Explain the characteristics of dominant party system in India
Answers
Some characteristics of the dominant party system in India are:
1. There are a number of political parties but the ruling party plays a dominant role. For example, for two decades after independence the Indian National Congress was the single dominant party. It occupied the central space in politics because of its immense organizational strength and its capability to get a large number of seats in the Parliament and the state legislatures.
2. There is competition between the ruling party and the opposition parties but they could not effectively challenge the dominant position of the ruling party. In such a situation dominance coexists with competition but there is no trace of alteration.
3. The opposition parties acted as parties of pressure. They could not challenge the dominant position of the ruling party and could not provide an alternative to the ruling party. So their role was limited to that of pressurizing and criticizing the ruling party.
4. The Congress party could maintain its position of dominance because it represented divergent social groups and interests. It could curb the role and relevance of the opposition through of its accommodative and adaptive politics.
5. There were a number of factions in the Congress. Some of them were relatively more dominant than the others. They played an important role in decision making. Some factions were ideologically closer to the opposition parties. So there was a continuity between the politics of the Congress and the opposition parties. This enabled the opposition parties to put pressure on the ruling party and influence its decision making.
6. The party system worked on the basis of a consensual model. There was a broad consensus about the political values between the political actors irrespective of the fact that they belonged to the ruling party or the opposition.
The strength of the Congress as the decision party did not mean nonappearance of rivalry. The various parties in resistance gave rivalry.
Because of their failure to give a contrasting option to the decision party or even to challenge its position of strength, the opposition parties did not assume the conventional part of the opposition.
One of the vital highlights of the Congress party that helped it to maintain its position of predominance was its ability to speak to dissimilar social gatherings and interests.
Being a plural party speaking to different interests and belief systems, the Congress had various groups.