Question

Some countries have a larger number of viable political parties than others. What are three reasons political scientists have given for this variation?

Answer 1

Advantages of having larger political parties.

Political parties encourage public participation.

Political parties, when structured within a representative form of government, encourage the average person to be politically active. They ask for people to become informed about specific situations that are happening within society so they can take a stand on those issues. Debates allow for people to express opinions or share ideas to formulate an informed opinion. Many political parties will even encourage members to run for political office at all levels of government. Example India has large number of political parties. People of India have a wide pool to choose the right party after seeing it's contribution towards the country.

Political parties create checks and balances.

In the systems of government with multiple major political parties, negotiations over power and leadership are required to form a majority government. The goal of forming political parties is to create a system of checks and balances to prevent one person or one group from grabbing too much power in representative governments. Example The opposition plays a constructive role by keeping a check on the decisions and actions taken by ruling party, thus forcing the ruling party to behave responsibly and in the best interests of nation.

Political parties distribute information throughout society.

In many elections, political parties are a primary source of information for current and future legislations. It’s the once chance for the general population to work with politicians to begin crafting a vision for the future. Although the voters must continue to press their politicians to stay true to their word in a representative form of government, they have access through the political party to do so.