PRELIMINARY CONCEPTS ON POLITICAL DYNAMICS

(Political Parties, Interest Groups & Elections)

Prepared by: Emmanuel Jimenez Bacud, CSE-Prof, BA, MA Political Science I
The Graduate School, University of the Cordilleras
Political Dynamics: is a branch of political science that deals with the external forces that affect the formal procedures of the
state and its government.
Gabriel Almond identified four major political groups:
A.) Association Groups: organized group that are constituted specifically to be representative for a political or interest of
their members
B.) Institutional Groups: these are often subordinate within the institution such as business enterprise, diverse sector
groups and professional groups.
C.) Non-association groups: slightly organized groups (groups that are formed on the basis of necessity)
D.) Disoriented groups- these are socially unorganized individuals who act in often violent-manner
*In addition: Communal groups (*as proposed by Heywood): this includes family, peer groups, etc.
POLITICAL PARTY
-According to Nebres (2007), Political party is a group of persons uniting to pursue
common goals, specifically including the election of members to public office.

-According to Zulueta (2011), A political party is the voluntary association of individuals who
advocate certain principles or policies as superior to all others for the general conduct of
political or government affairs. According to Casambre (2017), political parties constitute a vital
part of elections in representative governments.
-According to Heywood (2013), A political party is a group of people that is organized for the
purpose of winning the government power.
Characteristics of a Political Party:
1.) It aim to exercise government power by winning a political office in the state
2.) It is an organized body with a formal card-carrying membership
3.) It typically adopt a broad issue focus, addressing each of the major areas of
government policies (they usually provide a GRAND PLATFORM as its party
advocacy).
4.) It is united (compacted) by shared political preferences and a general political identity.
BASIC ELEMENT OF POLITICAL PARTY: (One of the ff
1.) Caucus: assemblies of limited number of semi-corped entry not drawn from large
geographic areas
2.) Branch: sectoral compositions
3.) Cell: comprised of small number of dedicated partisans
4.) Militia: rebel groups (insurgent groups)

INTEREST GROUP
-According to Nebres (2007), An
interest group is an organization
whose primary objective is to
exert influence upon the
operations of government by
winning support from
fundamentally important persons
in the government to act
consistent with the groups
interest
-According to Zulueta (2011),
Interest groups/pressure groups
is to affect the operation of
government by persuading key
persons in government to act
in accordance with the groups
interest.
-According to Heywood (2013),
An interest group is an organized
association that aims to
influence the policies or
actions of the government.
Characteristics of an Interest
Groups:
1.) It seek to exert influence
from the outside domain
of governmental
functions.
2.) It has typically a narrow
issue focus in that they
are usually concerned
with a specific cause or

FUNCTIONS OF POLITICAL PARTY

CLASSIFICATION OF PARTY SYSTEM AROUND THE WORLD:

1.) One-Party System: authoritarian principle is highly manifested (China, North Korea,
Saudi Arabia)
2.) Two-Party System: two competitive parties of same force within the state (USA)
*Duvergers Law (Maurice Duverger): the simple-majority single-ballot system
favours the two-party system
*Samuel Huntington: The institutionalization of political parties and a two-party
system is the crucial ingredient for developing societies to achieve political order
rather than political decay.
IN USA: Electoral College (Electoral Votes) = 538 votes
3.) Multiparty System: most elaborative and systemic of all
(Philippines and European Countries)
-In the Philippines, different political parties such as Liberal Party, Nacionalista
Party, LAKAS-CMD, and party-list groups such as BAYAN MUNA, ACT and
GABRIELA are actively participating the Philippine regular elections.
PHILIPPINE PARTY ORGANIZATION:
(As observed in PDP-Laban and Liberal Parties)
1.) The Party President- topmost executive and spokesperson of the party.
Current Situation (as of 2016)
LIBERAL: Maria Leonor Robredo (Titular Head)
Francis Pangilinan (President)
Franklin Drilon
(Chairman)
PDP: Aquilino Koko Pimentel III (President of the party)
Rodrigo Duterte- (Chairman of the Party)

the interests of a
particular group.
3.) It has narrower
ideological features.
CLASSIFICATION OF
INTEREST GROUPS
ACCORDING TO GOALS:
1.) Particular interest
groups- these make an
effort solely for the
interests of its own
members or group.
2.) General interest groupsthese groups content on
the general interests of
the society (two or more
issues at the same time)
rather than the common
interests of the members
within the group.
*In perspective,
Mancur Olsons The Logic of
Collective Action: Public Groups
and Theory of Groups (1974), he
argued that people join interest
groups only to secure public
goods (as governed by publicchoice theory as an attack to
formal bureaucracies)
METHODS OF
INTEREST GROUPS IN
INFLUENCING THE
POLICY-MAKING
PROCESS:
1.) LOBBYING- an act
of persuading
legislators to
formulate laws that
are favorable to
their clients.
2.) PRESSURE FACTan effort to bring
influence to affect
the legislators by
developing wellestablished facts
(through
investigative study
or researches).

2.) The Central Committee/ Junta: a little organization that directed to work in
behalf of the national directorate and national convention
3.) National Directorate: composed of partys president, the regional vicepresidents, the secretary-general, and the party treasurer
4.) National Party Convention: the top organizational authority in the party
STATUS QUO:
The Philippine Senate: Liberal party senators dominate the senate
House of Representatives: PDP-Laban dominate the lower house (297 seats; 238=
geographical districts and 59=party-list representatives
NOTE: The difference of party-systems in different countries are: 1.) historical background; 2.)
political experience; 3.) geographical location; 4.) difference in social and economic interests;
5.) political differences over certain issues and 6.) factionalism
On factionalism: *As of 2010, A. Rahmani in his study Determinants of State
Legitimacy: An Empirical Study of 177 Countries posits that the de-legitimization of state
can be greatly caused by fractionalization of elite within the state, violation of human rights and
existence of state within a state (anti-state entity).
MAJOR FUNCTIONS OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN A DEMOCRATIC STATE:
1.) Selection of candidates for election
2.) Selection of campaign issues/ Setting up the party propaganda to gather the interest
of the common people
3.) Organization of political machine
4.) Providing the political leadership for the country
5.) Acting as a fiscalizer of the political party in power
6.) Managing government affairs
7.) Providing alternative approach and a powerful drive toward modernization in newlyemergent countries.
*APPLICATION OF THESE TWO INTERDEPENDENT CONCEPTS IN GOVERNANCE
THE PRACTICE OF COPORATISM
Corporatism is a means of incorporating organized interests into the process of government.
TWO FACES OF CORPORATISM:
1.) State Corporatism/ Authoritarian Corporatism: is an ideology of economic form closely associated with Italian Fascism. It
was characterized by political intimidation of the industry and the destruction of independent trade unions.
2.) Liberal Corporatism/ Societal Corporatism/ Neocorporatism: observed in mature liberal economies for organized groups to
be granted privileges and institutional access to the process of policy formulation.
*Tripartism: a process that refers to the construction of bodies that represent government, business and unions and
designed to institutionalize group consultation.
References:
Casambre, Athena Lydia (2017). The Discipline of Political Science: From Everyday Narratives to Analysis. Anvil Publishing
Heywood, Andrew. (2013).Politics. 4th edition. Palgrave MacMillan, Hampshire, UK
Nebres, Ariel. (2007). Political Science Made Simple. National Bookstore, Mandaluyong City
Zulueta, Francsico. (2011). Introduction to Political Science. National Bookstore, Mandaluyong City