Partisanship
Also called: Partisan · Topic: Political Parties, Party Systems and Anti-defection · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 4 "Political Parties"
Meaning
Partisanship means a strong commitment to one side, such as a party, group or faction. A partisan person tends to take sides and often cannot take a balanced view of an issue. Political parties are partisan by nature. Each party stands for a part of society, which is where the word "party" comes from. The Class 10 textbook explains this with a cartoon joking that parties are "partial, partisan and lead to partitions".
Example
Suppose a supporter praises a policy when their own party brings it in but attacks the same policy when a rival party proposes it. That is partisanship.
Don't confuse with
- Defection: a legislator leaves the party on whose ticket they were elected. Partisanship is the opposite pull, a strong loyalty to one side.