- REPRESENTATION
- Traditionally, parties were said to represent the views of their members.
- This was certainly true in an age of mass-membership parties, when parties and voters were clearly divided along class lines.
- Partisan and class de-alignment, accompanied by the rise of centrist ‘catch-all’ parties, can be said to have undermined this primary role.
- Increased role of members.
- PARTICIPATION
- By making citizens aware of the issues of the day, parties perform an educative function that encourages political engagement.
- Parties further promote participation by encouraging citizens to engage with the democratic process and giving them the opp to exercise power within their party.
- The quality of participation afforded to members is shaped largely by the extent to which political parties are themselves internally democratic.
- PROVIDE STABLE GOV
- Without parties, the Commons would simply be a gathering of individuals, driven by their personal goals and political ambitions.
- Parties present the voters with a clear choice, while also providing order following the general election.
By allowing a single party to form a government and secure the safe passage of its legislative proposals through the Commons.