University // Knowledge. Understanding. Skill. - 2005. - No. 2. - S. 59-68.
  • Bordiga A. Party and class

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

Political parties of modern Russia


Introduction


Political Party - a political organization that expresses the interests of a social class or its stratum, unites their most active representatives and guides them in achieving certain goals.

The party is the highest form of class organization. It can arise only in the course of the ideologists of the class realizing its fundamental interests and expressing them in the form of a specific concept or program. The party organizes a class or a social group, gives their actions an organized and purposeful character.

The party is the bearer of the ideology of the class, which largely determines the guiding principles of the policy, organizational structure and practical activities of the party, which are specified in the program and the charter of the party. In a bourgeois class society, there are several parties, each of which expresses the interests of its class. In a socialist and even more so in a communist society, in which there are no antagonistic classes, there should be one party - a communist one, leading the development of society in accordance with a scientifically substantiated program.

There are many parties in Russia; democratic, communist-socialist, nationalist, etc. All of them protect someone's interests.

Parties are right, left, centrist. Some defend the interests of some class or classes, others are the defenders of nations and peoples, there are top parties, there are grassroots parties.

The purpose of my work is to study the political parties and the party system of modern Russia.

Tasks - to review the functions, structure and classification of political parties, to analyze the essence and varieties of party systems, to consider the process of formation of a multi-party system in Russia.


1. Party systems, their typology


In the process of historical development, one political party was formed in some countries, two in others, and three or more parties arose in a number of countries. Specifically, the historical conditions prevailing in a particular country (the class composition of the population, historical traditions, political culture, national composition, etc.) determined the number and nature of political parties that appeared and functioned in it. Being within the same society, these parties do not fence themselves off from each other. They constantly interact, influence the adoption of certain state decisions, to one degree or another participate in the management of the affairs of society. The totality of these parties and the nature of their relations with each other, as well as with the state and other political institutions characteristic of a given political regime, is commonly called a political system.

Party systems are single-party, two-party and multi-party. The assignment of the party system of a country to one of the listed types is determined not by the number of parties operating in this country, but by the presence of a combination of certain features. When classifying political systems, three main indicators must be taken into account:

) the number of parties;

)the presence or absence of a dominant party or coalition;

)the level of competition between parties.

One-party system - it is a system where one party has a real possibility of exercising state power. In this case, there can be two varieties of a one-party system. One of them represents the absolute monopoly of one party, where the existence of other parties is excluded. (Such systems exist in Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, etc.). Another variation is the existence of other political parties along with the party that has a monopoly on power. However, the role of the latter is insignificant, since their activities are strictly regulated. In society, total ideological and organizational control is exercised by the state party. Although outwardly such systems look like a multi-party system, in reality they are one-party systems (in the PRC).

A two-party system is a system characterized by the presence of two large parties, each of which has a chance to win in elections a majority of seats in the legislative assembly or a majority of the popular vote in elections of the executive branch of government. In other words, this is a system where the monopoly position in the country's politics is occupied by two main parties, which alternately replace each other in power. When one of them is in power and acts as the ruling one, the other at that time is in opposition. As a result of the election victory of the opposition party, they change places. A two-party system does not mean the absence of other parties. But these others do not prevent the two main parties from ruling alternately. For example, in the entire history of the existence of a two-party system in the United States, more than 200 third-party candidates tried to get elected to the presidency of the country, but only 8 of them managed to win more than a million votes, but not once their representative was elected president. In the US and the UK, the two main parties collect up to 90% of the vote, depriving the rest of access to power.

A variation on the two-party system is the two-and-a-half (2 1/2 parties) or "two plus one party" system. The essence of this variation is that if none of the competing parties capable of forming a government has a majority in parliament, then one of them has to enter into a coalition with a third, small but constantly represented in parliament. So, in Germany, the two main competing parties - the SPD and the CDU / CSU have to resort to an alliance with the Free Democrats. The leading parties of Austria, Australia, Canada and a number of other countries are forced to seek the support of the "third party", its electorate. In general, it should be noted that a two-party system creates a relatively stable government.

A multi-party system is one in which more than two parties have sufficient organization and influence to influence the functioning of institutions. By defining the system as a three-, four-, five-party system, political scientists mean the number of parties that have received parliamentary representation. Multi-party systems operate in Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Belgium and some other countries. Under a multi-party system, parties occupy different ideological-political or ideological positions: from the extreme right to the extreme left.

Multi-party systems make it possible to take into account the diversity of political sympathies and social movements, although to a certain extent they make it difficult for a calm parliamentary support of the government. As a rule, under such systems there are no dominant parties, different parties can come to power, including those that do not even have the support of a relative majority of voters (France, Italy). Sometimes a situation arises in which a relatively uninfluential party can acquire a key role. Therefore, the problem of political and parliamentary unions is acute in these countries. A multi-party system is favorable for society, since it has a mechanism for the civilized coming of parties to power, and through their competition ensures the promotion of alternative options for the development of society.


