Function of Political Party(3)

Roles & Functions

Representation – Of their membership and of society as a whole
Recruitment – Parties providing people to be MPs and frontbenchers
Participation – By joining a political party people are becoming actively involved in Politics
Governing – By winning a general election a party will provide the country with leadership
Policy Formulation – A party’s ideas, through its’ manifesto, will be put into operation
Electoral Function – Parties put forward and support candidates at election time

Reasons for the decline:

Rise in popularity of pressure groups have taken members
Pressure group objectives are achievable whereas political parties have wide ranging issues to cover
Sleaze and MPs expenses over the past 10 years has created an aura of mistrust about the political process
There is a feeling that being a member of a political party will not achieve anything.