What are Political Parties?

In this video we look at the role and functions of political parties in a multiparty system of democratic government. The video is part of the Civics Academy Election Series for Zimbabwe. Check out our videos on A political party can be described as an organised group of people who share similar ideas and values about how a country should be governed. They provide vehicles for citizens to come together to campaign for public office, and to express their interests, needs and aspirations for their society. Political parties are found in all representative democracies. Although some countries that are not democracies do have political parties, there are no democracies without political parties. The purpose of most political parties is to win an election, hold political power and form a government until the next election. However, small parties that are unlikely to win an election tend to use elections to gain seats in Parliament to influence public policy.