Political Parties
Historical
Development of the
Parties
Historical Development
• Historically, the two-party system has
been characterized by long periods of
dominance by one party followed
by a long period of dominance by
the other
Historical Development
• The eras begin & end with shifts in
the voting population called
realignments:
• (1) Issues change
• (2) New divisions form between
groups
Early Years
• First two political parties to emerge
during Washington’s term of office
were the Federalists & AntiFederalists
Early Years
• Major issue in the beginning was the
ratification of the Constitution
• Federalists supporting it
• Anti-Federalists wanting guarantees
individual freedoms & rights not
included in the original document
How was the issue
resolved?
Early Years
• Issue was resolved with the addition of
the Bill of Rights, but the parties did
not disappear with the issue
Federalists
• Led by Alexander Hamilton
(Secretary of Treasury)
• Represented urban, businessoriented men who favored elitism & a
strong central government
Federalists
• Supported Hamilton’s establishment
of the Bank of U.S.
• Viewed it as forwarding their interests
& beliefs
Anti-Federalists
• Came to be known as the
Democratic-Republicans
• Led by Thomas Jefferson
• Favored strong state governments,
rural interests, and a weaker central
government
Anti-Federalists
• Opposed the bank as an enemy of
state control & rural interests
“Era of Good Feeling”
• With Hamilton’s death & John Adams’
unpopularity as president, Jefferson
emerged as the most popular leader
of the turn of the 19th century
“Era of Good Feeling”
• As president, he gradually became
more accepting of stronger central
government
• Two parties’ points of view seemed to
merge most notably in the “Era of
Good Feeling” presided over by James
Monroe (one of Jefferson’s protégés)
“Era of Good Feeling”
• Democratic-Republicans emerged as
the only party
• Dominance lasted until the mid-1800s,
though under a new name, the
Democrats
Jacksonian Democracy
• Two-party system re-emerged with the
appearance of Andrew Jackson
• Represented to many the expanding
country (newer states found much in
common with the rural southern states
but little with the established
northeast)
Jacksonian Democracy
• New party emerged—the Whigs
• Represented many of the interests
of the old Federalist party
Jacksonian Democracy
• Jackson’s election in 1828 was
accomplished with a coalition between
South & West, forming the new
Democratic Party
Jacksonian Democracy
• Jackson’s Democrats were a rawer sort
than Jefferson’s (primarily gentlemen
farmers from the South & Middle
Atlantic states)
Jacksonian Democracy
• During the Jacksonian era—universal
manhood suffrage was achieved
(virtually all men could vote)
• Rural, anti-bank, small farmers from
the South & West formed the
backbone of the Democratic Party
Jacksonian Democracy
• Whigs were left with:
• Old Federalist interests
• Wealthy, rural Southerners who had
little in common with other Whigs
Jacksonian Democracy
• Party was not ideologically
coherent
• Found some success by nominating &
electing war heroes (William Henry
Harrison, Zachary Taylor)
North/South Tensions
• Economic & social tensions developed
between North & South by the 1840s
& 50
• Whig party was threatened by splits
between southern & northern wings
North/South Tensions
• As the Whigs were falling apart, a new
Republican Party emerged from the
issue of expansion of slavery into new
territories
North/South Tensions
• Election of 1860 brought the first
Republican—Abraham Lincoln—into
office—
• Setoff the secession of southern states
& with them many supporters of the
Democratic Party
North/South Tensions
• Civil War ended the dominance of the
Democrats & ushered in a new
Republican era
• Voters realigned—according to
regional differences & conflicting
points of view regarding expansion of
slavery & states rights
Republican Era: 1861-1933
• With the exception of Grover
Cleveland & Woodrow Wilson, all
presidents from Abraham Lincoln
(1861-1895) through Herbert Hoover
(1929-1933) were Republicans
Republican Era: 1861-1933
• During most of the time,
Republicans dominated the
legislature as well
Republican Era: 1861-1933
• By 1875 all of the southern states had
been restored to the Union, but their
power, as well as that of the
Democratic Party, was much
diminished
Republican Era: 1861-1933
• Republicans came to champion the
new era of the Industrial Revolution
• Time when prominent businessmen,
such as John Rockefeller & Andrew
Carnegie, dominated politics as well
as business
Republican Era: 1861-1933
• Republican party came to represent
laissez-faire
• Policy that advocated the free market
& few government regulations on
business
Republican Era: 1861-1933
• Republican philosophy of the late
1800s favored the new industrialists,
not the small farmer of the earlier era
Second Democratic Era: 1933-1969
• Prosperous, business-oriented era
survived several earlier recessions but
not the Great Depression that
gripped the country after the stock
market crash of 1929
Second Democratic Era: 1933-1969
• Economic downturn of the economy
caused major realignments of voters
that swung the balance of power to the
Democrats
Second Democratic Era: 1933-1969
• Republican president, Herbert Hoover,
was rejected in the election of 1932 in
favor of the Democrat’s Franklin
Roosevelt
• FDR’s victory was accomplished
because of the
“Roosevelt Coalition” of voters
FDR’s Coalition
• Consisted of a combination of many
different groups of voters that
