Consider:
Grab a copy of the reading. What are “linkage institutions”?
Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying
to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly
succeed, and both are right.
- HL Mencken
“All …combinations and associations, under whatever plausible
character,…are destructive of this fundamental principle [essentially,
democracy],… They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and
extraordinary force; to put in the place of the delegated will of the
nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising
minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of
different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the illconcerted and incongruous projects of faction…
- George Washington
Homework: Assignment 2 for tomorrow; guided questions
due tomorrow; poll due Wed
Unit 3
AP Government and Politics

What is a political party?
 Group primarily focused on nominating and electing
candidates, and controlling government

3 “arenas” in which parties operate
 With/among the electorate – as a label
▪ Are they today, weaker or stronger?
 Party activists and organizers – as an organization
▪ Are they today, weaker or stronger?
 In making policies - governing
▪ Are they today, weaker or stronger?

Reforms that have made parties weaker:
 Australian ballot – uniform, secret ballot printed by gov.
 Patronage no longer pervasive
 Rise of PACs, 527 and others; parties no longer only
group that can raise $$
 Info on candidates more readily available, parties are
not only source
 More voters identify themselves as independents
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r161cLYzuDI

The Founding Era
 1790s (post-Washington) to 1820s
 Critical election = 1800

The Jacksonian Period
 1820s to Civil War
 Critical election = 1828

The “Golden Age”
 Civil War to 1930s
 Critical election = 1860

The Modern Era (Reform)
 1930s to ???
 Critical election = 1932

What triggered this “realigning election”?
 Who comprised the New Deal coalition?
11.1
 Party realignments
 Dramatic shifts in partisan preference that drastically alter
the political landscape
 Existing party affiliations subject to upheaval
 Critical elections
 May polarize voters around new issues or personalities

What is a “critical” or “realigning” election?
 sharp changes in issues, party leaders, the regional and demographic
bases of power of the two parties, and structure or rules of the political
system (such as voter eligibility or financing), resulting in a new political
power structure that lasts for decades.

The 1800 Election –
▪ Begins the initial “fading” period of parties –Dem/Republicans victorious

The 1828 Election –
▪ Begins the Jacksonian period

The 1860 Election –
▪ Republican party emerges; Whigs disappear

The 1896 Election –
▪ Bryan and Democrats lose; new Republicans solidify
▪ Shores up the parties in certain regions of the US

The 1932 Election –
▪ Emergence of the “New Deal Coalition”
▪ Labor unions, intellectuals, farmers, seniors, white southerners, Jews, Catholics,
and minorities .

The 1968 Election -
▪ Fracturing of the New Deal Democratic Coalition