Chapter 7:
Political Parties
LCHS AP GOVERMENT
How to Count Parties
• Do they win votes? What percent?
• Do they win office? What percent?
• Do they coordinate with other parties?
• Are they internally fractured?
Why Two Parties in U.S?
• Structural Explanations
• Behavioral Explanations
• Cultural Explanations
Structural Explanations
• Duverger’s Law holds that singlemember districts with plurality elections
tend to produce two-party systems.
Why?
– Geographically concentrated minor parties
can win elections, like the Quebecois Party in
Canada, or the Scottish and Wales Parties in
England.
• Other election laws favor two parties:
Electoral College, ballot access, and
campaign finance
Behavioral Explanations
• If voters know that minor parties have no
chance, they will choose among the two
parties’ candidates likely to win.
• Quality candidates join parties that are likely
to offer them a chance at victory.
Cultural Explanations
• U.S. politics takes on a “Dualist” nature.
In its history, politics have traditionally
pitted business and agrarian interests
against one another
• American politics are centrist, leaving
no room for minor parties.
Benefits of Two Parties
• Legitimacy through majority approval
• Accountability and effective
governance
• Centrist politics
• National unity?
U.S. Party Systems
The first party system (1788-1828):
Federalists vs. Democratic-Republican Party.
•
The Federalists were in favor of strong national
government to foster a business environment.
•
D-R favored states rights and agrarian interests.
U.S. Party Systems
The first party system (1788-1828):
Federalists vs. Democratic-Republican Party.
• In 1816, the Federalists died out, and we had an
era of one-party government known as the “Era
of Good Feeling.” D-R
•
In 1828, Andrew Jackson mobilized outside the
elite power structure in Washington and was
elected president. Soon after, The modern
Democratic Party was born out of this new
movement.
U.S. Party Systems
The second party system 1828-1860
Democrats vs. Whigs
•
Whigs were a party born out of the split of the DR. Favored property owners, businesses, and
anti-immigrants
•
The Whigs were internally split on the issue of
slavery. This split culminated in the election of
Lincoln as the nominee of the new Republican
Party.
U.S. Party Systems
Third party system (1860-1898)
Democrats vs. Republicans
•
Democrats emerged from the Civil War as the
dominant political party in the South, and would
remain so until following the embracing of Civil
Rights by the Democrats in the 1960s.
•
During the third party system, there was close
competition between the two political parties. In
fact, during this period, two Republicans (Hayes
and Harrison) won the Electoral College with less
than the popular vote of the Democrat.
U.S. Party Systems
Fourth party system (1898-1932)
Democrats vs. Republicans
•
The fourth party system was born out of the
Populist movement, a loose collection of third
parties that challenged the two existing parties on
issues of concern to farmers, the most important
being “Free Silver.” The Democrats co-opted the
Populists by running their presidential nominee,
William Jennings Bryan, in 1896. Bryan lost to
McKinley, which ushered in an era of Republican
dominance.
U.S. Party Systems
Fifth party system (1932-1960)
Democrats vs. Republicans
•
The fifth party system began with the election of
FDR in 1932, and his “New Deal” plan to pull the
country out of the Great Depression. It formed a
Democratic coalition that could not last – the
racist South with poor and minorities.
U.S. Party Systems
Sixth party system (1960-present)
Democrats vs. Republicans
•
The sixth party system began during the era of
the Civil Rights movement, Vietnam, and
Watergate. People began to distrust the political
parties, and the number of people registering and
identifying themselves as independents grew.
•
Where we are now: the reemergence of parties?
Lesson: State Competition
• The overall competition of the political
parties at the national level belies the lack of
competition at the state level.
• Generally, with the decline of the “Solid
South” there has been an overall increasing
trend of competition at the state level.
• Little competition in congressional elections.
Lesson: Minor Parties
• Political parties compete for the
marketplace of ideas in the electorate.
Since the two parties are near parity,
and need to form a majority, third
parties can have a impact on the policy
platforms parties adopt, much greater
than their size would otherwise
indicate.