Chapter 12
Political Parties
I.
II.
What is a Political Party?
i. Political partyii. Governmental partyiii. Organizational partyiv. Party-in-the-electorateThe Evolution of American Party Democracy
i. George Washington’s farewell warningii. Hamilton’s Federalistsiii. Jefferson and Madison’s Anti-FederalistsA. The Early Parties Fade
i. Era of Good Feelingsii. Popular election of Electoral College delegatesiii. Democrats and Andrew Jacksoniv. Whigsv. Republicans and Abraham LincolnB. Democrats and Republicans: The Golden Age
i. Central traits of the “Golden Age”ii. MachinesC. The Modern Era Versus the Golden Age: Is the Party Over?
i. Plunkett and Tammany Hallii. Government’s gradual assumption of key functions of partiesiii. Franklin Roosevelt’s New Dealiv. Direct primaryv. Civil service lawsvi. Issue-oriented politicsvii. Ticket-splitviii. Television and decline of partiesD. The Parties Endure
i. Historical strengths of political parties:
i. –
III.
IV.
ii. –
iii. –
iv. –
The Functions of the American Parties
A. Mobilizing support and Gathering Power
i. How party affiliation is helpful to elected leadersii. CoalitionB. A Force for Stability and Moderation
i. FDR’s New Deal coalitionii. Segregation and the growth of the GOP in the SouthC. Unity, Linkage, Accountability
i. Why parties are the glue holding together fragmented U.S.
governmental and political apparatusii. Party-linkage functioniii. How parties dampen sectionalismD. The Electioneering Function
i. How political parties assist in the “great function” of electionsii. Elections in a democracy can only have meaning if what?iii. The South is the __________ politically competitive U.S.
regionE. Party as a Voting and Issue Cue
i. Party identification as filter for informationF. Policy Formulation and Promotion
i. National party platformii. Impact and influence of platformiii. Huey LoneThe Basic Structure of American Political Parties
i. Levels of party organization (see Figure 12.3)A. National Committees
a. Democratic National Committee (DNC)b. Republican National Committee (RNC)c. Seventeenth Amendment-
V.
B. Leadership
a. Who heads the national party?C. National Conventions
a. National conventionb. Television coverage of national conventionsD. States and Localities
a. Pyramid arrangementb. Precinctc. State central (or executive) committeed. Effect of Bipartisan Campaign Reform ActE. Informal Groups
a. Groups affiliated with the partiesb. Supportive interest groups and associationsc. Think tanksd. Extra-party organizationsThe Party in Government
A. The Congressional Party
i. Political parties most visible in Congress; why?ii. Party disciplineiii. Limits to coordinated, cohesive party action in Congressiv. Senator Jim Jeffordsv. Party campaign committees in CongressB. The Presidential Party
i. Pro-party presidentsii. Nonpartisan presidentsC. The Parties and the Judiciary
i. Party affiliation influence on judicial decisionsD. The Parties and State Government
i. Parties and governorsii. Governor’s office as launching pad to White Houseiii. Governor’s influence over state partyiv. Significance of line-item veto for governorv. Parties and state legislatures-
VI.
VII.
VIII.
vi. The state with a nonpartisan legislaturevii. Comparison of party affiliation in legislatures versus CongressThe Modern Transformation of Party Organization
i. Republican organizational strengthsii. Party staffiii. Fund-raising skills of the two partiesiv. Democrats and the Internetv. Campaign staff trainingThe Party-in-the-Electorate
i. Party-in-the-electorateii. Party identification as indicator of likely voting choicesA. Party Identification
i. Party identificationii. Aspects and influences of party identificationiii. Party identification over the past 50 years (Figure 12.5)B. Sources of Party Identification
i. Factors affecting party loyaltyC. Declining Loyalty?
i. What pollsters ask when inquiring about party identificationii. Reasons for anti-party attitudesiii. Decline in voter-admitted partisanshipiv. Why strong partisans are important to a partyD. Group Affiliations
i. Geographic region and party affiliationii. Gender and party affiliationiii. Race and ethnicity and party affiliationiv. Age and party affiliationv. Social and economic factors and party affiliationvi. Religion and party affiliationvii. Marital status and party affiliationviii. Ideology and party affiliationThird-Partyism
i. Third-partyism-
ii. Roots of third-partyismiii. Dixicratsiv. Reasons for the measure of success for American Independent
Partyv. Ross Perotvi. Ralph Nadervii. Reasons why minor-party candidate for House are likely to
emergeviii. When do third parties do well?A. Why Third Parties Tend to Remain Minor
i. Proportional representationii. Single member, plurality electoral systemiii. Adaptive nature of the two partiesiv. Other institutional and historical factors that promote the twoparty systemi. –
ii. –
iii. –
iv. –
v. –
vi. -