The role of political opposition: A pre-requisite for democracy

Arif Khan; Saiful Islam; Muhammad Alam

doi:10.47264/idea.jhsms/2.1.6

Authors

Arif Khan Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Buner, Sowari, Pakistan.
Saiful Islam Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Buner, Sowari, Pakistan.
Muhammad Alam Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Buner, Sowari, Pakistan. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6864-4246

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47264/idea.jhsms/2.1.6

Keywords:

democracy, political party, government, opposition, parliament, party system, democratic government, opposition party, parliamentary system

Abstract

No doubt for a democracy to be triumphant, multi-party system or, at least two-party systems is obligatory. A country with one party system lacks observant and efficient opposition. There is every chance for the incumbent party to become autocratic and domineering. One party system is most of the times susceptible to transform into dictatorship. Most of the times where there is one party system, the opposition is stifled and trampled, and the dictatorship of the single party is established. Germany during Hitler’s rule and Italy during Mussoloni rule are the cases in point. One cannot imagine of a democratic set up without a healthy and watchful opposition. For the success of any parliamentary democracy, an effective opposition is must to carry out its functions courageously and effectively. The paper analyses the rights, responsibilities and obligations of opposition in a democratic system. The techniques adopted by the researcher for data collection include a detailed survey of the available literature covering different aspects of the topic. Internationally reputed authors and experts have been quoted. It is for the government to allow the opposition to fulfil their functions, which indicates a sign of democratic maturity on the part of government. The opposition has to focus on democratic functions and if it fails to do so, it will be a sign of dysfunctional democracy.

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