Parties
Affecting Policy Through Creating Electoral Majorities
What Are Parties?
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Parties in American democracy
How are political parties and organized interests similar to each other?
What is the most important difference between a party and an interest group?
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Parties offer candidates for office
Parties tend to be larger and more diverse
The Link below includes a good description of why the U.S. has experienced a two-party system
almost constantly since its founding. Read until the header “Soft Money” to gain insight into
how the two-party system endures transformation:
http://www.sparknotes.com/us-government-and-politics/american-government/political-parties/section2.rhtml
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The two-party system
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Single-member districts with winner-take all plurality contests
Political Parties in Texas
Survey the party organization structure at the site below:
http://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/archive/html/part/features/0603_01/slide1.html
What are the two different party organizations in Texas?
What do they do, and how do they differ from each other?
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Temporary party organization
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Precinct conventions
County and district conventions
State conventions
Presidential election years
Permanent party organization
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Precinct chairs
County executive committees
State executive committee
The Party Systems
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Partisan realignment theory
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Critical elections
History of the Party System
Visit the following party timeline online, zoom in and scroll around to reveal information on the
history of the American two-party systems:
http://zoom.it/knrN
Answer the following questions for each of the six party systems in the timeline:
1. Throughout the history of the U.S., has there been a pattern to the two-party balance?
2. How does the U.S. historical balance compare to the party power balance in Texas’ history?
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Federalists 1796-1828
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Whigs
Republicans
Democrats
The 1876 deal
Progressives System 1896-1936
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Republicans
• Progressives
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Democrats
The Bull Moose Party
The Populist Party
New Deal Era 1936-
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Jacksonian Democrats
Civil War System 1860-1896
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Anti-Federalists
Jacksonian Democracy 1828-1860
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Federalists
Democrats
Republicans
Beyond the New Deal
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Dealignment
• The “myth of the independent voter”
Complete the Chapter 21 Who Are Texans? exercise from StudySpace now.
http://www.wwnorton.com/college/polisci/we-the-people9/texas/ch/21/interactiveExercises.aspx
The Party Eras in Texas
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I. The one-party system (1876-1939)
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Democratic dominance
II. The New Deal coalition (1940-1952)
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Democratic factionalism
A third “party” began to play a role in Texas elections in the mid-twentieth century. Read the
first three full paragraphs on page 836 in We the People to discover who this “party” was.
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III. The three-party system (1953-1977)
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IV. The two-party system (1978-1993)
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Balanced party competition
V. The one-party system (1994-)
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The appeal of Republican candidates
Republican preeminence
VI. The future system (?)
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Changing demographics