wished to see Hoover defeated
FDR’s Coalition
•
•
•
•
•
•
Composed of:
Eastern workers
Recent immigrants
Southern & western farmers
Blacks
Ideologically liberal
Roosevelt’s Democrats
• Established a government more
actively involved in promoting
social welfare
FDR’s Presidency
• Ironically, the formerly states rights
oriented Democrats now advocated a
strong central government, but one
dedicated to promoting the interests of
ordinary people
FDR’s Presidency
• Democrats dominated both
legislative & executive branches
FDR’s Presidency
• Even the Supreme Court reined in its
conservative leanings
• Although it did check FDR’s power
with the famous “court packing”
threat
FDR’s “Court-Packing” Threat
• In an effort to get more support for
his New Deal programs form the
Supreme Court, FDR encouraged
Congress to increase the number of
justices form 9 to 15
• FDR eventually withdrew his plan
Second Democratic Era: 1933-1969
• FDR was elected to unprecedented
four terms & was followed by another
Democrat, Harry Truman
• Even though a Republican, Dwight
Eisenhower, was elected president in
1952, Congress remained Democrat
Second Democratic Era: 1933-1969
• Democrats regained the White House
in 1960 & retained it throughout the
presidencies of John F. Kennedy &
Lyndon Johnson
Era of Divided Government: 19692000
• Richard Nixon’s election in 1968 did
not usher in a new era of Republican
dominated government
• Instead a new balance of power between
the Democrats & Republicans came
into being
Era of Divided Government: 19692000
• With few exceptions, control of the
legislature & the presidency has been
“divided” between the two major
parties since the late 1940s
Era of Divided Government: 19692000
• When one party holds the presidency,
the other has dominated Congress, or
at least the Senate
Era of Divided Government: 19692000
• Division brings with it the problem of
“gridlock”
• Tendency to paralyze decision making,
with one branch advocating one policy
& the other another contradictory
policy
Era of Divided Government: 19692000
• Scholars have various theories
about the causes of the new
division of power
• One cause might be the declining
power of political parties in general
Republican Hold on the
Presidency
• From 1969 through 1993, and 20002008, the Republicans held the
presidency except during:
• Carter presidency – 1977-1981
• Clinton presidency – 1993-2001
Republican Hold on the
Presidency
• Starting in the 1960s, Republicans
began to pay more attention to the
power of electronic media & to the
importance of paid professional
consultants
Republican Hold on the
Presidency
• Evolved into a well-financed,
efficient organization
• Depended heavily on professionals to
help locate & promote the best
candidate for office
Republican Hold on the
Presidency
• Some experts believe that these
changes were largely responsible for
Richard Nixon’s victory in 1968
• Nixon was carefully coached & his
campaign was carefully managed to
take advantage of electronic media
Republican Hold on the
Presidency
• Campaign made extensive use of
public opinion polls to determine
strategy
• New emphasis also influenced party’s
choice of candidates in 1980 & 1984
• Former TV & film actor Ronald
Reagan was master of the media
Republican Hold on the
Presidency
• Party also took advantage of new
technology & generated
computerized mailings to raise
large sums of money for campaigns
• By the mid-1980s, Republicans were
raising much more money than the
Democrats were
Republican Hold on the
Presidency
• During the same period, Democrats
were changing in many opposite
ways than the Republicans
Republican Hold on the
Presidency
• Democrats became more concerned
with grass roots, or common man
representation
Republican Hold on the
Presidency
• Democrats were reacting at least partly
to the break-up of the old Roosevelt
Coalition, but also to the disastrous
1968 convention in Chicago that
showed the party as highly
factionalized & lacking leadership
Republican Hold on the
Presidency
• As a result, they gained a reputation as
being:
• disorganized
• disunited
Republican Hold on the
Presidency
• In 1969, the Democratic party
appointed a special McGovern-Fraser
Commission to review the party’s
structure & delegate selection
procedures
Republican Hold on the
Presidency
• Commission determined that
minorities, women, youth, and the
poor were not adequately represented
at the party convention
Republican Hold on the
Presidency
• Party adopted guidelines that
increased the representation &
participation of these groups
Republican Hold on the
Presidency
• Number of super-delegates
(governors, members Congress &
other party leaders) was reduced
substantially
Republican Hold on the
Presidency
• 1972 convention selected as their
candidate George McGovern
• Liberal who lost a landslide to
Republican Richard Nixon
Republican Hold on the
Presidency
• Although Democrat Jimmy Carter
won the presidency in 1976, he was
defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980
• Republican Party held the presidency
since, with the exception of the
Clinton presidency (1992-2000)
Republican Hold on the
Presidency
• During the Reagan presidency, the
Democrats began to adopt some of
the Republican strategies:
• Computerized mailing lists
• Opinion polls
• Paid consultants
Republican Hold on the
Presidency
• Using newly adopted Republican party
strategies, the Democratic party
managed to get their candidate, Bill
Clinton to the White House in 1993, a
position that he held for two terms