2. The party system of modern Russia


It is known that the first political parties in Russia arose at the end of the 19th century. (Social Democratic Party, Socialist Revolutionary Party). However, the emergence of a political system in the country dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, when the Manifesto of October 17, 1905 granted the population civil liberties, including the freedom of association (which meant the freedom to form political parties). Until the beginning of the 20s. in Russia there was a multi-party system, in the 20-80s. - one-party, in the late 80s and early 90s. began the process of forming a multi-party system. The beginning of the formation of a multi-party system was not easy. In 1991, the President of the Russian Federation suspended and then terminated the activities of the Communist Party on the territory of Russia. At the end of 1992, the decision of the Constitutional Court proved the legitimacy of the existence of the Communist Party. Thus, the beginning of the path to a multi-party system was, in general, dramatic, associated with the ban on a political party. In the early 90s. new approaches to the organization of political life were formed. In March 1991, the registration of parties began, and by the end of 1991, 26 parties had already been registered. Currently, the Ministry of Justice lists more than 70 parties as registered, although, according to various sources, there are much more in the country - several hundred and even thousands. However, the emergence of a large number of parties does not yet mean the formation of a multi-party system. There are certain signs of a multi-party system. One of the main ones is the representation by the party of a part of society, a class or stratum, the expression of their interests, needs and aspirations. Modern Russian society is in an amorphous state. It poorly marked the structuring of the interests of various social forces, their poor awareness at the political level. To date, it cannot be argued that the working class or the peasantry or other social groups have realized their social interests. Of the existing parties, many differ little from each other in their programs. They are not so much concerned with the expression and realization of the interests of their electoral stratum as with the "naked interest of the authorities." The formation of such parties is often artificial in nature and is due to the desire for political self-realization of individuals (acting as leaders) who recruit their supporters for one or another abstract idea. These ideas are borrowed from the political vocabulary of the West or pre-revolutionary Russia. Difficulties with the formation of a party system are associated not only with the lack of the necessary level of socio-political differentiation in society, but also with the peculiarities of overcoming the former one-party system. The fact is that under the conditions of the Soviet system, the Communist Party was not a normal political party in the generally accepted sense of the word. In essence, it not only merged with state structures, it completely absorbed the state and society. State structures turned out to be only pale reflections of party structures. As a result, a kind of hybrid party-state was formed. With the collapse of the totalitarian system, the country faced the problem of creating a new statehood and a party system corresponding to it.

The creation of a multi-party system is hampered by the underdevelopment of political culture, the lack of a consistent state policy aimed at the formation of capable parties and the improvement of the legislative framework. It seems that the upper echelons of power are not interested in the formation of strong parties, since it is beneficial for them to have a dialogue with a scattered opposition. The executive power is consciously pursuing a policy of "depoliticization" in order to prevent large influence of parties on the population. Therefore, it is obviously premature to talk about a formed multi-party system in Russia. It is, in my opinion, at the stage of formation. It is in the process of becoming. An indicator of this is the emerging mechanisms for regulating relations between parties, between parties and power structures, between parties and society.

3. Classification of political parties


The world of political parties is extremely diverse. There is a place for a wide variety of associations - from the traditionally strong Conservatives in the UK to the Beer Drinkers' Party in Poland. The classification of parties can be based on different criteria: social composition, ideological commitment, principles of organization, etc.

If, for example, the nature and objectives of their activities are taken as the basis for classification, then all existing parties are usually reduced to the following types:

o Revolutionary, standing for deep, fundamental changes in social relations.

o Reformist, advocating moderate changes in social relations.

o Conservative, standing on the positions of preserving the main features of modern life.

o Reactive, challenging the task of restoring old structures.

Depending on participation in the exercise of power, parties are divided into ruling and opposition.

According to the conditions of activity, parties can be divided into legal, semi-legal and illegal.

A very common way of classifying parties on the basis of progressive or conservative political programs. Those parties that defend more or less progressive socio-political goals are usually called left, those that defend the existing, established social order are called right, and those parties that occupy an intermediate position are often called center parties.

According to the principles of organization, parties can be divided into personnel and mass parties. Cadre parties are not numerous and rely primarily on professional politicians, the financial elite, which is able to provide material support. These parties are most often focused on participation and victory in elections. There are a large number of parliamentarians in their ranks. Examples of a cadre party are the Democratic and Republican parties of the United States, the Conservative Party of Great Britain, the Christian Democratic Union in Germany, etc.

Mass parties are numerous. In the financial sense, they are guided by membership fees, most often they have a pronounced ideological orientation, they are engaged in propaganda and education of the masses. These include the socialist and communist parties.

From the point of view of the internal structure of the parties are divided into parties with a strong and parties with a weak structure. Parties with a strong structure keep a strict record of their numbers, control the activities of their members, and establish strict party discipline. Members of parliament from this party must coordinate their position with the position of the party on all issues. On the contrary, parties with a weak structure do not care much about accounting for their members and do not require their parliamentarians to strictly comply with party directives.

In addition to the above, there are many other classifications. Any party can be attributed to several types at once. At the same time, it can be an ideological, mass, left-wing party with a strong structure, etc., i.e. there are a number of possible combinations, and which one is specifically in question - should be clarified in the process of analyzing each particular batch.


4. United Russia


The All-Russian political party "United Russia", registered by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on December 18, 2001, is today the largest political party in the country.

As of January 1, 2012, according to the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, the membership of the United Russia party is 2,113,767 people. The party has 82,631 primary organizations and 2,595 local branches in all regions of the country.

Governing Bodies

The highest governing body of the party, according to the Charter, is the congress.

The party is chaired by the current Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The Bureau of the Supreme Council consists of 18 people and is part of the Supreme Council, which consists of 91 party members.

Between congresses, the highest governing body of the United Russia party is the General Council. Its competence includes interaction with authorities and institutions of local self-government, adoption of proposals on the most important socio-political issues, as well as the appointment and dismissal of the head of the Central Executive Committee on the recommendations of the party chairman.

