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Emerging democracies are countries that experience a peaceful transition to democratic rule despite a history of authoritarianism or civil conflict. Political parties in emerging democracies are difficult to classify as unitary entities since emerging democracies often have little in common due to differences in their geography, history, culture, religion, previous regimes, and transition process to democracy. Even when their party systems have common traces, the parties are often quite different. Nonetheless, these countries have some interestingly similar common ground. When facing the democratic transition, most political parties in emerging democracies form around a few leaders, unions, associations, or even clandestine terrorist organizations. Some of these organizations become so strong as political parties that they are able to elect the majority of congress members—as it happened to Hamas in Palestine—and even presidents—such as Lech Walesa in Poland and Luis Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil. In Brazil, President Lula’s party, the Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers Party), was one of the first political parties to emerge from the country’s transition to democracy in 1979. The party was formed from workers’ unions, student organizations, and small underground political groups and organizations.

In most emerging democracies, people are not easily drawn to political parties due to religious reasons that drive women and other minorities out of the political process; cultural barriers that prevent people from believing that their participation in the political process matters; a lack of confidence in the new regime, based on previous unstable political and economical governments; a focus on alleviating immediate basic needs over long-term economic development; and a feeling that those currently in power are not in any manner different from those parties and groups that ruled in the former regimes.

Some emerging democracies had political parties during their dictatorial or nondemocratic periods. Some countries had only one party, while others had two or more parties that alternated in power. An important characteristic of these parties was that they did not oppose the regime in power to any significant extent. The reluctance of some in emerging democracies to see politicians and political parties as a break from previous regimes can be significant. In some emerging democracies there simply were not ruptures between old and new politics. The scenario depicted so far has as a major consequence a communication gap between political parties and society. Because of communication gaps between political parties and the population generally, some emerging democracies’ political parties cannot perform classical functions, such as articulation of interests and representation. That happens because these parties are linked to personalities or charismatic leaders instead of driving their programs to the needs or interests of the people. In this sense, parties have a political program or agenda, but few really implement it when they are in power. This fact shows that there are still ideological issues that have to be controlled when dealing with political parties from emerging democracies.

There is a belief among international organizations that deal with democracy strengthening that emerging democracies are better off with a small number of political parties so that the system can be efficient to aggregate interest in society and bring those interests to the legislature. Yet one finds that most emerging democracies do not follow this model. In Africa some emerging democracies have only one political party, like Mozambique, or two, like Namibia; in Asia some have many parties, but one or two keep power for successive long terms, both in the legislature and in the executive offices; in eastern and central Europe an abundance of parties exists, and the same coalition is almost permanent; and in the Middle East the political parties are formed and disappear frequently. In Latin America, with minor exceptions (Venezuela, e.g.), there are multiparty systems without a majority political party in the legislature. In this case, the president’s party does not have the majority in the congress, so the president has to rely on a governmental coalition formed with many parties with different ideologies and perspectives. When this happens, it creates a situation of instability in the political system since the coalition is built over political interests, not common ideological grounds. Despite all the political problems and inconsistencies that might occur with political parties in emerging democracies, their presence is extremely important to consolidate democracy in their countries.

Bibliography:

Boix, Carles, and Susan Carol Stokes. The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Burnell, Peter. Globalising Democracy: Party Politics in Emerging Democracies. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2006.
King, Mary. The New York Times on Emerging Democracies. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2009.
Van Biezen, Ingrid. Political Parties in New Democracies. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.