Do Political Parties Help or Hurt America Essay

Political parties have been in America since the very inception of the country. Political parties were originally designed to give voice to a group of people’s interests. But as the time has passed, the ideas being presented has been growing less about the people and more about the power and the longevity of the party and the people controlling it. The people are not voting for the candidate that they think will represent them the best but for the D or the R that appears on the side of the name. Should this be the main thing we look to when deciding the leaders of our government? The issue that people take with the concept and general structure of the modern day political parties is the reality of its inability to effectively govern with its supporters. The state must not be usurped by side interests or used as a means of dictating unpopular – or even popular – laws. In today’s parliamentary and representative republics, it is the power behind the party, not necessarily the party itself that decides policy. The question is, in today’s capitalistic world, will it be the people or the economic and financial advisers that hold the Party keys? Undoubtedly, it must be the people. However, here we encounter the question of how large a role any particular political party must take within the ideally reconstructed and redefined state. Let’s not forget: the state is but a temporary structure devised and built by Man. It is little more than the regulatory body that encompasses the concept of the political party. As such, it stands to be reformed – or, in certain cases, overhauled – by the parties that reside within it. What the people behind the Party must do, is make sure that their needs and necessary wants be taken up by the Party itself. This is but one aspect of the political party; my concern lies in the eventual – and it would happen eventually – fostering of a broader party â€Å"cult of personality†. Examples of this can be seen from the U. S. to Asia, from Europe to S. America and Africa. When the people begin to support the idealized face of party politics more so than the spirit of the individual, they resign themselves to the dictatorship of the governmental coalition. Instances of these can be seen in America’s dual-party political system, as well as in certain European states. In essence, the Party becomes little more than a modified form of political and social dictatorship. I would argue that while political parties have their place within society, their role and importance should be greatly isolated and/or minimalized. They should be nothing more than mouthpieces for the people who make up their constituency; as a legislative and governing body, their role must be subjected to the democratic will of the people they represent. I would propose a â€Å"Democracy from the bottom up† instead of the more recognized â€Å"Democracy from the top down†. Because living in a government with no freedom, is a fate worse than death!