Final answer:
Political parties are central to democracy, intended for criticizing power, uniting ideals, winning elections, and managing campaigns, but not for personal attacks or oppressive ideologies.
Step-by-step explanation:
Political parties serve a variety of essential functions within a democracy, but they are not used for specific purposes that oppose their goals of winning elections, maintaining cohesion, and acting as a platform for political ideas. Specifically, they are not intended to be vehicles for personal attacks or empowering oppressive ideologies but instead aim to criticize those in power constructively, and similarly, they are expected to take criticism in a manner that promotes democratic discourse.
Parties are tasked with uniting diverse ideals and building a broad coalition of voter support, which can be challenging in a political landscape with significant differences. They play an important role in gaining votes, managing financial campaigns, and ensuring their visions and policies are communicated to voters effectively. Major parties assist their candidates with ample resources, whereas third-party candidates often lack such support and face a harder time making an impact on the electoral process. Despite this, third parties can still be significant for providing a 'safety valve' for voter discontent with the major parties.
In summary, political parties serve to mobilize voters, frame political debate, and shape government policy. They are not designed to be exclusive organizations that foster division or enable violence, although sometimes they have been used in that way. The essence of political parties in a democratic society is to offer voters clear choices and to hold those in power accountable through a system of checks and balances.