The permanent governing body of the United Russia party is the Presidium of the General Council, which is part of the latter. It consists of 27 party members. The Presidium of the General Council of "United Russia" manages the political activities of the party. Its competence includes the development of various kinds of documents, including draft election programs. By decision of the Presidium, an extraordinary congress of the party can be convened, regional branches can be created and liquidated. The Presidium of the General Council also approves the budget of the party, the lists of candidates for deputies of the State Duma and the presidential candidate from the party in the presidential elections.

The activities of the Presidium of the General Council of the Party are led by the Secretary, who is authorized on behalf of the Party to make statements to the press, to put signatures on official and financial Party documents. Since September 15, 2011, Sergey Neverov has been approved for this position.

The Central Executive Committee is the permanent executive body of the Party. The CEC is responsible for the implementation of approved plans, programs and events of various kinds, it is responsible for conducting election campaigns, etc. The CEC is accountable in its activities to the Presidium of the General Council.

The Central Control and Audit Commission consists of 31 members of the United Russia party. The CCRC exercises control over the economic and financial activities of structural divisions, the CEC and other governing bodies, as well as control over the implementation by party members of the Charter and decisions of the governing bodies. The CCRC is accountable to the Party Congress.

Party ideology

The leaders of the United Russia party describe the party's ideological platform as centrism and conservatism, which implies pragmatism, a statist stance and opposition to other movements that are more radical. Conservative modernization is the basis of the party ideology. United Russia supports the general political course of the President of the Russian Federation and his Government.

Representation of United Russia in the State Duma

For the first time, United Russia took part in parliamentary elections in 2003 and immediately won 306 seats in the State Duma, thus forming a parliamentary majority. In 2007, 315 deputies entered the State Duma from United Russia, which allowed the party to form a faction with a constitutional majority. During the last elections in December 2011, United Russia somewhat lost ground, losing the advantage of the constitutional majority, but the 238 deputy mandates received allow the party in power to approve bills without the support of opposition factions.

CPRF

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) is actually the heir to the CPSU, however, since any activity of the CPSU on the territory of Russia has been banned since 1991, legally the CPRF has nothing to do with the previous party in power. Officially, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation is registered as a left-wing political party.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation participated in all parliamentary elections and was represented in the State Dumas of all six convocations, as well as in regional parliaments.

According to the Ministry of Justice, as of January 1, 2012, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation has 81 regional branches, and its membership is 156,528 members. A political party from the moment of registration with the Ministry of Justice is a legal entity and operates on the basis of the charter and program.

Governing Bodies

The supreme body of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation is the Party Congress. The congress elects the Central Committee - the governing political body - and its chairman, who since 1993 has been Gennady Zyuganov. In regional branches, the authority is the regional committee, and its head is the first secretary.

The Central Committee develops the most important documents for the Party, relying on the Party program and the decisions of congresses.

To solve organizational and political problems between the plenums of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation is elected. The secretariat, which is elected by the Central Committee and is accountable only to it, organizes the current activities of the party and monitors the implementation of the decisions of the above bodies.

The supreme supervisory body of the party is the Central Control and Auditing Commission, which monitors the observance of the charter by party members and considers their appeals. The composition of the CCRC is formed by secret ballot at the party congress.

Party ideology

As the ideological heir of the CPSU, the CPRF indicates its main goal is to uphold the rights of people of wage labor and the national interests of the state. According to the program of the party, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation seeks to build in Russia "renewed socialism of the 21st century." The program also states that in its actions the party relies on the Marxist-Leninist doctrine, adapting it to modern conditions.

Representation in the State Duma

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation had representation in the State Duma of all six convocations, and also fielded its candidate in all elections of the President of the country, where he invariably took second place.

In the first parliamentary elections in 1993, the party won 12.4% of the vote, receiving 42 seats. In 1995, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation won 22.3% of the vote and occupied 157 deputy seats. In the elections to the State Duma of the third convocation in 1999, the party received its maximum - 24.29% of the vote, but the number of deputy mandates was reduced to 113. In 2003, the Communists lost some popularity and gained 12.61% of the vote, receiving 51 seats in the State Duma of the fourth convocation . In 2007, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation received 57 mandates, gaining 11.57% of the vote. In the last parliamentary elections in December 2011, the party received 19.19% of the vote, taking 92 seats.

LDPR

The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia is the direct successor of the LDPSS, the first and only opposition party in the Soviet Union. The party has existed unofficially since December 1989. April 12, 1991 LDPSS was registered by the Ministry of Justice of the USSR. By transforming the LDPSS on December 14, 1992, the Liberal Democratic Party officially appeared. Since March 31, 1990, the permanent chairman of the party has been Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky.

The LDPR, along with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, had representation in the State Duma of all six convocations, and also took part in all presidential elections.

The LDPR has 212,156 members. The party has 83 regional branches and 2399 local branches.

Governing Bodies

According to the charter, the supreme governing body is the Congress, which is appointed by decision of the Supreme Council at least once every four years. Between congresses, the functions of the governing body are performed by the Supreme Council, whose duties include making decisions on current personnel, political, organizational and other issues. The Supreme Council also monitors the implementation of decisions taken by the Congress. The Supreme Council is elected at regular congresses every four years.

