Government · Lesson 6

Political parties, party systems & pressure groups

JAMBWAECNECO

What the syllabus asks

JAMB: Political parties and party systems; pressure groups; public opinion; parties and party politics in Nigeria

WAEC: Political parties: definition, organisation, functions, types, party systems (one-party, two-party, multi-party), merits and demerits; pressure groups: definition, types, methods, functions, differences from parties; public opinion: meaning, formation, measurement, importance; mass media

NECO: Political parties: definition, organisation, functions, types, party systems (one-party, two-party, multi-party), merits and demerits; pressure groups: definition, types, methods, functions, differences from parties; public opinion: meaning, formation, measurement, importance; mass media

What you will learn

Define a political party and explain its organisation and functions.
Distinguish types of party and party systems, with merits and demerits.
Explain the constitutional rules on parties in Nigeria and outline party history from the colonial period to the Fourth Republic.
Define pressure groups, explain their types, methods and functions, and distinguish them from parties.
Define public opinion and explain its formation, measurement and importance.
Explain the role of the mass media in politics.

Key points

A party is an organised group seeking to control government through elections; a pressure group seeks only to influence it.
Party functions: aggregation, education, recruitment, forming government, opposition, linkage, unity.
Types: mass/elite; ideological/pragmatic/charismatic; regional; revolutionary/conservative.
Party systems: one-party (unity but no choice), two-party (stable, limited choice), multi-party (wide choice, possible instability).
1999 Constitution ss.221–229: only parties canvass votes; s.222 requirements; s.225 finance; s.225A deregistration; s.227 no party militias.
History: NNDP 1923; NCNC 1944; AG 1951; NPC 1951; Second Republic NPN, UPN, NPP, GNPP, PRP; Third Republic SDP and NRC; Fourth Republic PDP, APP, AD and later others including APC (2013).
Pressure groups: interest, promotional, institutional, anomic, associational, non-associational.
Methods: lobbying, petitions, strikes, demonstrations, media, litigation.
Public opinion: formed by family, school, media, parties, religion, peers, government; measured by elections, referendums, polls, media.
Media: inform, watchdog, agenda-setting; risks of bias and misinformation.

Start here: Meaning and features of political parties

In an election season you see posters, rallies, jingles and campaign buses. Behind them are political parties: the organisations that recruit candidates, write programmes and try to win power.

A political party is an organised association of people who share broadly similar political ideas and aims, and who seek to gain control of government, usually by contesting and winning elections, in order to carry out their programme.

Features (characteristics)

Organised group with officers, offices and rules.
Common ideology or programme (manifesto).
Aim of capturing power: the key feature that distinguishes a party from a pressure group.
Contesting elections through candidates.
Membership, often open to the public; in Nigeria, by law, open to every citizen whatever his origin, sex, religion or ethnic group (s.222).
Party constitution, discipline and leadership.
Funding from dues, levies, donations and sale of forms.
Name, symbol and slogan.

Organisation of a party

Most parties have a national convention (the highest organ, which adopts the constitution and chooses candidates), a national executive committee, and state, local government and ward branches. Key officers include the national chairman, secretary, treasurer, publicity secretary and legal adviser. Section 223 requires periodic democratic election of officers at intervals not exceeding four years, and that the executive committee reflects the federal character of Nigeria.

Worked example 6.1

A group calls itself the "Coastal Peoples Congress", limits membership to people from three southern states, and has its headquarters in Port Harcourt. Can INEC register it?

Membership must be open to every citizen (s.222(b)): breached.
The name must not suggest the party is confined to one part of Nigeria (s.222(e)): breached.
Headquarters must be in the FCT, Abuja (s.222(f)): breached.

No, it fails at least three requirements

Try it yourself. What is the main difference between a party and a pressure group?

Show solution

A party seeks to control government; a pressure group seeks only to influence it.

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Practice questions

1. A political party differs from a pressure group because a party

seeks to control government by contesting elections
only seeks to influence government
has no members
never holds meetings

Show answer

A: seeks to control government by contesting elections
Pressure groups do not field candidates.

2. Which is a function of political parties?

Judicial review
Printing money
Collecting customs duties
Interest aggregation

Show answer

D: Interest aggregation
They combine demands into programmes.

3. A system in which two major parties alternate in power is a

multi-party system
no-party system
two-party system
one-party system

Show answer

C: two-party system
E.g. the USA.

4. A disadvantage of the one-party system is that it

prevents unity
limits the choice of voters
encourages too many parties
causes frequent coalitions

Show answer

B: limits the choice of voters
No real alternative.

5. The first political party in Nigeria was the

NNDP (1923)
NCNC (1944)
AG (1951)
NPC (1951)

Show answer

A: NNDP (1923)
Founded by Herbert Macaulay.

Key words

Political party: An organised group sharing broad aims, seeking to control government through elections.
Party system: The number and pattern of competition of parties in a state.
Manifesto: A party’s published programme of policies offered to voters.
Interest aggregation: Combining many different demands into a coherent programme.
Opposition: Parties not in government that criticise it and offer alternatives.
Cross-carpeting: A legislator leaving his party for another (defection).
Primary election: An election within a party to choose its candidate.
Pressure group: An organised group that seeks to influence government policy without seeking to form the government.
Lobbying: Direct persuasion of officials or legislators by a pressure group.
Strike: A collective withdrawal of labour to press demands.
Public opinion: The aggregate views held by a large part of the public on a public issue.
Opinion poll: A survey of a sample of people to measure public opinion.

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