Chapter 9: Political Parties and
Politics
SECTION 1: DEVELOPMENT OF POLITICAL
PARTIES
Political Party
 Political party An organization of individuals with broad, common interests
who organize to win elections, to operate the government, and
to thereby influence government policy.
 The United States has a 2 Party System.
 What are the two political parties?
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Democrats and Republicans
Growth of American Parties
 Political parties were not mentioned in the
Constitution.
 Most of the Founding Fathers were against them.
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George Washington warned the country about developing
political parties in his Farewell Address.
Growth of American Parties Cont.
 The Democratic Party Created by Thomas Jefferson
 Called Democratic Republicans
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Favored limited powers for the national government.
Renamed the Democratic Party by Andrew Jackson in 1828 to
play to the ties of the common people.
Original opponentsFederalists led by Alexander Hamilton
 He believed in a strong national government.
 Whig Party until the 1850s
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Growth of American Parties Cont.
 The Republican Party Created in 1854 by Whigs and Democrats who opposes slavery.
 They agreed to keep slavery out of the Northern States.
 In 1860, Abe Lincoln became the first Republican President.
Third Parties
 Third parties Typically smaller minority parties.
 Compete with the two major parties.
 Influence American politics in different ways.
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They promote or advance ideas that were first unpopular or hotly
debated.
Populists Party (1890s)- called for direct elections of senators
and an eight hour work day.
Progressive Party- promoted a direct primary, initiative and
referendum.
Single- Issue Parties
 Typically a 3rd party that forms to promote social,
economic, or moral issues.
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Example: Prohibition movement.
 A single party issue usually does not last long.
 It may fade away when the issue is no longer
important or if a major party adopts the issue.
Ideological Parties
 An ideology is a set of beliefs about human nature
and government institutions.
 Ideological parties are those that support a particular
philosophy or political doctrine.
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Example: The Communist Part USA- government should own
factories, transportation, and resources.
The Libertarian Party- opposes gov’t interfernce in private
enterprise.
Obstacles to Third Parties
 Rarely win major elections
 Third party candidates must obtain a large number
of voter signatures in order to get on the ballot.
 Trouble raising sufficient amounts of money to
compete in campaigns against the major- party
candidates.
Other Party Systems
 Political parties exist in most countries.
 Two parties system are rare.
 The role of political parties play differs with each
nation’s political system.
Multiparty System
 Many democracies have multiparty systems.
 Three or more parties compete for control of the
government.
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Example: Canada has 3 parties. Germany has 5 parties. Israel
has more than 20.
 One party rarely wins enough support to control the
government.
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This means several parties must work together.
 This system can easily break down and become
unstable.
One- Party System
 The party and the government are nearly the same
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thing.
Only one party is allowed to exist and only those
party members can run for office.
The main job of party members is to recruit new
members, maintain party discipline, and carry out
the party’s orders.
Elections are an empty exercise because of there are
no rival candidates.
Considered non-democratic
How Parties Differ
 Competing political parties are a necessary part of
democratic government.
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They link citizens and their officials.
They give voters choices.
 How much should the gov’t be involved in the lives of
Americans?
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Democrats- feel that gov’t should play a direct role in
regulating the economy, providing housing, and jobs for the
poor.
Republicans- favor less gov’t regulation of the economy as the
best way to promote the growth of production.
How Parties Differ Cont.
 Platform A series of statements expressing the party’s principles, beliefs,
and positions on election issues.
 Plank Each platform has its plank.
 The platform communicates to voters what the party claims
will do if it wins.
Role of Political Parties Today
SECTION 2
Organization of Political Parties
 National Organization:
 National committee
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Each party has national committee made of reps from every state.
Committee helps raise funds for presidential elections and organizes national
conventions.
Run by national chairperson.
 Chairperson’s job is to manage the office, direct the committee’s staff, and
lead fund-raising efforts.
National Convention
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Most important responsibility of the national committee.
Held once every 4 years.
They nominate their candidates for president and vice president.
 Each party has primary elections and caucuses to decide their candidates.
The delgates first job is to write a platform.
 Platform is a stance on key/ important issues.
Nominating the Candidate
 The party nominates the presidential candidate.
 The candidate gives a speech announcing his/her plan to win
the presidency.
 Campaign Committees:
 The major parties create these to work to elect party members
and raise money.
State and Local Organizations
 Each major party has 50 state committees or
organizations.
