This article talks about the debate on the «crisis» of political parties from a theoretical and historical-conceptual perspective. With the aim of understanding if the party will have a future, this article tries to answer the question: «What is a party?». Many scholars have sought the answer to this question in the present and in the dynamics of competitive democracy. In contrast, this text seeks an answer in the past, that is, in the long history of the idea of party. Ever since ancient times, the idea of political parties has been plagued by a sinister reputation, and throughout the history of Western thought it has inspired criticism, suspicion, and censure. Until the end of the 19th century was widely feared that factions could destroy the harmony underlying the political order. The decisive turning point arrived in the early 20th century with the advent of mass organizations: parties ceased
to be considered targets of reproach and blameworthy phenomena, becoming the most solid and authentic foundation of the State in both authoritarian regimes and new parliamentary democracies. Yet inauspicious shadows continued to loom, and even now the idea of parties, as current events show, for many embodies the worst possible image of political affairs. From this historical-conceptual perspective, the thesis is that the specific function of a «party» is a «constitutive» function, aiming at building collective identities. In other words, a party can not give up using, creating or strengthening a representation of the world and therefore drawing, on the society, visible lines of opposition. Many studies assume that parties are «bridges» between society and institutions. Thus, they assume that the social interests exist «objectively», because they are defined by the social structure. On the contrary, the interest can only be defined on the basis of collective identities produced also by parties. Even if parties are today challenged by many processes, it is unlikely that their need to create and reinforce political cleavages will cease to exist.