Perspectives on Parties in France

Abstract

Political parties in democratic systems can be viewed in five different ways. First, a party is a player in a competitive game with at least one other party (single-party regimes are not democracies). Parties set out to influence the exercise of state power, usually (though not invariably) by presenting candidates for election with a view to winning and holding government office. This competitive game is played within institutional rules, such as the electoral system and the distribution of power between parliament and the executive. However, because the number of players may be more than two, an individual party may need not only to fight against opponents but also to negotiate with and compete alongside allies: electoral competitors may become necessary parliamentary partners. The configuration of parties within a particular state — the number of parties, and their relationships with one another, with the voters, and with the state — is called a party system.