Contents

Introduction 6

1. Parties and Party Systems 10

1.1. What is a political party? 11

1.2. Criteria to identify political parties 12

1.3. Why do parties exist? 14

1.4. Functions of political parties 16

1.5. Political party systems 18

1.6. Typologies of political parties 20

1.7. Parties and ideologies 24

2. Modern Political Party Management 26

2.1. Organisation and membership 27

2.2. The members of a political party 33

2.3. Recruitment of new members 35

2.4. Education and training of the party members 37

2.5. Political party programmes 40

2.6. Internal and external communication 41

2.7. Intra-party democracy 48

2.8. Inner party conflicts and conflict resolution 51

2.9. Quota for women and minorities 53

2.10. Party financing 55

3. Political Parties and their Relation with Civil Society and Interest Groups 60

3.1. Parties and civil society 62

3.2. Parties and associations 64

4. Political Parties in Parliament and Government 68

4.1. Parliamentary groups (factions) 70

5. Political Leadership 72

5.1. The dilemma of political leadership 76

5.2. Lessons of political leaders 77

6. Challenges for Political Parties in Democratic Regimes 80

6.1. Political parties and social change 81

6.2. Criteria for sustainable and successful party work 87

7. Conclusion: There is No Democracy without Political Parties 90

8. Notes and References