Role of political parties in a democracy :
1. Contesting elections - Parties select candidates and contest elections; in India candidates are chosen by the top party leaders.
2. Putting forward policies and programmes - Parties reduce a vast multitude of opinions into a few basic positions, so voters can choose the policy they prefer. The policy of the winning party becomes government policy.
3. Making laws - Laws are debated and passed in the legislature by members who follow the direction of the party leadership.
4. Forming and running the government - Parties recruit and train leaders and then make them ministers to run the government.
5. Playing the role of opposition - Parties that lose form the opposition, voice different views, criticise the government for its failures and hold it accountable.
6. Shaping public opinion - Parties, with their lakhs of members and their pressure groups, raise and highlight issues and mould public opinion.
7. Providing access to government machinery - Parties act as the link between the citizen and the government and help people get welfare schemes implemented.
Conclusion : Parties are a necessary condition for democracy; representative democracy on a large scale is simply not possible without them.