American Government Unit 4:
Political Behavior: Government by
the People
CHAPTER 5: POLITICAL PARTIES
Bellringer: list words or ideas associate with each
of these labels
Democrat
Republican
I. Parties and What They Do
Objectives
Define a political party?
Describe the major functions of polticial parties.
Identify the reasons why the US has a two-party
system.
Understand multiparty and one-party systems and
how they affect the functioning of a polticial system.
A) What is a Party?
Political party – group of persons who seek to
control government through the winning of elections
and the holding of public office
Divided into three elements
1) Party Organization
2) Party in the Government
3) Party in the Electorate
B) What Parties Do
Link between governed and govern
Soften the impact of extremists
Political spectrum – range of political views (126)
Partisanship – the strong support of their party and its
policy stands
1) Nominate Candidates
2) Informing and Activating Supporters
3) The Bonding Agent Function – pick good candidates
4) Governing
5) Watchdog Function
C) The Two-Party System
Started with the ratification of the Constitution – Federalists
and Anti-Federlists
Traditionally we have thus always have had one so it is hard
for 3rd parties to come forward
Single member districts – winner takes all – promotes 2 party
Plurality – the most, not the majority
Wasted vote – 3rd party member
Law discourages 3rd party
Bipartisan – two parties work together and find common
ground (127)
Consensus – general agreement among groups
US has mostly been an ideologically consensus – we have had
some divisions (Civil War) but for the most part - similar
D) Multiparty Systems and One Party Systems
Multiparty systems lead to more diverseness but also
lead to more instability
Coalition – temporary alliance of several groups who
come together to form a working majority to control
the government
One Party is also a no party – not a dictatorship
In ¼ of states today, a single party wins most
elections - Chicago, “Solid South”
Review
Bellringer
Objectives
Understand the origins of political parties in the US.
Identify and describe the three major periods of
single-party domination and describe the current era
of divided government.
II. Two Party System in American History
Federalists v. Anti-Federalists
Jefferson created the Democratic Republicans –
1800
Incumbent – current officeholder
Page 134-135
A) The Era of Democrats
Era of Good Feelings – only one real party –
Jefferson’s 1800 – 1824
Factions – competing groups
Jacksonian democrats v. Whigs
Spoils system – practice of awarding public offices,
contracts, and other favorers to those who supported
the party in power.
1854 – Republicans created Ripon, WI.
Elected Lincoln in 1860
B) The Era of the Republican
From 1860 – 1932 – almost complete Republican
control of the Presidency
Cleveland in 1884 and 1892, Wilson in 1912-1920
Republicans had tremendous prosperity
Democrats also to sectional – supported only in the
South – Anti-Black (Solid South)
Electorate – the people eligible to vote
Sectionalism – emphasizes a devotion to the
interests of a particular region
D) The Return of the Democrats
Great Depression allowed Democrats to take over
New base of southerners, small farmers, labor, and
big city politics supported economic and social
welfare programs
African Americans left Republicans and became
Democrats.
1932 – 1968 – only break was Eisenhower from
1952-1960 (moderate)
E) Era of Divided Government
Nixon 1968-1974 ®
(D)
Ford 1974-1975 ®
Watergate (D)
Carter 1976-1980 (D) Hostages
(D)
Reagan 1980 – 1988 ®
(D)
Bush 1988-1992 ®
Economy (D)
Clinton 1992-2000 (D)
®
Bush 2000 – 2008 ®
®
Obama 2008 -2012? (D)
(D)/®
Review
Do we appear to be on the verge of such an era of
dominance of a party today? Why or why not?
Objectives
Identify the types of minor parties that have been
active in American politics.
Understand why minor parties are important despite
the fact that none has ever won the presidency.
III. The Minor Parties
Libertarian
Short lived
Reform
Particular local
Socialist
Single state
Prohibition
4 types
Natural law
Communist
American Independent
Green
Constitution
A) Minor Parties in the United States
Ideological parties – based on a particular set of
comprehensive believes of social, economic, and political
matters – most a share of Marxism
Single – Issue parties: focus on single public
concern(free soil, Know Nothings, Right to Life Party)
Econo0mic Protest Parties – exist in times of economic
distrust – they blame someone and demand better times
(Wall Street, bankers, railroads, or imports)
Splinter Parties – parties that split away from major
parties usually around a strong personality – most often
who failed to win their parties nomination. (Roosevelt,
George Wallace)
Green Party started as single issue – now it has spread.
B) Why Minor Parties Are Important
Anti-Masons first used a convention to nominate a
Presidential Candidate
Can play “spoiler” in an election – Nader in 2000
and Roosevelt in 1912
Act as critics and innovators
Most innovations are “stolen” by the bigger party
Review
Why do you think a leader or group might seek to
create a minor party even though their chances for
winning are less than those of a major party?
A minor party is likely to be a victim of its own
success. Explain the meaning of this statement.
In what ways can minor parties impact elections in
this country?
IV. Party Organization
Objectives:
Understand why the major parties have a
decentralized structure.
Describe the national party machinery and party
organization at the State and local levels.
A) The Decentralized Nature of the Parties
Dems and Repubs are both decentralized with little
control from National to State to Local parties
The President is always the head of the political party
– makes sense – power, favors, access to media
Federalism makes the parties decentralized – over
500,000 elected posts in the US. – Federalism is
decentralized, helps make US also
Nominating a President can cause factions within the
party – helping decentralize it
B) National Party Machinery
National Convention – meets every 4 years and picks
Pres and VP and adopts party platform and rules.
The National Committee – made up of all state chair
people and other supporters – main goal is to stage
the National Convention.
National Chairperson – chosen right after the
President is nominated from the National
Convention or elected.
Congressional Campaign Committee – Each party in
each house have own campaign committees
C) State and Local Party machinery
Have a state committee with a chairperson usually a
front for the governor
Locally, it could be anything
Ward – unit in which cities are divided into districts
Precinct – smallest unit of election administration
Usually only active in the few months before an
election
Review
Project time
Design a Minor Political Party
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