1、5. Interest Aggregation and Political Parties. Lecture10Introduction Interest Aggregation- activity in which the political demands of individuals and groups are combined into policy programs. For example, farmers desires for higher crop prices, public preferences for lower taxes, environmentalists d
2、emands for natural resource quality, and the interests of businesses often have to be balanced together in determining an economic policy program. A specific program becomes politically significant when it is hacked up by substantial political resources, such as popular votes, seats in the legislatu
3、re, positions of executive, influence of media access ,or even armed force, How interests are aggregated is a key feature of the political process. The nature of the aggregation process inevitably has major implications for which interests are heard, and what individuals and groups are allowed to pa
4、rticipate in the process. Interest aggregation also helps create a balanced government program, as competing policy goals must be compromised to produce a single governing program. The pattern of interest aggregation ,also is linked to the stability of governments and their ability to function and a
5、dapt. Interest aggregation can occur in many ways. If an influential party leader or military dictator controls substantial political resources, his or her personal impact on interest aggregation may be considerable. Large nations usually develop more specialized organizations for aggregating intere
6、sts and resources behind a policy. Political parties are just such organizations. Political parties are important in interest aggregation in democratic and in many nondemocratic systems. Each party (or its candidates) stands for a set of policies and tries to build a coalition of support for this pr
7、ogram. In a democratic system two or more parties compete to gain support for their alternative policy programs. In authoritarian systems a single party or institution may try to mobilize citizens support for its policies. In both systems interest aggregation may take place within a political party;
8、 for example, party leaders hear the demands of different groups-unions, consumers, party factions, business organizations-and create policy alternatives. In authoritarian systems the process is frequently covert and controlled, and interests are often mobilized to support the government, rather tha
9、n the government responding to public interests. The structural-functional approach highlights the point that political parties may perform many different functions and that different structures may perform the interest aggregation function, For instance, in addition to aggregating interests, partie
10、s frequently shape the political culture as they organize thought about political issues and strive to build support for their ideologies, issue positions, and candidates. Parties are involved in political recruitment as they mobilize voters and select would-be officeholders. They articulate interes
11、ts of their own and transmit the demands of others. Governing parties are also involved in making public policy and even overseeing its implementation and adjudication. The distinctive and defining goal of a political party, its mobilization of support for policies and candidates, is especially related to interest aggregation. In this chapter we compare the role of parties to other structures in interest aggregation.
