July 10, 2013
Political Process in Modern Democracies
Elections and Political Parties
Political Parties
 Organizations that run candidates for political office and coordinate the actions of officials
elected under the party banner.
o Party Organization – A specific political party’s leaders and workers at the national, state,
and local levels
o Party in government – The group of officeholders who belong to a specific political party
and were elected as candidates of that party
o Party in the electorate – The group of citizens who identify with a specific political party
Characteristics of political parties
 Table 7.1 (page 125)
The United States
 A two-party system (Republican Party vs. Democratic Party)
 The Duverger’s Law
o The principle that in a democracy with single-member districts and plurality voting, like
the U.S., only one of the two parties’ candidates will have a realistic chance of winning
political office.
o Single-member districts – An electoral system in which every elected official represents
a geographically defined area and each area elects one representative.
o Plurality voting – A voting system in which the candidates who receives the most votes
within a geographic area wins the election regardless of whether that candidate wins a
majority of the votes.
 The fifth party system (1933-1968)
o Republicans v. Democrats
o The New Deal Coalition – The assembly of groups who aligned with and supported the
Democratic Party in support of the New Deal policies during the Fifth Party System,
including African-Americans, Catholics, Jews, union members, and white southerners.
(remember Franklin D. Roosevelt [a.k.a., FDR])
• Democrats believed that large-scale federal intervention could help the
economy grow faster, run more smoothly while also protecting “the little guy.”
• Republicans thought that the federal government was usurping roles
traditionally held by the state and local government with no proof that the
federal government could do much better.
o Democrats dominated the Fifth Party system.
 The sixth party system (1969-)
o Republicans v. Democrats
o Key issues were civil rights, affirmative action, abortion, social welfare (e.g., Medicare
and Medicaid) and war (and other foreign intervention).
o Realignment (in the South)
o Neither party has been dominant.
The Great Britain
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The Labor Party (left)
The Conservative Party (right)
Liberal Democratic Party (center)
Parliamentary system: the party group that controls Parliament elects the prime minister, who
heads the executive branch (strong party government)
Germany
 Proportional representation: a party’s share of the votes ultimately determines its share of the
seats in parliament (Bundestag)
 The voter cast two votes: the first vote is for a district candidates who is nominated by a small
group of official party members; the second vote is directly for a party, which leads to the
selection of half the Bundestag deputies from lists created by the parties
 A multiparty system: Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) – conservative; Social Democrats (SPD) –
leftist; the Green Party; the extreme right party
France
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Very fragmented multiparty system
Left: the Communist Party (PC), the Socialist Party (PS), etc
Right: the Union for a Popular Movement (UPM), the Union for French Democracy (UDF), etc
Extreme Right: National Front (FN)
The fragmentation of the party system typically requires coalition politics, wherein several
parties are forced to negotiate and compromise on their programs (not necessarily a model of
responsible party government)
Social Cleavages and Voter Alignments
 Table 7.2. (page 129)
 The National Revolution: the process of building unified national states in Europe during the 18th
and 19th centuries
o Center vs. Periphery: the dominant national culture against ethnic and religious
minorities in the peripheral regions
o Church vs. State: the centralizing, standardizing, and mobilizing forces of the national
government against the traditional values of the Catholic Church
 The Industrial Revolution
o Land vs. Industry: rural and agrarian interests against the economic concerns of a
rising industrial entrepreneurs
o Owners vs. workers: class conflict between the middle class composed of business
owners and the working class (now, between business associations and labor
unions)
 These four cleavages define major sources of social conflict existing within most democracies
 Dramatic changes began to affect party systems starting in the 1970s (The Postindustrial
Revolution)
o New issues: environmental protection, nuclear power, gender equality, and alternative
life-styles
o The rise of environmental parties (the Green Party)
o The rise of extreme right parties (against immigration)
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The Old left: identifies itself with the working class and labor unions + secular groups and urban
interests
The Old right: support business interests and the middle class
The New Politics dimension involves conflict over issues such as environmental protection,
minority rights, and alternative lifestyles (abortion, homosexuality, and euthanasia)
o Figure 7.2 (page 136)
o Figure 7.3 (page 138)