For a maximized image, please click on the cartoon.
by
Laura Lai/ Comment
The BREXIT Party is born! Long
live … the BREXIT?! Many Britons want the BREXIT soap over, but it has just
started a new season under the direction of the charismatic brexiteer leader,
Nigel Farage.
When a 52% majority of British citizens voted in a referendum for the UK to leave the
European Union (EU) and none of the big parties succeeding in providing a way
out of the deadlock, a BREXIT Party to defend the interest of the cross party
leavers is a logical move on the British political scene. The new born
political party targets the leavers’ votes from left and right wing parties –
and with the UKIP keeping its electorate as constant as possible on this matter
– the BREXIT Party may be almost 17,4 million party. Anyway, it is a party born
big.
From a theoretical point of view,
the BREXIT Party goes beyond the limits of a political party as described in the
19th century by Benjamin Constant, to whom the political party was a
reunion of people around the same political doctrine. The BREXIT Party can be
better framed in Max Weber’s view of a political party: a consequence of
democracy, of extending the right to vote, and a necessity to organize the
masses for elections. Ideologies and doctrines are overcome in importance by
the political program, the political contract between a party running for
elections and the general electorate.
The BREXIT Party’s
is born in a democratic context following a common political experience and it gathers
supporters and militants having the same political goal: to ‘Fight Back’, in
order for the result of a democratic referendum to be delivered. It fulfills
its main role as a political party: to mediate between citizens and the state,
to identify the problems and to come up with solutions. Through the voice of its
leader, the constant best solution to the BREXIT problem is for the UK to leave the EU
under the WTO terms. As an organized political party, it is expected that they
come up with a more elaborate route map that takes the British society out of
the EU.
Otherwise, the fact
that the BREXIT Party represent the 17,4 million British citizens – who voted ‘Leave’
and who after three years are still waiting for their country to leave the EU –
does not fit the theoretical framework of a big political party as Alexis de
Tocqueville classified the political parties. He classified them in big and
small parties depending on the quality rather than on the quantity: A big
political party is usually born in a turmoil period, as the BREXIT Party is;
and is meant to challenge the status quo, to shake the current political
system, rather than to simply and useless agitate the political waters. The
BREXIT Party may put forward the need to reform the electoral system and have
it more representative and more democratic. However, its main purpose is BREXIT
in all its aspects: gather the disappointed brexiteers, give them back the hope
that their vote was not in vain, look for an even more public support for
BREXIT, get the power or at least participate at the exercise of power seeking
that BREXIT is delivered.
This last point was
considered essential for what a political party is by a 20th century
theoretician of political parties, Maurice Duverger. The American researchers
Joseph LaPalombara & Weiner subscribe to this point of view when defining
what a political party is and what distinguishes it from a pressure group. In
the opening speech of the BREXIT Party announcing its candidates for the
European elections on April 12th,
2019 the party leader used great words like: ‘change politics’, ‘better
politics’, ‘politicians need to hear what the people have to say’, etc. It sets
a political target of challenging and improving the current political system in
which the party wants to operate.
The BREXIT Party is theoretically
born big. And it is born fighting. ‘Fighting back’ on behalf of those 17,4
million leavers is the slogan of this new political party. In all campaigns the
slogan is highly relevant, as it summarizes in a few words the campaign itself.
This slogan, by the word ‘back’ reminds the context in which the party was born
and makes clear the purpose it serves: to engage in the political ‘fight’.
Still, one of the main theoretical conditions for the BREXIT Party as a party,
from the point of view of the American researchers LaPalombara & Weiner, is
for the party to continue to exist beyond its charismatic leader. If a
political party is usually made of sympathizers, militants and leaders, there
are other voices at the top of the party with which the party operates and it prepares as future possible leader.
The BREXIT Party is
based both on the charisma of a leader and one main purpose. When a party is based
on the leadership of a charismatic leader, it would need to go on with somebody
similarly charismatic. I personally consider the real charisma easy to identify
in the person who has it, difficult to define and even more difficult to find
two charismatic people even among 17,4 million people. Indeed, so rare I think
that the real charisma is!
However, the main
purpose of the BREXIT Party is to get as many votes as possible, to be
transformed in seats and to play a powerful role in delivering BREXIT. What
will happen after BREXIT (was delivered)? The party will first need to change
its name, because the word ‘BREXIT’ will be outdated. Will it merge with the
UKIP? Or it will indentify another more or less ignored democratic issue, will
take that name, and look for popular support to reach that goal? Time will say.
And the future will bring its suggestions: ‘Electric Cars Party’?!
No comments:
Post a Comment