Political Parties — Meaning, differences between Political Parties and Interest Groups

A farmers' association and a farmers' political party can both march to the same government office demanding the same policy change — and still be doing two completely different things in a democracy. One wants a decision; the other wants to be the one making it. This topic returns to a distinction first sketched in Module 1 and works it out in full detail.

In two minutes

A political party is an organisation that seeks to capture government office by contesting elections on a broad programme covering many issues, while an interest group seeks only to influence whoever holds office on a narrower, specific concern, without itself contesting elections for power.

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Political Science – II: Foundations of Political Obligation on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.