Q-9 | Paper 2

 Qn 9. How does functioning of interest groups differ from political parties? Discuss with appropriate examples. (2008/II/Q.2/60m)

Answer: Interest groups and political parties are political actors. Both are organisations with respectively typical natures, agendas, structures, functioning methods and target areas.

Interest groups are organisations seeking to advance a particular interest, concern or cause, while not actively seeking to form a government or part thereof. They are actors of groups politics. They usually rely on a variety of campaigning and lobbying methods to exert influence on government action (e.g. policies). They constitute one of the major linkages between government and the governed, in modern societies.

Political parties, on the other hand, ****are groups of people that are organised for the purpose of winning power, by electoral or other means. Characteristics include pursuance of political office, membership system, broad issue focus, shared political preferences and/or common ideological identities.

Interest groups differ from political parties in the following ways:

1. Interest groups seek to exert influence from the outside, rather than win or exercise government power, which remains the primary motive of political parties.
2. Interest groups typically have a narrow group focus – in that they are usually concerned with a specific cause or the interests of a particular group. Political parties typically have a broader focus, and sometimes strive to be (or at least appear) inclusive.
3. nterest groups seldom have the broader programmes or ideological features that are generally associated with political parties.
4. Techniques employed by interest groups are lobbying, strikes, protests, bandhs, gheraos etc. Those adopted by political parties are political socialisation, reaching out to masses, influencing public opinion, debating legislations etc.

Examples of interest groups can be scrutinised as per its main types – viz., communal groups, institutional groups and associational groups.

1. Communal groups are embedded in the community or social factors, i.e. membership is based on birth, not recruitment e.g. families, tribes, castes and ethnic groups.
2. Institutional groups are part of the machinery of government. e.g. bureaucracies and militaries.
3. Associational groups are formed by people coming together to pursue shared but limited goals, usually in industrial societies. e.g. gender rights groups, trade unions, environmental groups, animal welfare groups etc.

Examples of political parties can be correlated to it classifications – viz., cadre and mass parties; representative and integrative parties (Sigmund Neumann); constitutional and revolutionary parties; and left wing and right-wing parties.

1. Cadre parties denote those parties with trained, professional and committed party members, relying on politically active elite and/or ideological leaders. e.g. Chinese Communist Party, Communist Party of Soviet Union, Nazi Party of Germany, Fascist Party of Italy etc. Mass parties are those which emphasise on broadening membership and constructing a wide electoral base. Stress is on recruitment and organisation, rather than on political conviction and ideology. e.g. European socialist parties (such as German Social Democratic Party and UK Labour Party).
2. Representative parties primarily seek votes in elections – attempting to reflect, rather than shape, public opinion and preferring pragmatism over principles - adopting ‘catch-all’ strategies. Otto Kircheimer terms most modern political parties as ‘ catch all’ parties – those which reduce ideological baggage to appeal to maximum voters. e.g. Republicans and Democrats of US, German Social Democrats, UK Labour parties, Christian Democratic Union in Germany and so on.
3. Integrative parties are those which adopt proactive rather than reactive political strategies – wishing to mobilise educate and inspire the masses. e.g. Ideologically-disciplined cadre parties and mass parties such as some socialist parties, UK Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher et al.
4. Constitutional parties, acknowledging the rights and entitlements of other parties, operate within a framework of rules and constraints. They acknowledge and respect rules of electoral competition e.g. mainstream parties in liberal democracies.
5. Revolutionary parties are anti-system and anti- constitutional, either on the left or right and suppress rivals. e.g. quasi-legal Nazi and Fascist parties, parties indulging in outright insurrection and popular revolution, many parties which are declared by governments as ‘extremist’ or ‘anti-democratic’.
6. Left-wing parties are characterised by a commitment to change such as to social reform or economic transformation. Their supporters are poor and disadvantaged. e.g. progressive, socialist and communist parties.
7. Right-wing parties are those which uphold existing social order (status-quoists), i.e. support continuity. Their supporters include business- and middle classes. e.g. conservative and fascist parties.

Conclusion: Interest groups and political parties are both important linkages between the government and the governed. They have partially distinct and partially overlapping functions regarding membership organisation, goal formulation, interest articulation and social mobilisation. They play crucial roles in social, political and economic spheres.