At the Party Congress, the Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party is also elected for a period of four years. Its competence includes determining the political course, tactics and increasing the role of the party in the socio-political life of the country. The chairman is the official representative of the party and is authorized to act and make statements on behalf of the LDPR. The Chairman also appoints members of the executive body of the Liberal Democratic Party - the Central Office and its head.

The Central Control and Auditing Commission is the controlling body of the Liberal Democratic Party. Her duties include control over the use of financial and other resources of the party. The CCRC is elected by the Congress for four years and is accountable only to it.

Party ideology

The party program of the Liberal Democratic Party states that the party stands for democracy and liberalism. The LDPR does not accept communist and Marxist ideologies. Since its inception, the LDPR has positioned itself as an opposition party. However, many political scientists do not agree with this, however, as well as with the political directions indicated in official documents. So, for example, in the sphere of social activity, the LDPR reflects the ideas of patriotism and nationalism more, and in the economic sphere, the Liberal Democratic Party is more attracted by the theory of a mixed economy.

The main representative of the interests of its citizens, according to the Liberal Democratic Party, should be the state, and the interests of individuals should be subordinated to them. The Liberal Democratic Party stands for the revival of Russia as a sovereign state without division into subjects based on nationality.

Representation of the Liberal Democratic Party in the State Duma

As mentioned above, the LDPR is one of the two parties that had representation in all six convocations of the Lower House of Parliament. In 1993, the Liberal Democratic Party took first place in the parliamentary elections, receiving 22.92% of the vote and 64 seats in the Duma. The State Duma of the second convocation in 1995 included 51 deputies from the Liberal Democratic Party, when the party won 11.18% of the vote. In 1999, the Liberal Democratic Party received 5.98% of the vote, taking only 17 deputy seats. In 2003, the party won 11.45% of the vote, which allowed it to receive 36 deputy mandates. In 2007, the Liberal Democratic Party received 40 mandates, since 8.14% of voters voted for it. In the State Duma of the sixth convocation in 2011, LDPR included 56 deputies, the party won 11.67% of the vote.

"Patriots of Russia"

The Patriots of Russia party arose as a result of the split of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation; it was registered as a political party in July 2005. The Patriots of Russia party was created on the basis of the Russian Party of Labor, as well as other public and political associations that are part of the Patriots of Russia coalition, such as the People's Patriotic Union of Russia, the Eurasian Party, the SLON party. The "Patriots of Russia" consists of 86,394 people. The party has 79 regional and 808 local branches.

Governing Bodies

The leader of the party is the Chairman, whose position since April 2005 has been occupied by Gennady Semigin. The supreme governing body is the Party Congress. The governing body, acting on a permanent basis, is the Central Political Council. The Control and Auditing Commission performs the function of a controlling body.

Party ideology

The Patriots of Russia position themselves as a moderately left-wing party. They consider their main strategic goal to be the creation in Russia of a society that will equally combine political stability, social justice, and sustainable economic development. The party strongly opposes any manifestations of nationalism, chauvinism, radicalism and extremism. "Patriots of Russia" strive to unite the opposition on the basis of patriotism, socialism, centrist and social democratic views.

The party is not represented in the State Duma, but has 19 seats in regional parliaments.

"Apple"

Somewhat unusual for the Russian political scene, the name of the political party "Yabloko" becomes more understandable if you know its background. In 1993, during the formation of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the First Convocation, the Yabloko faction was created. It was formed on the basis of the electoral bloc of Yavlinsky, Boldyrev and Lukin. From the abbreviation of the capital letters of the names of the leaders, the name of the faction was created, and then, since 1995, the name of the party.

Yabloko is a party of social liberalism that advocates the development of Russia along the European path. Yabloko is a member of several European and international organizations. For example, since 1998, the Yabloko association has been an observer, and since 2002 it has become a full member of the Liberal International.

During the period when Yabloko was transformed from an electoral bloc into a public association, some changes took place in its composition. In 1994, part of the Republican Party headed by its leader V. Lysenko left the bloc, but the Regional Center Party from St. Petersburg joined as a regional organization.

In January 1995, the Constituent Congress was held, where Grigory Yavlinsky was elected head of the Central Council.

During the reign of Boris Yeltsin, Yabloko played the role of a democratic opposition, expressing disapproval and rejection of the political and socio-economic course pursued by the President. In 1999, when the vote on the impeachment process launched by the Communist Party was taking place, the Yabloko faction supported the Communists on a number of charges, such as unleashing hostilities in Chechnya and the armed dispersal of the Supreme Council in 1993. But the faction did not support other articles of the accusation.

However, despite the criticism of the political course and almost all decisions taken by the government, Yabloko, nevertheless, has always shown a readiness for a constructive dialogue with the authorities. This happened when the executive branch sought to increase its support in society.

Nevertheless, when Grigory Yavlinsky and some of his supporters were offered to join the government in 1996, Yabloko put forward a number of conditions that, for a number of objective reasons, were not met. Yavlinsky demanded major changes in socio-economic policy, an end to hostilities in Chechnya, and the resignation of a number of politicians holding key government posts. Those who accepted the government's proposals were immediately expelled from the party.

With the election of Vladimir Putin as President of the Russian Federation in 2000, the political situation in the country changed dramatically. Now the main part of the Russians supported the head of state, however, he did not win support among the Yabloko people. Moreover, since 2001 the party has gone into tough opposition, criticizing the Government of Mikhail Kasyanov.

In 2002, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation registered Yabloko as a democratic party. In 2006, when Soldiers' Mothers and Green Russia joined the party, the name was changed to the Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko.

