The primary goal of political parties is to secure political power. Thereby, they can implement their proposed policies and programs. Political parties are not solely the product of democracies or a phenomenon of countries which conduct elections. However, their presence and free competition has helped further the legitimacy of democracy. Despite the current prominence of political parties as they are known in many modern states, they are relatively new actors in the political scene. Although parties began in England as early as the seventeenth century, they did not begin to operate as they do today until much later. The original intent of political parties was the articulation of different political philosophies which could, in turn, be used to provide better alternatives in the policy making process. In fact, it was not until the leaders of political parties began to realize the inherent benefits of operating on a mass scale, such as more financial resources and a broader support base for candidates, in increasing their chances of electoral success that they began to behave in ways characteristic of modern parties. For example, mobilizing the masses, recruiting and socializing political leaders, maintaining national organization, and so on.

Political parties occupy many important roles in society. For example, they act as a means for directing political power, aggregating public interests, and providing the public with choice. However, despite whatever functions they may fulfill in the political system, their primary goal remains the acquisition of power. Thus, they must have access to substantial financial resources to improve their chances of electoral success; such funding may come from the fees of party members, bribes and kickbacks, interest group donations, public finances, profits from business enterprise, and so on. The party platform, the party's statement of what it stands for and what its objectives are, is another important tool parties use to increase the party identification, degree to which people identify with it, that it receives among members of society.

There are several types of political parties and each has specific defining characteristics. For example, mass parties recruit across class lines to obtain the largest possible membership, whereas, cadre parties recruit only from the politically active elite. There is a similar completely opposing differentiation between a broker party which acts as a mediator between diverse interests and a doctrinaire party which seeks to promote a particular ideology. The devotee party is different still from all these others in that it is build up around a single, charismatic leader. Of the more radical parties, there is the revolutionary party which seeks to undermine the existing political system. Finally, there are the parties of non-democratic states which are designed to oversee the machinery of government and ensure that the party is not ousted out by opposition forces.