especially important when in opposition and seeking to replace the government
opposition parties are in a fundamentally different position than the governing party
invloves political leaders, civil servants, advisory units, committees and private advisers
backbench MPs, peers, local activists and ordinary members also have a small say
when in opposition the leadership of the party is nit in such a pre-eminent policy-making position
still has most influence but when in opposition is teh point in which the general membership will have most say
membership communicates to the leadership which ideas and demands they would like to see as 'official' policy through conferences/committees at a local, regional and national level
aggregation is a process, undertaken by political parties, of converting policies, demands and ideas into practical policy programmes for government. Involves eliminating contradictions and making compromises
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Representation
in the past many parties have claimed to represent a specific section of society
eg Labour represents teh working class and trade union members
eg Conservative protected interests of landed gentry and aristocracy
though now seek to represent national interests
all groups in society are considered by government
though in reality still prejudice towards certain sections of society due to their core values and ideologies
recent emergence of populist parties
represent people who feel they have been ignored by conventional parties and so aren't represented at all
tend to be defined by what they are opposed to
eg Trump's 'Make America Great Again'
rise of 'issue' parties
represent a particular cause
eg Green parties for the environment
eg Women's Equality Party
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Selecting Candidates
spend a lot of time selecting candidates for office at all levels
local councillors, elected mayors, members of devolved assemblies/parliaments, members of UK Parliament
mainly done at local and regional level through party committees staffed by activists
national lesderhip party has some say but mostly done by local constituency parties
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Identifying Leaders
parties need leaders - for the main parties, potential government ministers
have procedures for identifying political leaders - in which established party leaders play a key role
governing party - PM has complete control over appointing ministers
opposition party - leader chooses a smaller group of 'frontbench' spokespersons who form the leadership (shadow ministers)
came into focus in 2015/16:
Ed Miliband resigned as Labour party leader sfter losing the general election
members voted overwhelmingly for Jeremy Corbyn to replace him - but his ideology was further left than most of his party and so many refused to acknowledge him as a leader
contrast with Conservative Party in 2019 - Theresa May's failure to unify party over Brexit lead to overwhelming support for Boris Johnson by members and MPs and so was appointed as party leader
Liberal Democrats use a systrem that involves Alternative Vote in order to ensure leader is elected with a majority
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Contesting Elections
not only supply candidates but also form part of the process of publicising election issues, persuading people to vote and informing them of about candidates
without party activists and campaigning, electoral turnout would be significantly lower
representatives of parties also are present when vote counting takes place and so ensure contests in elections are fair and honest
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Political Education
continuously involved in the process of informing the people of the political issues of the day, explaining the main areas of conflict and outlining their own solutions to problems
educating people about how the political system itself operates
eg how the Green Party raised awareness of environemental issues
arguably becoming less important:
media and think tanks are taking over in supplying information to the public
rise of internet/social media has marginalised parties
pressure groups also educate the public
present the electorate with choiuces in a coherant way
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Reinforcing Consent
all the main parties support the the political system of the uk - parliamentary democracy
if parties were to challenge the nature of the political system in a fundamental way, it would cause political conflict within society at large
parties that challenge the political system are seen as extremists and only marginal elements in the system
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