Relations Between Democracy and Parties

Abstract

A variety of relationships between parties and democracy is summarized on the basis of political philosophy and political science literature. It is found that parties: (1) are not explicitly mentioned in relation to democracy, (2) are positioned at various points in time in relation to democracy (with a lack of clarity as to which comes first); (3) play positive roles in relation to democracy; (4) play negative roles in relation to democracy; (5) play ambiguous roles in relation to democracy; and (6) are redundant (that is, democracy exists without parties). Many factors affecting democracy, besides political parties, are presented.