Single issue politics

Single issue politics is political campaigning based on one essential policy area or idea, for example abortion or taxation. If the campaign is within normal political structures of a democracy, it may express itself through a single-issue party. On the other hand, it may proceed by lobbying — a method recognised by the UK term pressure group — or by forms of political action external to representative government. A weakness of single issue politics is that effective political parties are usually coalitions of factions or interest groups. Bringing together political forces based on a single intellectual or cultural common denominator can be unrealistic; though there may be considerable public opinion on one side of an argument, this does not mean necessarily that mobilising under that one banner will bring results. Under a two party system single issue politics can be expected to thrive outside the major political parties; under a more fragmented party system single-issue parties may utilise modest parliamentary representation to wield influence in coalitions. Single issue politics was very visible in the second half of the twentieth century, in the Western democracies. However, it is not a new phenomenon. In the 1880s, the third government of William Gladstone, in practical terms, made British politics single-issue around the Home Rule Bill, leading to a split of the Liberal Party (UK). Category:Politics