POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS

1.1 ABSTRACTS
The project explains the meaning of political institutions, the basic concepts of political
institutions, types of political institutions and the functions of political institution. It should
however be noted that; political institutions as a component of every human society is vital and
necessary in the administrative affairs of the society, as well as a cogent factor in the decision
making process of the society.

Political institutions deal with the exercise and distribution of power and have the monopoly on
the legitimate use of force which deals with social problems.

1.2 INTRODUCTION
Each society must have a political institution in order to maintain recognized procedure for
allocating valued resources. In large complex societies, many decisions must be made about the
rights and privileges.

If the society is to be orderly, people must obey the rules that are made. The political institution
determines and enforces the laws and punishes those who disobey them.

Even in stateless societies which had no developed formal central institution were seen having
some kind of decision-making and rule-making processes which were dominated by some
members. As societies become wealthier and more complex, political systems develop and
grow more powerful.

According to many political scientists, politics is believed to be “ubiquitous” i.e. General.

Politics exist within every human being irrespective of gender, race and religion. Even,
according to Aristotle, politics is the relationship between man and woman.

According to Nelson Mandela (1993) defines politics as an academic field or discipline which
systematically deals with studies and analysis of politics.

According to Gabriel Almond, James Coleman (1960), political institution is found in all
societies which perform the functions of integration and adaptation by means of legitimate
physical compulsion.

According to Easten in George (1995:12) sees political institution as a continuous operating

mechanism with demands and supports going in inputs and authoritative decisions and actions
coming out as outputs.
The concise oxford dictionary of sociology (1994), defines political institution as a unit in any
persistent pattern of human relationship that involves power, rule and authority.

Political institution is an organization which creates, enforce and apply laws; that mediate
conflict; make governmental policy on the economy and social systems; and otherwise provide
representation for the people. E.g. political parties, trade unions and law court.

Political institution can also be defined as a structure of rules and principles within which the
above organizations operate including such concepts as the right to vote, responsible
government and accountability.

Political institution is an organization that is purposely designed or established for the purpose
of maintaining laws and order in a given society. It is also a machinery or tool created to
maintain law and order for purpose of creating peaceful coexistence in the society.

1.3 Types of political institution

The various types of political institutions are;

A. Political party: is an institution that is purposely organized or established to acquire

political control of a state. It is a group of individuals who share common political
opinions, ideals, whose main aim is to control the machinery of government. The
conduct of a party is directed by the party’s constitution. Political party is regional, and
ethnical based and most important function of political party is present a candidate to
represent their party in the general election. The party manifesto is a programme of
action which a party presents to the electorate during an election, which expresses the
orientations of the party either socialist or capitalist.

TYPES OF POLITICAL PARTIES

1. Charismatic party: is the party built on the personality or charismatic qualities of the
party leader. The party is sustained by the personal qualities of the leaders. E.g. Julius
Nyerere’s; Tanzania African national union (TANU)
2. Elite party: are parties which explain the qualities and social status of the persons that
makes up their ranks. The party is conservative, because; members protect their
personal interest. There is absence of radical policy or revolution.
3. Broker party: is a party that tries to seek the interest on the classes in the country. They
reconcile the rich and the poor.
4. Religious parties: are popular in the Arab and European countries. The Arab parties are
based on strict Islamic beliefs. The European Christian parties are; Christian democrats,
Christian socialist party.
5. Mass party: are formed as a result of the emergence of socialism. They are built on
mass support of the poor people in the society. It membership consist of petty farmers,
messengers, clerks. E.g. people’s party, farmers and workers party, socialist party. The
party is practiced in China, Tanzania, and Angola.
6. Ideological party: are formed on the basis of the ideology or belief systems. E.g.
communist party of Russia, socialist party of China, Fascist movement of Italy.
B. Trade Union: is an organization that plays two major roles in a given state. Trade
union is an association of market men and women which emerged for the purpose of
influencing government policy as regard the issue of trade and commerce within the
territory. It originated in Europe (Britain) and became popular in many countries during
the Industrial Revolution. It is composed of individual workers, professionals, past
workers, students, apprentices.
C. Government: is machinery formed by the state (Electorate) to administer the affairs
of the state, in order to fulfill the will of the state. The government is an institution
exists in levels/tiers and structures/arms/organs. The levels or tiers of government are
The Central or Federal government; the state or regional government; and local
government. The structures of government are The Legislature; the Executive and the
Judiciary.

