Coalition Government and Politics in Odisha 2000 2009

Abstract

Political parties are indispensible for the functioning and sustenance of large newlinedemocracies. They are known to be perfect barometer for measuring the quality of a newlinepolitical system. It is due to their vital role in polity that Duverger has described them as one of the major developments of the 20th century. A political party normally grows newlinein a polity irrespective of the political alliances. Some parties, however, evolve out of newlinethe political alliances after their institutionalization over a period of time. newlinePolitical party is a miniature society or a replica of the polity. The reality of party newlinehas been in vogue since the dawn of human history although to call it party as such newlineis the incident of much later period. Different political thinkers have defined political newlineparty in different manner. According to Oxford English Dictionary, a party implies a newlinenumber of persons united in maintaining a cause, policy or opinion etc. in opposition newlineto others who maintain a different view. Dmund Burke defines as a body of men newlineunited for promoting by their joint endeavours the national interest upon some newlineparticular principles in which they all are agreed. Max Weber definition is based on newlinerealistic assessment of power politics and is widely acknowledged while defines as newlinethe term party will be employed to designate an associative type of social newlinerelationship, membership in which rests on formally free recruitment the end is to newlinesecure power . for the material advantage of its members. newlineThe organizational structure and functioning of a political party is greatly newlineinfluenced by institutional framework in which it operates. A political system can have newlinea number of political parties operating within it. They interact and compete with each newlineother and form their strategies in a specific manner. The party system, therefore, newlineimplies the forms and modes of the coexistence of political parties . It is due to this newlinereason that party system of a particular country is characterized as a bi-party system