In large parts of the world there are serious problems with political parties. In many cases, parties are unable to fulfill the functions and roles that they play in politics. In many countries political parties also face widespread doubt and distrust from the citizens. According to Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer, political parties and parliaments are the often seen to be the most corrupt institutions. Some of the biggest problems with political parties include:
Clientelism
Clientelist politics (politics based on informal power networks of friends, allies and family) make the role of “opposition” parties substantially different from their role in established liberal democracies. Every politician has to deliver something tangible to his/her constituency in return for their support, but when opposition parties and politicians have so little access to the spoils of power, the opposition cannot deliver and its legitimacy rarely reaches beyond the social standing and the financial capacity of the party president.
Private Interest and Lack of Social Basis
Another factor working against political parties in many developing countries is that there is a weak social basis for political parties, and few organic links between parties and civil society. A weak civil society and a lack of interest organisations also lead to structural weaknesses in political parties.
People may be unfamiliar with formal interest organisations, and there may be no organisations to support, correct and voice demands on political parties. There may be few or no collaborative relationships between the parties and secondary organisations such as unions, business associations and churches.
The lack of a solid social basis is partly due to or advanced by electoral procedures and regulations. A high threshold for representation, low thresholds for “independent” candidates and plural voting systems will, for instance, encourage individual candidates to the detriment of party organisations. But the lack of a solid social base can also be the choice of the political parties themselves. Party leaders may prefer to represent “all people” in the form of catch-all parties, rather than specific interest groups.
Lack of Organisation and Internal Democracy
Some parties are weak in terms of organisational structure. Many have few members and few geographical sub-units or functional organisations (e.g. youth or women’s wings), and have developed little formal procedures or rules or regulations. There have been examples of political parties that exist in the public sphere only at election time but disappear after the ballot.
Weak party organisations may mean that parties have no or incoherent political programmes and flawed or limited reporting on revenues and spending. They also tend to exhibit poor strategic planning and ad hoc decision-making.
Internal democracy can also be a problem for many political parties, especially new parties and parties established to promote the candidacy of particular individuals. Membership may be closed, transparency may be lacking, and the recruitment of leaders may be arbitrary. Parties may have no internal mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of disputes and conflicts, no internal regulations for debate, elections and leader selection, and no rotation or time limitation of leadership positions.
Some political parties may use “us versus them” rhetoric and mobilise ethnic and religious hatred. Ethnicity is a particularly easy source of clientelist capture in many countries. There are also examples of parties that have instigated violence.
Corruption and Embezzlement
When regular, legal and sustainable financial contributions are lacking, political parties tend to seek income from illegal sources. To varying degrees, political parties take money from private businesses striving for political favours and/or public contracts, and from political entrepreneurs seeking government positions. Political parties are sometimes the mediator of corrupt transactions between government ministries and private companies, and sometimes parties take the initiative and very active in fraud, embezzlement and the misuse of government funds.
Among the forms of corruption that political parties may be involved in, there have been more or less voluntary contributions and “protection money” from companies and private individuals, the selling of parliamentary seats and government appointments, decorations and titles of nobility, and the trading of inside information. There have also been financial regulations disobeyed, disclosure requirements violated, parliamentary votes bartered, elections rigged and election officials bribed.
Political parties have even engaged in organised crime, for instance smuggling and drug trafficking.
Last but not least, political parties have also resorted to buying votes with hard cash and various gifts. Thus, when political finance regulations are weak and not respected, political parties can actually be one of the main drivers of political corruption. Clientelist parties are particularly prone to corruption, because they are based on interpersonal relationships and an exchange of favours. And ruling parties can be corrupt because they have more to sell (through their access to government resources) and more to defend (their access to government resources).
Weak Funding Basis
An unproductive national economy and poverty are factors underlying the weakness of political parties in parts of the world. The income basis for a political party in many developing countries largely depends on it being in power or not. Ruling parties and their coalition partners will have access to state funds of various kinds that are on or cross the line of legality, such as state media coverage of their activities and campaigns, government meeting facilities and favours, travel and accommodation. Ruling parties are often funded by patron-client networks and (their) businesses.
Opposition parties often have to rely on the party president’s private funds. To varying degrees they also take contributions from their own, but these funds are usually very limited. The question of whether opposition parties are at all economically viable and sustainable while out of government is therefore a crucial one in many developing countries and new democracies (Amundsen 2007:2-4).