UNIVERSITY OF GUYANA

DPM 4100
Introduction to Public Policy
Radha Mohabir

Lecturer: Mr. R. Leitch

What Difference If Any Does Party Control Of Central

Government Make To Public Policy.
This discussion is based on the current political climate in Guyana. It is the author view that
party control of central government in Guyana give directionality of the way policies are made.
With a minority government in power since November 2011 elections, the combined opposition
views and powers have been neglected, this was because certain controversial projects deemed
beneficial to the public by the minority ruled party were questioned and impeded upon by the
opposition. This led to the prorogation of parliament since the minority ruling party is of the
opinion that opposition is preventing development. The author is of the view that this kind of
behavior where the government seeks no objection for their tabled policies follows closely that
of a partisan style of governance.
According to partisan theory1 influence on public policy, a major determinant of variation in
policy choices and policy outputs in constitutional democracies is the party composition of
government (Schmidt). The theory of partisan influence on public policy, the parties-do-matter
view, is a stylized empirical theory of a democratic political market. This theory conceive of
politics as a market in which politicians and governments deliver policies in exchange for
specific or generalized political demand and support. The theory is derived from a stylized
model of the political process in a majoritarian democracy 2. Supporters of the theory argue,
voters and parties are faced with unambiguous choices. Furthermore, a clear-cut functional
division of labour exists between the incumbent party and the opposition party. The opposition
party, it is further argued, is the opposition and is thus totally excluded from formal or informal
1 In politics, a partisan is a committed member of a political party. In multi-party
systems, the term is used for politicians who strongly support their partys policies
and are reluctant to compromise with their political opponents.

participation in government. Moreover, the partisan influence premises the analysis of the
democratic process and the role of government on the assumption that the extent of political
control of the economy is considerable and that the incumbent party has a large room for
maneuver. According to this view, the major determinants of policy making are to be found in
preferences, votes, office-seeking and policy pursuit. Partisan influence on public policy thus
resides that politics in general, and partisan politics in particular, matters a great deal.
As can be seen from the literature presented above that party control of central government can
shape policy making to suit the needs of a specific class of persons or for political leverage.

2 Majoritarian democracy refers to democracy based upon majority rule of a

society's citizens. Though common, majoritarian democracy is not universally
accepted - majoritarian democracy was famously criticized as having the inherent
danger of becoming a "tyranny of the majority" whereby the majority in society
could oppress or exclude minority groups.

Bibliography
Edward Bryan, Adolf G Gundersen, Ruth Lessl Shively. Political Theory and Partisan
Politics. New York: State University of New York Press, Albany, 2000. Google
Books.
Schmidt, Manfred G. "When parties matter: A reiew of the possibilities and limits of
partisan influence on public policy." European Journal of Political Research
(1996): 155-183. Document .
Zdzisaw Kdzia, Agata Hauser. The impact of political party control over the
excercise of parlimentary mandate. Reseacrh. New York : Inter-Parliamentary
Union, 2011. Document .