本文从政党功能的角度对20世纪60-70年代以来西方的“政党衰落”论进行了分析,指出虽然西方政党的代表性功能受到了削弱,但其制度性(程序性)功能有所增强,这表明西方政党作为社会和国家的中介,其重心正由社会向国家转移。尽管政党的制度性功能的发挥仍使这些政党在短期内无生存之忧,但从长远看其代表功能的日益削弱终究会动摇政党本身的合法性。 This paper analyzes the western “theory of the decline of political parties” from 1960s to the 1970s from the perspective of the function of political parties. It points out that although the representative functions of the western political parties have been weakened, their institutional (procedural) functions have been enhanced. This shows that Western parties, as the intermediaries of society and the country, are shifting their focus from society to the country. Although the political function of political parties still leaves these political parties without any worries in the short run, the diminishing of their representative functions in the long run will eventually destabilize the legitimacy of political parties.