Introduction: The Challenges facing liberal democracy and Political Parties at the Beginning of the 21st Century

Extract

Political parties are one of the most important inventions of the modern world. We may not regard them as we regard electricity, television, or aeroplanes, yet they are just as much as part of our life. If parties did not exist, what would elections be like? How would parliaments conduct their business? How would we choose politicians? In short, how would we organize politics? It might be felt that we can live without parties, indeed some countries do not have them so far, but all 'advanced' modern countries have them.