After Yabloko failed to overcome the necessary barrier and enter the State Duma in 2003, the party's opposition became total. And with the coming to power of Dmitry Medvedev, it intensified even more. Yabloko accused the authorities of totalitarianism.

In 2006, the Yabloko party joined the ELDR - the European Party of Liberals, Democrats, and Reformers. Since 2008, Sergei Mitrokhin has been the chairman of the party.

Representation of Yabloko in the State Duma.

Yabloko was a member of the State Duma of the first four convocations. In 1993, the Yabloko faction won 7.86% of the vote and won 27 seats in the Duma. In 1995, Yabloko received 45 seats in the State Duma of the second convocation. In the third parliamentary elections to the State Duma of the III convocation, the Yabloko party, having concluded an alliance with Stepashin, included him at the head of its electoral list. In the elections in 1999, the party won 5.93% of the vote and received 21 seats.

In 2003, during the preliminary vote count, Vladimir Putin personally called Yavlinsky in the middle of the night and congratulated him on overcoming the 5% threshold. Later it turned out that the congratulations were premature: the party won only 4.3% of the votes and did not get into the Duma. However, its candidates were able to pass through 4 single-member constituencies.

The elections in 2007 were a failure for the party - only 1.59% of the vote. In 2011, Yabloko did not get into the State Duma either. According to official sources, the party won 3.43% of the vote, although some independent organizers claim that about 4.5% of voters actually voted for Yabloko.

Comparative analysis of programs of leading political forces

The leading role in the political life of Russia is currently played by communists, bureaucrats (centrists) and democrats.

These are opposing forces and, consequently, political, economic and social aspects of society's life are assessed differently in their program documents. Let's consider some of them.


Core valuesAttitude towards the stateEconomic sectionSocial section"United Russia"Freedom, law, justice and harmony (however, in the future the concept of "freedom" seems to "disappear" from the Program)"Strong State". Strong presidential power, cooperation of all branches of power and increased political responsibility of deputies at all levels Ensuring the rule of law and fair competition. The quality of public property management. Priority - high-tech industry, science and industry. No mention of private property! Section is weak Strong social policy, high degree of social protection, effective system of social guarantees. Rejection of the excesses of state paternalismCPRFPeople's power, justice, equality, patriotism, the responsibility of the citizen to society and society to the citizen, the unity of human rights and duties, socialism and in the future communismThe Government of National Salvation subsequently, upon coming to power, cuts off the government of people's trust accountable to the highest representative bodies of power countries (Councils) State. regulation of economic processes. Restoration of public or collective property. Prevention of private ownership of land. Monopoly of foreign trade on strategically important goods; return to citizens guaranteed rights to work, rest, housing, free education, etc. LDPR Freedom of the individual, the right to private property, a competitive market economy, etc. Democratization of the political system. The possibility of having a ruling party (as in the West) Democrats are private property, a competitive market economy. Liberals: deny any role of the state in the economy and do not have a welfare state among their goals The state is obliged to support the weak - the elderly, the disadvantaged, children, the disabled, victims of wars, natural and man-made disasters "Patriots of Russia" National ideals and priorities of the highest importance for Russian society, the state and the vast majority of citizens Great, strong, influential in the world, prosperous Russia, in which spiritual development, well-being and happiness of all citizens are ensured achievements of science, technology and technology Social protection of all citizens of the country, public medicine and a healthy lifestyle for people, public education "Yabloko" A worthy existence of a person - his freedom, health, well-being, security and the opportunity to develop his abilities A democratic, prosperous Russia, able to maintain its integrity and unityState responsibility for creating a society of equal opportunities and preventing "market failures"; social stateCreation of social support mechanisms for those who are deprived of access to the market distribution of benefits

Conclusion


Parties are the main element of the political system of society. They act as carriers of political courses competing with each other, serve as spokesmen for the interests, needs and goals of certain social groups, as a link between civil society and the state. The task of the parties is to turn the multitude of private interests of individual citizens, social strata, and interest groups into their joint political interest. Through parties and electoral systems, the participation of citizens in political life is formalized. Parties take an active part in the functioning of the mechanism of political life. Parties take an active part in the functioning of the mechanism of political power or have an indirect influence on it.

An important feature of the activities of parties is their ideological impact on the population, their role in the formation of political consciousness and culture is significant.

The Party must encourage movement forward. It needs to thoroughly comprehend and define the interests of the social group it represents, it must clearly understand the forms and methods of movement towards the implementation of these interests.

The games must be constantly updated. They must be attractive to young people and new professions, develop a cadre that understands and represents the demands and needs of people, and independently assess policy changes and make appropriate decisions.

The party must not only be able to listen to the expressed demands, but also actively act to identify and defend these demands of its supporters to expand their ranks.

Political parties will benefit if they develop as democratic and pluralistic organizations based on the principle of majority and responsibility. The activity of political parties is a real indicator of the process of formation of civil society, democratization of the political system, development of self-government. And the more effective their work becomes, the more mature and stronger civil society becomes.


Bibliographic list:


1.Gadzhiev K.S. Introduction to Political Science: Textbook for High Schools. 2nd ed. - M., 1997. - S. 207

2.Vinogradov V.D. Multi-party system in Russia: reality or utopia? // Bulletin of St. Petersburg University. 1993. Ser 6. Issue 2.-S. 42

.Political Dictionary [Electronic resource] #"justify">. Library in the Library [Electronic resource] #"justify">. FB.ru [Electronic resource] #"justify">. Izbibor.ru [Electronic resource] #"justify">party multi-party Duma program


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The concept of a political party means a special type of public organization, the task of which is to take part in the management of the state or local governments (a city, for example). The party may also aim at the complete seizure of state power.

