THEME 12. POLITICAL PARTIES AND PARTY SYSTEMS

More 150 years ago the French thinker And дe Tokvil (1805-1859) has noticed that «in the democratic countries ability to create association - a fundamental principle of public life; progress of all its other parties depends on progress in this area». The scientist underlined an urgency of creation of the branched out universal mechanism of interrelation of the state and a civil society. However this mechanism is not only the intermediary in mutual relations of the power and a society, but also a control device behind the state from a civil society. Presence of such mechanism testifies to a maturity of a civil society, its ability to self-organising. Thanks to creation of various associations, parties, clubs, the social movements, called to reflect steady groups of interests, the information on their presence is possible to imperious institutes which search for ways of the coordination of diverse requirements and by that provide stability and society progress as a whole.

Really, on a political scene various political forces operate. One of them operate openly, carrying out various political actions. Them name real. These are parties, clubs, social movements, mass media, church, trade unions. Others prefer the latent forms of realisation of group interests. Them name latent (hidden). Lobbies concern them (from English lobby - a lobby: groups of pressure upon deputies of parliament - from criminal, direct by means of payoff to legal, on the basis of the law), interested groups which in exchange for privileges given from the state guarantee assistance to the state interests, клиентелы (associations of adherents round visible politicians).

Among the real political forces openly operating on a political scene, the most influential are parties.From the point of view of representation and expression of group and individual interests political parties represent itself as the main elements of a civil society. It is difficult to imagine a society, its political system without interaction of parties and party groupings. Hence, political forces, arising in a civil society, expressing and representing interests of its groups, are a link between the state and a civil society.

Fig. 12.1. A place of political forces in structure of mutual relations «the state - a society»