# Should Political Parties Exist **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 11, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-political-parties-exist/658104 "2013-05-11T20:45:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-political-parties-exist/658104/61 "2013-05-16T01:22:44Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > You are drawing a false dichotomy there. It is impossible for a government executive to act without making discretionary policy-decisions, irreducibly political in nature. People are human. Even the courts are influenced by politics. The point is to try your best to not let political considerations influence you. The voters do their part by reacting negatively to obvious politicizing of basic government functions. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-political-parties-exist/658104/62 "2013-05-16T01:23:49Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#): > > As BrainGlutton below your post said, the Executive inherently makes decisions political in nature, so your point contradict all that’s known of statecraft. > > If the Founding Fathers had sought an Executive unable to get involved in politics, they wouldn’t have given it a veto, for one thing. That’s true, but I was referring to the President’s core job of carrying out the laws passed by Congress. The President is given some legislative power, through the veto, and also recommending laws for Congress to pass. However, the government should be non-political. If the government’s basic functions are to be politicized, is this not an argument against activist government? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-political-parties-exist/658104/63 "2013-05-16T01:37:47Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > However, the government should be non-political. That is like saying that cats should be non-feline. > [@adaher](#): > > If the government’s basic functions are to be politicized, is this not an argument against activist government? Or for it, depending on whether you like the results. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-political-parties-exist/658104/64 "2013-05-16T03:13:38Z")
Most arguments I’ve seen for activist government are technocratic in nature(“We’ll have experts run things!”). Milton Friedman on the other hand was the one who argued that since government functions are always politicized, it can’t be trusted to allocate resources either efficiently or fairly. ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-political-parties-exist/658104/65 "2013-05-16T07:35:09Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > That’s true, but I was referring to the President’s core job of carrying out the laws passed by Congress. The President is given some legislative power, through the veto, and also recommending laws for Congress to pass. However, the government should be non-political. > > If the government’s basic functions are to be politicized, is this not an argument against activist government? Isn’t the Executive in the US invested in the _person_ of the President? It seems quite difficult for anybody to be nonpolitical in half their job and not the other. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-political-parties-exist/658104/66 "2013-05-16T07:43:04Z")
Nevertheless, he is expected to be nonpolitical when it comes to say, collection of taxes, or enforcement of federal criminal law, or preventing terrorist attacks. And many other things. ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-political-parties-exist/658104/67 "2013-05-16T08:55:59Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Nevertheless, he is expected to be nonpolitical when it comes to say, collection of taxes, or enforcement of federal criminal law, or preventing terrorist attacks. And many other things. There is that, but then that’s not really an issue of debate in politics (that of fair treatment), as it’s essentially administration. It’s the level of taxes, what constitutes a crime and how severely the punishment should be, and what rights should be restrained to better combat terrorism, which is politics. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-political-parties-exist/658104/68 "2013-05-16T09:06:03Z")
And those are all things decided by the legislative branch. The President is political in the sense that he recommends legislation that he thinks is best to help him achieve his goals, but the enforcement of the law must be nonpolitical, and as we are seeing now, Presidents get into hot water when these functions are politicized. ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-political-parties-exist/658104/69 "2013-05-16T09:41:23Z")
But that side of matters is run by the Civil Service, is it not? Here in the UK, it’s meant to be strictly apolitical, and this is achieved by means of an impartial appointments system. Very, very few official positions are referred to Parliament for approval, and the Executive avoids interfering on the whole. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-political-parties-exist/658104.md?page=3)