Authors: Bogdanor
Summary: This short entry of approximately 750 words provides a definition of faction, compares party institutionalization and faction development in a few different countries, and explores the varying roles of factions in different political systems.
The entry offers Laswell's 1931 definition of faction: part of a larger unit "working for the advancement of particular persons or policies." According to this definition factions differ from each other and from organized political parties in the practical details of how they achieve their principles and goals.
The degree of party institutionalization correlates directly with the strength of factions in a given political system. In systems with strongly institutionalized parties, factions are generally weak. Where parties are only somewhat institutionalized, they are often hard to distinguish from factions. The entry uses the British history as example of such correlation and contrasts it with the Japanese experience as well as Eastern bloc political systems.
In conclusion, the entry points out that factions remain a significant political force despite their basically negative perception among both liberal democratic and Marxist-Leninist traditions.