The first challenge faced by political parties is lack of internal democracy within parties. What do you understand by the statement? Explain.
Answer:
All over the world there is a tendency in political parties towards the concentration of power in one or few leaders at the top.
Parties do not keep membership registers, do not hold organisational meetings, and do not conduct internal elections regularly.
Ordinary members of the party do not get sufficient information on what happens inside the party.
They do not have the means or the connections needed to influence the decisions. As a result the leaders assume greater power to make decisions in the name of the party.
Since one or few leaders exercise paramount power in the party, those who disagree with the leadership find it difficult to continue in the party.
More than loyalty to party principles and policies, personal loyalty to the leader becomes more important.