The first political parties in the modern sense appeared in the 19th century in some Western countries after the introduction of universal suffrage: Progressive Party of Germany, Belgian Liberal Party, etc.

An interesting fact is that more than a third of Russians, according to polls, do not understand what political parties are for. To do this, consider the goals and functions of political parties.

Functions of political parties.

  1. Formation of public opinion.
  2. Political education of citizens of the state.
  3. Expressing the positions of citizens on social issues.
  4. Bringing this position to the public and authorities.
  5. Nomination of their candidates in elections of different levels.

Types of political parties.

According to social class criterion:

  1. Bourgeois parties (consisting of representatives of business, entrepreneurs).
  2. Working people (representatives of workers, peasants)
  3. Conciliators (from various representatives of all classes).

Party organization:

  1. Personnel parties - consisting of professional politicians or parliamentarians and having a group of leaders. Most active during elections. Target audience - representatives of the elite. Funded from private sources.
  2. Mass parties are centralized organizations with statutory membership. Funded by membership dues. Numerous and have the target audience of the masses.

According to the degree of involvement in state power:

  1. Ruling - having a majority in parliament.
  2. Opposition - opponents of the ruling parties, constituting a minority in parliament.
  3. Non-participants - those who did not get enough votes in the elections.
  1. Left (communist and socialist, or having a corresponding bias).
  2. Right (nationalist, or having a nationalist bias, as well as conservative and liberal).
  3. Centrists (Democrats).
  4. Mixed.

Organization structure:

  1. Classical type - with a clear organization and permanent membership.
  2. Movement type - membership in them is formal.
  3. Political clubs - free membership.
  4. Authoritarian-proprietary type - a party of one person, the author of the ideology of the party and its main representative (for example, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc or the Radical Party of Oleg Lyashko).

By type of ideology:

  1. liberal parties. Aimed at minimal state interference in public and private life.
  2. Democratic parties. They stand for democracy.
  3. social democratic parties. They advocate state regulation of public life.
  4. communist parties. For full equality, public property, control of power over social and economic life.
  5. nationalist parties. The ideology of the domination of the nation in the life of the country.
  6. clerical parties. Church and religious ideas and norms.
  7. Green parties. Ecological component of political ideology.
  8. Fascist parties. Elimination of freedoms, suppression of the human personality.

Often a certain kind of political party is associated with certain colors and sometimes emblems. For example, it is generally accepted that all communist (left) parties are associated with the color red. Conservative parties tend to be blue or blue-black, Social Democrats are pink, and Liberals are yellow. The color of the green parties is obvious, while the color of the monarchists is white (sometimes purple). Brown, black, red-black - the colors of the Nazis and neo-Nazis. Another popular type of color is the colors of the national flag. Such colors received the greatest popularity in Ukraine.

The key feature of such a phenomenon as political parties is that they become intermediaries between society and the state. Political parties are the highest form of organization of political activity (in comparison with other group subjects of political activity - mass movements, public organizations, pressure groups, etc.). In addition, political parties are also the most organized form of social activity.

Party, a list of its goals and ways to achieve them.

A political party is a hierarchical political organization that unites on a voluntary basis persons with common social-class, political-economic, national-cultural, religious and other interests and ideals, which sets itself the goal of gaining political power or participating in it.

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Party classification

  1. Social class criterion:
    1. bourgeois
    2. workers
    3. minority parties
    4. bureaucratic
    5. all-class
  2. By organization (Duverger criteria):
    1. massive
    2. personnel
  3. By degree of participation in power:
    1. ruling
    2. systemic opposition
    3. non-systemic opposition
    4. marginal
  4. By place in the party spectrum:
    1. rights
    2. centrists
    3. left
    4. mixed
    5. radical
  5. By organizational structure:
    1. classical type
    2. movement type
    3. political club
    4. authoritarian-proprietary type
    5. based on declarative membership
  6. In relation to power and law:
    1. legal
    2. illegal
    3. semi-legal

Ideal Party Types

Today there are several "non-partisan" states. These are, as a rule, absolute monarchies in the form of government: Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bhutan (until 2008). In these countries, there is either a direct ban on political parties (Ghana, Jordan), or there are no appropriate prerequisites for their creation (Bhutan, Oman, Kuwait). A similar situation can be under an influential head of state, when allowed parties play a small role (Libya at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries).

Party colors and emblems

Aims of political parties

Any party directly sets itself the task of seizing political power in the country or taking part in it through its representatives in the bodies of state power and local self-government.

In the Russian Federation, according to paragraph 4 of Article 3 of the Federal Law "On Political Parties", the main goals of the parties are:

  • formation of public opinion;
  • political education and education of citizens;
  • expression of opinions of citizens on any issues of public life, bringing these opinions to the attention of the general public and public authorities;
  • nomination of candidates (lists of candidates) at elections of various levels.

Other goals are determined by the political program of the party.