THE LEGISLATURE: is the organ of government responsible for the making of laws
and policies in a state. The legislature is a state’s internal decision-making body with the
power to enact and amend public policies. The legislature can exists in different forms;
The Unicameral in case of Knesset in Israel; Bicameral in case of National Assembly in
Nigeria, Congress in USA, and Parliament in Britain; The Tricameral in case of
Massachusetts and Supranational in case European Union. The legislature enjoys
constitutional right to run its affairs without external control (parliamentary supremacy)
and exercises the power to check the excesses of the other organs.

THE EXECUTIVE: is the organ of government responsible for the formulation,

implementation and execution of policies made by the legislature. The executive can
exist in different forms; The Single/Plural; the Real/Nominal; the Parliamentary/Non-
parliamentary; The Political/Permanent executive and The Elected; Nominated and the
Hereditary executive. The executive is constitutionally empowered to check the
excesses of other organs through the use of Veto power or Blue Pencil.

THE JUDICIARY: is the organ of government responsible for the interpretation of laws
and policies, as well as the amendment of the provisions of the constitution. The
hierarchy of the judiciary ranges from the Law courts to the Enforcement agencies. The
 judiciary is also empowered to check the excesses of other organs through the
application of Judicial Review.

1.4 FORMS OF POLITICAL INSTITUTION

Decentralized institutions:
a. Bands: is a small family group, less than a clan which consists of 30-50 individuals.
b. Tribe: is a large group consisting of many families. It also consists of many social
institutions i.e. chiefs or elders. It is permanent in nature.

Centralized institutions:
a. Chiefdom: is a complex form of tribe or a band but less complex to a state or
civilization, with an unequal and centralization of authority. It is headed by a lineage of
the elite class with tiers of political hierarchy.
b. Sovereign state: is a state with a permanent population, a defined territory, a
government and capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states.
c. Supra-nations: is created by independent nations to reach a common goal or form an
alliance.
d. Empires: are widespread states or communities under a single rule, characteristics by
the ruler. It possesses advancement in democracy, maintenance of civility and the
creation of city infrastructure.
e. League: are international organizations composed of states coming together for a
single common purpose.

1.5 THE SOCIOLOGY OF POLITICAL INSTITUTION

The concepts of political institutions are to determine the functionalities and location of power
in the relationship of the state machinery and its people.

According the Edward Shills, a Chicago sociologist; the sociological nature of political
institutions can be classified into;

a. Authoritarianism: is a system where the people have no power or representation

and it is characterized by the absolute or blind obedience to constituted authority as
 against individual freedom and related to the expectation of unquestioning obedience.
The extreme form of authoritarianism is totalitarianism which the control of all aspects
of the citizens life. E.g. Germany under Adolf Hitler, Italy under Benito Mussolini and
Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin.
b. Monarchy: is a form of government headed by a king or queen. The system can be
Absolute/Unlimited or Constitutional/Limited.
c. Democracy: is a system whereby citizens votes candidates of their choice into
different political offices in legislature, executive and judiciary. The idea originated from
Athens, Greece and was developed through the works of ancient academics. It is an
imagination of the replica of an egalitarian society.

1.6 THE FUNCTIONS OF POLITICAL INSTITUTION

According to Shmuel Noah Eisenstadt, an Israeli sociologist; he classified the functions of
political institution as; legislative, decision-making and administration.

According the Almond and Coleman (1960) has described the following functions of political
institutions:

a. To maintain integration of society by determining norms.

b. To adapt and change elements of social, economic, religious system necessary for
achieving collective or political goals.
c. To protect the integrity of the political system from outside threat

Classification of functions of political institution

a. Input functions: political socialization, interest articulation, interest aggregation and

political communication.
b. Output functions: rule making, rule application and rule adjudication.