1.0 WHAT DO YOU UNDERSTAND BY POLITICAL PARTIES?
The meaning of political party according to Ware is “an institution that (a) seeks influence in a state, often by attempting to occupy positions in government, and (b) usually consists of more than a single interest in the society and so to some degree attempts to ‘aggregate interest’”[1].
According to Russell J. Dalton, “Once in government, parties exercise control over the policymaking process. Control of the executive branch and the organization of the legislative branch are decided on the basis of party majorities. The parties’ control is often absolute, as in the parliamentary systems of Europe, where representatives from the same party vote as a bloc”[2].
In Abdul Rashid Moten’s book, there are several important functions of political parties that help to make political system work efficiently and effectively[3]. First, a link between people and government. Without parties, people would stand alone and ignored by government. By working in, or voting for, a party, citizens may influence political decision. Likewise, political parties keep the citizens informed about the decisions taken by the government.
Second is aggregation of interest. Parties struggle to capture power which are strive to form order out of chaos and seek to widen the interests they represent and harmonize these with each other.
Third function is political socialization. Political parties impart political training to the ordinary voters and teach their members how to play the political game such as organize special training programs and conference, learn to speak in public, conduct meeting and so on. These help the members increase their political competence.
Fourth is mobilization of voters. While campaigning for their candidates, parties utilize various means to arouse voter’s interest and induce them to vote on Election Day.
Fifth, political parties are formed to capture political power. Parties, therefore, try their best to win majorities without which they cannot form a government or remain in power.
Lastly is viable opposition. The function of the opposition is to oppose. They criticize the policies and thus act as a check on the arbitrary exercise of power by the party in power.
2.0 COMPARE AND CONTRAST POLITICAL PARTIES AND PRESSURE GROUPS
According to Guy, “a pressure or interest group is any collection of people organized to promote a goal they share or to resist some objective of government of other groups that somehow relates to the political process.
A pressure group is any voluntary organized group of individuals outside the governmental structure which attempts the nomination, appointment of government personnel, government administration and public policies[4].
In Malaysia, there are many active pressure groups such as in human rights like Bar Council Malaysia and Malaysian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM). In Women such as Women's Aid Organisation (WAO) and Sister In Islam. Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement (ABIM) and Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM) are part or pressures group in term of education and socio-cultural rights. Other pressures groups in students' movements like All Malaysia Muslim Undergraduates Movement (GAMIS) and Malaysian Muslim Students National Association (PKPIM) and so on.
Political parties and pressure groups are the same at the outset, but there are many differences between them in term of:
2.1 Goals
The goal of political party is to acquire power through election.
The interest group is concerned with specific programs and issues and is rarely represented in the formal structure of the government. It tries to steer political parties and their elected officials towards certain policies rather than enacting those policies itself. Interest groups often try to win the favor of political parties.
2.2 Nature of Membership
In political parties, their membership is much more than the interest group and want to broad enough support to win an election.
Interest groups generally have a more selective membership. Such as members of students' movements like GAMIS have selected among student only. Besides that, interest groups are narrow. They focus for a specific problem of issue.
2.3 Almost Unlimited Number
The number of political parties must be limited including the length of a ballot.
But there is no functional limit on the number of interest groups and some countries, such as United State offer a particularly fertile environment for their development.
2.4 Influence
The political groups seek to gain influence in parliament through the House of Commons and so put up candidates for elections (whether general elections or by-elections) in the hopes that citizens will vote for them. The more votes they receive, the greater their influence in parliament.
Meanwhile, the pressure groups do not do this but seek to influence the public through their organizations, for example, Shelter deals with the homeless, and Greenpeace is best known for its environmental work. They influence the government from the outside.
3.0 MAIN IDEOLOGY AND MEMBERSHIP OF THE POLITICAL PARTY IN MALAYSIA
Main Political Parties in Malaysia divided into two parties which are component parties of the ruling coalition (National Front/Barisan Nasional) and the opposition parties.
3.1 COMPONENT PARTIES OF THE RULING COALITION
The ideologies of component parties of the ruling coalition are uniting Malaysia from various different religions, cultures and ethnic groups to become a race that is strong, successful and has vision.
The membership of the component parties of the ruling coalition are:
i. United Malays National Organisation (UMNO)
ii. Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)
iii. Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu Sarawak (PBB)
iv. Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP)
v. Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC)
vi. Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) (Malaysian People's Movement Party)
vii. Parti Bangsa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS)
viii. Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) (Sabah United Party)
3.2 OPPOSITION PARTIES
The ideologies of opposition parties are carry the tremendous burden of upholding democracy in the Malaysian government. They make the government the subject of scrutiny and control. They also constructively point to the flaws or ambiguities in bills or policies, and disclose irregularities or suspected graft or corruption, and can articulate genuine communal grievances and apprehensions[5].
Several opposition political parties are still active playing their roles in Malaysian politics, whether inside or outside Parliament. The three major memberships of opposition political parties are:
i. Barisan Alternatif (BA)(The Alternative Front):
ii. Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) (Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party)
iii. Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) (People's Justice Party)
REFERENCES
1. Ware, Alan.Political Parties and Party Systems ( New York: Oxford university press Inc.,1996).
2. Dalton, Russell J, Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties in advanced Industrial Democracies(New Jersey: Chatham House Publishers,Inc. 1996 )144.
3. Abdul Rashid Moten and Syed Serajul Islam, Introduction to Political Science 2E(Singapore: Thomson Learning,2006)271-273.
4. Muhamad Fuzi Omar, Strategies and Tactics of Mobilisation: Opposition Political Parties in Malaysia, 1982-2003(IIUM), june 2007,18.
5. http://wiki.answers.com. 27 May 2010
6. http://www.aliran.com/oldsite/more.html. 28 May2010
7. http://www.pilihanraya.com.my/english/barisan_national.asp. 31 May 2010.
[1] Ware, Alan.Political Parties and Party Systems ( New York: Oxford university press Inc.,1996)5.
[2] Dalton, Russell J, Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties in advanced Industrial Democracies(New Jersey: Chatham House Publishers,Inc. 1996 )144.
[3] Abdul Rashid Moten and Syed Serajul Islam, Introduction to Political Science 2E(Singapore: Thomson Learning,2006)271-273.
[4] Abdul Rashid Moten and Syed Serajul Islam, Introduction to Political Science 2E(Singapore: Thomson Learning,2006)285.
[5] Muhamad Fuzi Omar, Strategies and Tactics of Mobilisation: Opposition Political Parties in Malaysia, 1982-2003(IIUM), june 2007,18.
Posted by: nurul fatihah rosely
student of political science
sem 3, 2009/2010
International Islamic university malaysia(IIUM)