Names of political parties

The name of the party may reflect the party ideology (Communist Party, Union of Right Forces), the main goal (task) of the party's activities (Russian Network Party for the Support of Small and Medium Business, the Renaissance Party of Russia); social (Pensioners' Party), national (Russian Party), religious (Christian Democratic Union) or other group whose interests the party defends. The name of the party may reflect the history of its emergence, as was the case with United Russia: the original name of the party, All-Russian Political Party "Unity and Fatherland - United Russia" reflected the names of the founders - the associations "Unity", "Fatherland" and All Russia. The name can be just a memorable brand that does not carry a special semantic load. There are also other approaches to naming parties, for example, using the initial letters of the names or surnames of the founders ("Yabloko" - I vlinsky, B oldyrev, L ukin).

The name of a Russian political party consists of two parts: an indication of the organizational and legal form "political party" and the name of the party. It is interesting that tautology is often found in the names of political parties, for example, the Political Party “Communist Party Russian Federation”. The name of some parties does not contain the word "party" in the name (Political Party "Russian National Unity"). Names of parties can also be short and succinct, such as Will (political party). The tautology in the name, apparently, is connected with the period when there was no law on political parties, and the procedure for creating a political party was not streamlined. The parties then existed in the form of political public associations and, accordingly, their names contained an indication only of this organizational form. In order to show that the association is a political party, and not another public organization, the word "party" was included directly in the name of the political public association. Some political parties had "historical" names, such as the Communist Party or the Social Democratic Party of Russia]]. Political parties are characterized by an indication of their organizational and legal form directly in the name of the party.

A political party may use in its name the words "Russia", "Russian Federation" and words and phrases formed on their basis. At the same time, it is exempt from paying the state fee for the use of the names "Russia", "Russian Federation" and their derivatives (clause 1) part 1 article 333.35 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In the Republic of Belarus, on the contrary, a ban is established on the use of the words “Republic of Belarus”, “Belarus”, “national” and “people” in the name of a political party, unless otherwise determined by the President of the Republic of Belarus (paragraph 4 of Article 14 Law of the Republic of Belarus of October 5, 1994 "On political parties"). The law on political parties does not contain a ban on the use of the names of other states, that is, the name of a political party may even coincide with the name of a foreign state, although this prohibition is established in relation to the symbols of political parties. The laws of the CIS countries on political parties bypass this issue. In some European states (Great Britain, Slovenia, Croatia) it is established that the name of a political party cannot contain the names of foreign states. For example, in the UK, a political party in its name can only use the words "Britain", "British", "England", "English", "national", "Scotland", "Scots", "Scottish", "United Kingdom", "Wales", "Welsh", "Gibraltar", "Gibraltar" and their derivative combinations. This variation is primarily due to the fact that in the UK it is allowed to create regional political parties.

The name of the party may have a semantic load, or it may represent an arbitrary set of words. There is also no restriction on the length of the name (for example, in Ireland, a party may be denied registration due to an excessively long name: as a rule, it should not consist of more than 6 words).

International political associations

.

Organization and structure of a political party

Different countries have different approaches to organizing the work of political parties. In Russia and many other countries there is a fixed membership, while in the US there is no fixed membership in the parties. In Russia, the structure of the party is built according to approximately the same system at three levels: party - regional branches - local branches. At the level of the party itself, the supreme body is the congress, which forms the permanent governing bodies, at the regional level - the assembly (conference) and the governing bodies of the regional branch. Certain requirements for the structure and governing bodies are contained in Law No. 95-FZ “On Political Parties”, which prescribes the existence of regional branches, collegiate governing bodies and the leading role of the congress.

Subjects of the Russian Federation, have at least fifty (from 2010 - forty) thousand (from April 2, 2012 - 500) members, its governing and other bodies must be located on the territory of the Russian Federation.

In Russia, political parties have the right to nominate candidates for any elective office and any representative bodies, and the exclusive right to nominate lists of candidates during elections to the State Duma, as well as during elections to the legislative (representative) bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation under the proportional system. According to Article 30 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, political parties are created freely, without any permission at the founding congress or conference of the party. Membership in the party, according to the same article, is voluntary, and no one can be forced to join the party or prevented from leaving it. The freedom to join the party is limited by law in relation to certain officials (judges, military personnel).

Along with the freedom to create and operate parties, their equality, state support, the legal status of parties includes their obligations to society and the state, financial transparency, compliance of program settings and activities with the constitutional legal order. The Constitution prohibits the creation and activities of political parties whose goals and actions are aimed at forcibly changing the foundations of the constitutional order and violating the integrity of the Russian Federation, undermining the security of the state, creating armed formations, inciting social, racial, national and religious hatred (Article 13, Part 5).

  • There are federal parties, state parties and municipal parties in Mexico. State parties can run only in their state, and municipal parties only in their municipality, while they can have several registrations in different states and municipalities. At the same time, the party automatically loses registration if it does not pass to the parliament of the corresponding level in the elections.
  • Bibliography
    • A. S. Avtonomov Legal regulation of the activities of parties in capitalist and developing countries // Sov. state and law. 1990. No. 6.
    • Anchutkina T. A. Legal foundations of the parliamentary activities of political parties in the Russian Federation // Theoretical problems of Russian constitutionalism / Ed. ed. T. Ya. Khabrieva. M., 2000.
    • Bayramov A. R. Legal regulation of the activities of political parties in modern conditions: Abstract of the thesis. dis. : cand. legal Sciences. M., 1993.
    • Beknazar-Yuzbashev T. B. Party in bourgeois political and legal doctrines. Moscow: Nauka, 1988.
    • Gambarov Yu. S. Political parties in their past and present. SPb., 1904.
    • Danilenko V. N. Political parties and the bourgeois state. M., 1984.
    • Danilenko V. N. Legal status of political parties of bourgeois countries. M., 1986.
    • Duverger M. Political parties: Per. from fr. M.: Academic project, 2000.
    • Evdokimov V. B. Parties in the political system of bourgeois society. Sverdlovsk: Publishing House of the Ural State University, 1980.
    • Evdokimov V. B. Political parties in foreign countries (political and legal aspects): Proc. allowance. Yekaterinburg: Sverdl Publishing House. legal in-ta, 1992.
    • Zaslavsky S. E. Legal Forms of Organization of Political Parties in Russia // Legislation and Economics. 1997. N 1-2.

