Posted by Chester Morton / Thursday 24 November 2016 / No comments
The features of an elite party
Definition of a Political Party
A Political Party can be described as a group of people with the same aim and ideology whose main goal is to capture political power so that they can implement the contents of their manifesto. A party could be either classified as an elite party or can also be called a mass party.
Restricted membership
One of the features of an elite party is that its membership is limited to only a certain category of people. This type of party has as its members, people of the upper class in society, businessmen, professionals like lawyers and doctors and people in academia.
Financed by a few
Another feature of an elite party is that it is financed by only a few rich people. These are Godfathers of the party and most of the time, call the shots from behind. In recent times, elite parties have used other sources but the main sources of finance are the few.
Works for the interest of the few
The elite parties work only for interest of a few of the people; they do not care much about the interest of the large majority of the people. They operate on the principle that once the few are catered for, it would trickle down to the masses.
Wealth, education and status is key
One other feature of an elite party is that they consider closely the wealth, educational level and status of members. To have enough clout in an elite party, you must be wealthy, highly educated or must be the son or daughter of another member with that clout.
Decision making
An elite party does not believe in decision making by the broad masses of people. They believe that decisions must be taken by a few people within the party on behalf of the other members.
SAMPLE QUESTION(S)
1. a. What is an elite party? [2 marks]
b. Highlight five features of an elite party. [10 marks]
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The features of a mass party
