A faction is an association of representatives of one party in parliament. The main role in the political life of any democratic and even authoritarian country is played by political parties. They seek to gain power in the executive bodies by attracting as many voters as possible to their side.
The goal is to obtain the majority of seats in parliament, and, consequently, to create the most powerful parliamentary faction that could implement the party program and the will of voters. The study and systematization of knowledge about the activities of such a political entity as a faction is political science, and political scientists are trying to highlight the theoretical elements within the framework of developing domestic relations.
What is a fraction?
The parliamentary faction is the politicians elected to the main executive body of the country. A political party that has managed to gain seats in the executive branch, that is, has one or more deputy mandates, forms a parliamentary faction.
In the countries of Western Europe, the practice of relatively independent fractions has developed. The party, which is represented by deputies, has incomplete control over their actions and decisions. Deputies are also guided by the aspirations and wishes of their direct voters, to whom they subsequently report and bear responsibility. In Europe and America, a traditional political system has developed with well-known players in the arena. The constant rivalry and competition between parties and factions does not give a permanent advantage to any of them. In some countries, factions constantly create coalitions to form a cabinet. The need to take into account each other's interests, as well as adhere to one's own election promises imposes a large number of restrictions on freedom of action in decision-making.
Origin history
The parliamentary faction is a relatively new phenomenon in the political life of states. In the modern sense, they appeared no more than 150 years ago in the United States of America. In Russia, the first parties appeared before the October Revolution, but a series of political and historical events changed the natural course of development political movements. Subsequently, political factions appeared after the collapse of the USSR.
If we connect the factions with the modern parliament, then they are quite young. But from the point of view of the essence of political parties and influence groups, they have existed since ancient Greek times.
Main functions
Each separate political party is at the same time a separate parliamentary faction. This is a prerequisite for a multi-party system. It is due to the diversity of political movements and ideas in the parliament that a balance of forces is achieved, within which the parties discuss bills and vote. If necessary, the fractions are combined with each other to together gain an advantage during the vote count. Coalitions can form a government and nominate candidates for the posts of heads of parliamentary committees and commissions on various issues and problems.
Prospects for factions in political life
There is a certain share of the dictatorship within which each individual faction lives and acts. This is a fairly common situation in politics when deputies must vote unanimously for each specific agenda item.For violation of this, in principle, one can lose a deputy’s mandate, as well as be expelled from members of a political party and lose the chance to be elected for the next term. Many political scientists question the reasonableness and adequacy of the political realities of such voting practices.
After several decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rapid development of parliamentarism, voters began to have a good understanding of political science terms and no longer ask the question "fraction is what?" When they watch news about the adoption of the next socially significant law.
Today, the question is acute about the functions and further development of parliamentary factions, their actual dependence or independence on the decisions of the party leadership. A special role is played by the ability of voters to influence decisions.