Political parties are an important link between governors and governed, they are the spokesmen of public interests. They can be classified on various grounds.
Organizational classification of parties
The party classification proposed by M. Duverger was widely known. He singled out personnel and mass parties. Mass batches are distinguished by their numerous composition. They participate in political, financial and economic life. These parties exist on membership fees and oblige their members to actively participate in the activities of parties. They conduct extensive educational work. The parties are led by professional politicians. As a rule, workers act as the social base of mass parties.
Personnel parties suggest the participation of professional politicians in their activities. They are funded from private sources and rely on the middle class. Mass parties achieve their goals due to their numbers, and cadres through professional personnel selection. Their work is intensified during the election period.
Classification of parties by social base
Each party is created on a specific social base. By this principle, bourgeois and working people can be distinguished. The first type is focused on representing the interests of the middle class and the business layer. Among the parties of the workers can be identified workers, agrarian parties. The workers' parties were a response to the inequitable distribution of economic benefits under the capitalist system, while the agrarian parties opposed the process of industrialization.
Classification of parties by place in power
Political parties may be ruling or opposition parties. They can be legal or illegal (prohibited). Right-wing, centrist and left-wing parties are divided according to their place in the party spectrum. Leftists are called supporters of radical change. Communist, socialist and social democratic parties are usually ranked among them. To the right are liberals and fascists. Most parties have factions that may not share an official position.
Parties can be federal and regional.