 State committees focus on electing party candidates
to state offices. (governor, attorney general, state
legislatures)
 They also work to elect their parties’ candidates to
national offices.
 Local party organizations consists of thousands of
city, town, and country.
What is a Precinct?
 Each city or county is divided up into election
districts or precincts.
 A precinct is a geographic area that contains a
specific number of voters.
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It may consist of an entire small town or neighborhood.
All voters in a precinct cast their votes at the same place.
County Committees
 Counties are the largest political units within a state.
 Both major parties have county committees.
 A county chairperson often has a great deal of
political power in the county.
 Grassroots
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Neighborhood levels of the political parties.
These local leaders have to know what issues their neighbors
are worried about and keep track of how local political
sentiment is running.
Political Machines
 A strong party organization.
 Tammany Hall Ruled New York City politics in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
 Its leader was William “Boss” Tweed.
 His friends grew rich off of kickbacks and bribes for gathering
votes.
 Political machines provided food, jobs, fuel, and help
for medical care in return for votes.
 Political leaders are less accountable to citizens when
the leaders do not have to worry about getting
elected.
Joining a Political Party
 You do not need to join a political party to vote.
 however, political parties offer every citizen a great
way to get involved in politics.
 Political parties do whatever they can to:
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Attract members
Welcome whomever wishes to belong.
 Party membership involves no duties or obligations
in voting.
 The parties depend on citizen involvement to
accomplish their goals.
Nominating Candidates
 People who take part in political parties play an
important role in the American Government System.
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They select candidates.
They keep people informed and interested in the issues and the
candidates.
They make sure party members do their job in office.
They keep an eye on the opposing party.
 Political parties are the only organizations that select
and present candidates for public office.
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This is done through the nomination process.
Primary Elections
 Direct Primary The most commonly used today to nominate candidates.
 An election in which voters choose candidates to represent each party in
the general election.
 Two forms of the direct primary:
 Close primary
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Only the declared members of a party are allowed to vote for the party’s
nominee.
Helps keep the opposing party members from crossing over and promoting a
weak candidate.
It prevents unaffiliated voters from taking part in primary elections in most
states.
Open primary
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Voters do not need to declare their party preferences in order to vote for the
party’s nominees.
In most open primary states, you choose a party in the privacy of the voting
booth.
What is Plurality?
 Sometimes a political office can have more than one
vacancy and thus each party can nominate more than one
candidate.
 Plurality
The candidate who gets the most votes obtain plurality (the largest
number) and wins the election.
 What is Majority?
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Having more than 50% of the votes.
If no candidate receives a majority, the party holds a runoff primary
between the two leading candidates with the most votes.
The winner becomes the party’s candidate in the general election.
Unaffiliated Candidates
 The only way unaffiliated candidates can get on the
ballot in most states is to have people sign a petition.
 If enough qualified voters sign papers declaring
support for a candidate, he or she foes on the ballot
for the general election.
Other Party Roles
 The political parties play a role in helping people of the
practice of self-government.
 The parties enable people to communicate with their
government leaders and help ensure that government
remains responsive to the people.
 Functions of political parties:
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Select and support candidates.
Inform citizens
Carry the message of the people.
Operate government
Act as a watchdog over government
Serve as a link between different levels and branches of government.
Campaigning for Candidates
 After nominating candidates, party members begin
campaigning for their candidates for support in the
general election.
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They raise money for the campaign.
They help candidates inform voters about ideas and views on
public issues.
 Informing Citizens Campaigning informs citizens about public issues and the way
government works.
 To get their points across, party candidates make speeches,
publish and distribute pamphlets and place ads in newspapers
and magazines and on TV and radio.
Carrying the People’s Message
 A political movement that begins with the people is
known as a grassroots movement.
 When a grassroots movement becomes strong
enough, its ideas probably be taken over by a
political party.
 Operating the Government
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Political parties play a key role in running and staffing the
government.
Party affiliation play a large role in Congress.
The president, governors, and some mayors have the power to
appoint their trusted supporters to many high-level jobs.
Linking the Different Levels of Government
 Connections may make it easier for the joining of
forces to tackle mutual problems.
 Acting as a Watchdog
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The party that is out of power watches the actions of the party
in power for any mistakes or misuse of power.
This opposition party may criticize the party in power and
offer its own solutions to political problems.
The opposing party hopes to attract voters.
Competition between the parties forces the party in power to
pay attention to the will of the people.