Concept, functions and structure of political parties

A political party is the most active and organized part of a social group or class, expressing their interests, bound by an ideological community and fighting for political power.

Political parties act in their state as the creators of the current policy, they pursue certain goals, achieving state power, influence on political life and the organization of society. In a normally organized political system, there are several parties, each of which reflects the interests of its own class or a large group of people who are not connected by class characteristics. The activities of the parties are connected with contradictions between classes and social strata, the struggle for advantages in the implementation of their own policies.

Parties occupy a special place in the political system of society. Unlike other institutions of society, which, although they are engaged in political activities, are oriented towards protecting the socio-economic interests of their members, political parties are aimed at gaining and exercising power. For this purpose, they were created, and they are fighting for it.

Although a political party expresses the aspirations of a certain class or stratum of society, at the same time it is a voluntary community of people united ideologically and organizationally, with the goal of winning, retaining and using state power to realize their main interests.

Among the functions of political parties are:

1) identification, formulation and satisfaction of the interests of large social groups;

2) activation and integration of a certain part of people;

3) the struggle for political power and for its use, the determination of the forms, means and methods of this struggle, depending on the changing situation;

4) preparation and conduct of election campaigns for the formation of higher and local authorities, nomination of their supporters, organization of control over parliamentary activities;

5) the development of party ideology, the creation and implementation of a political program for the development of society, the conduct of propaganda and the formation of public opinion;

6) political education of society as a whole or part of it;

7) training and promotion of personnel.

Political Party- a voluntary union of people united by the unity of goals and actions in the name of the interests of a certain person, striving to possess political power or to participate in its implementation in the state.

Essence of a political party is the expression and protection of the interests of certain social groups and strata of society. There are three ways to form a political party: the path "from above" involves the formation of a party on the basis of a parliamentary group, a political elite; the path "from below" involves the formation of a party on the basis of social movements or associations of supporters of a particular ideology; combined is the method of emergence, when the counter efforts of elite circles and ordinary citizens are combined.

Unlike social movements and a number of other organizations, political parties are directly related to power. They seek to conquer it or to influence it. Political parties are characterized by the degree of internal organization. Some parties have a fixed membership. The internal life of the party is determined by its charter, the external - by the constitution of the country, which names its rights and obligations in society. Also, the party is distinguished by the presence of a program of action and a certain ideological system of orientation.

The main features of the party are: ideology, system of common values ​​and norms of behavior voluntary, organized association of people; focus on the exercise of political power; expression and protection of political interests of certain social groups; the presence of a definite program of activity of the party; special social status, the desire to have a direct impact on political life, an important role in the conduct of election campaigns; specific position in the state, including connection with parts of the state mechanism, participation in their formation and functioning; a special legal regime, i.e. the constitutional and legal status of the party and the general normative regulation of its activities; social base of the party.

The structure of a political party consists of three levels:

Bloc of voters, the mass base of the party, providing support to the candidates of the party during the election campaigns. Membership in this group is based on commitment, not actual membership;

Official party organization. Party leaders, party bureaucracy, think tank, party ideologists, party archive, ordinary party members. In case of success in the elections, “legislators” and “members of the government” stand out in the party, who become the second leading link of the party;

A party in the system of government, officials in the state apparatus who have received posts by virtue of belonging to the corresponding party, the president, governors, members of parliament, etc.

Types of political parties

Political parties express the interests of different categories of people, strata, groups, classes of society, so there are many of them and they have different programs and goals.

It is customary to classify political parties according to the following criteria:

1) according to the social orientation of programs and activities: social-democratic, liberal-democratic, communist, class, nationalist, racial, fascist, religious, state-patriotic, popular, etc.;

2) on the ideological grounds of activity: doctrinal (focused primarily on the defense of their ideology), pragmatic (focused on the practical expediency of actions) and charismatic (united around a specific political leader);

3) according to the methods of implementing the program: revolutionary (aiming at a radical, qualitative transformation of society) and reformist (aiming at improving public life without fundamental structural changes);

4) by the nature of political actions: reactionary, conservative, moderate, radical, extremist;

5) by representation in the highest bodies of state power and attitude to official politics: ruling and opposition (the latter can be divided into legal, semi-legal and illegal according to their legal status);

6) by place in the political spectrum: left, center and right;

7) according to the style of communication between party leaders and ordinary members: democratic and anti-democratic;

8) by the nature of membership: personnel (characterized by a small number, free membership, organizational friability) and mass (striving to involve as many members as possible in their ranks, strengthen ties, strengthen the structure);

9) by organizational structure: parliamentary (where territorial committees act as primary entities), labor (representing a variety of parliamentary parties that allow collective membership, including labor collectives) and avant-garde (built on the principles of democratic centralism and territorial production association its members), etc.