What were the criteria that voters prioritized
for redistricting when they approved the
California Redistricting Commission (CRC) initiative?
If the legislature drew the new districts, what criteria
would they prioritize?
How much did the CRC's district maps adhere to
voters’ criteria?
Did the new CRC process produce districts that were more
competitive?
Did it create maps that had distinct partisan advantages?
Elections and Party Systems
•What is a Party System?
•not all systems the same...why?
•What is basis of party competition?
•Why two party systems, why multi-party
systems?
What are Parties?
• Organization dedicated to winning elections
• Primary institution for organizing mass
democracy
• Democracy, representation impossible w/o
parties
Responsible party model
Two parties:
One Controls Government
One Acts as Opposition
Elections a referendum on the Government
Requires “discipline,” but provides simplicity,
accountability
Parties and Responsible
Government
Parties present clear choices to voters
Cohesive platform
MPs all vote party line
Number of choices limited
Government
Opposition
Accountability
Lippset & Rokkan Model
Party Systems function of:
Coalitions of social groups defied by historical
cleavages
• National Revolution (State building)
• Industrial Revolution
• Post - material Revolution
Lippset and Rokkan: Old
Coalitions
National Revolution
Cleavages:
Pre-existing interests vs..... forces of new nationstate
Land-based elites vs. liberals/merchants
Church vs.... State
City vs. Country
Center vs..... periphery
Dominant culture against distinct regions
Lippset and Rokkan: Old
Coalitions
Industrial Revolution
Cleavages:
Owners vs. workers
Capital vs. Labor / workers
Land-based interests vs. Capital
Lippset and Rokkan: New
Coalitions
Post-material / post-industrial revolution
(Inglehart)
Society moves beyond ‘material’ economic
concerns
Newer cleavages around ‘cultural’ values
‘process’ oriented concerns
Lippset and Rokkan: Coalitions
How do these old cleavages define contemporary parties?
• Religion (CDU in Germany, US Democrats pre‘68?)
• Region (Scotland SNP, Germany CSU, Canada BQ, )
• Class (Torries v. Labour in UK; Socialists in FR, IT,
SP)
Lippset and Rokkan: Coalitions
Dalton:
“Most parties and party systems are still oriented
primarily toward the traditional political alignments
that L & R described”
New coalitions: Values based, environment, lifestyle,
minority rights, social/moral issues (?)
Lippset & Rokkan: Coalitions
How much do ‘old’ cleavages matter?
Does this model work in US (why?
why not?)
•Class?
•Land-elite based parties (Conservatives vs..... Liberals)
a dead cleavage?
•Church v. State Cleavage (religious v. secularists)
Old Politics v New Politics?
In US
Old “New Deal” system: Dems = party of working class
GOP = party of business
Since then:
Women’s movement, Civil Right Movement,
Environmentalism, sexual-orientation concerns,
changes in economy, family structure
But: Rising income inequality
Party Identification
“Generally speaking, do you think of yourself as a Democrat,
Republican, independent, or what?”
Where do attachments to party come from?
Sociological determinism
You have no free will?
Funnel of Causality
Early life-->PID----------------->vote
Old vs. New Politics, US
Party ID
1952 1968 1980 1996 2000 2008
Low income
64% 65% 60% 63% 62% 63%
% Democratic
High income
% Democratic
30% 41% 32%
41% 36% 28%
Old vs. New Politics, US
Party ID
1952 1968 1980 1996 2000 2008
Unskilled
71% 81% 56% 52% 50% n/a
% Democratic
Professional 52% 44% 47%
% Democratic
41% 46% n/a
Old vs. New Politics, US
Is there “Class” in the US?
Dalton, Chpt. 8
% “working class” = % middle class
Class v. income
Is there an upper class?
Old vs. New Politics, US
Why is class voting decreasing?
•
•
•
•
•
Growth of the “new middle class”
“Workers” have income similar to middle class”
“Increased social mobility”
“Social modernization”
“Parties have broadened their appeal to attract
middle class voters
• Socialists appeal to center
Old vs. New Politics, US
Is class voting decreasing?
• Change in political conflict
• Parties less likely to make appeals on classbased issues
• Or, all parties have abandoned working class,
low income voters
Old Politics v New Politics: If
not ‘class’, then what?
• Traditionalists vs..... Non-traditionalists?
• Small public sector vs..... larger public sector
(old cleavage?)
• Materialists vs..... Post materialists?
environment over economy vs....
economy over environment
Cleavages and Voters
National revolution
region, religion
Industrial revolution
‘middle’ class vs. working class
Postindustrial
materialist/post mat
Party Systems: Number of
Parties
Types of parties & basis of competition in a nation
(Dalton)
Number of parties
• Two-party systems (US, UK..sort of)
• Multi-party systems (FR, IT, Ger...sort of)
Why 2, 3, more parties?
Number of cleavages
Regionalism
Institutional design
Electoral system rules:
Single member constituencies vs.....
Multi-member constituencies
Runoff procedures
Party Systems & Electoral
Rules
France:
Plurality, 2 round w/ runoff
2 large parties, several small
Germany:
Mixed Member Proportional (MMP)
2 large parties, several small
UK:
Simple Plurality..... 2.5 (?) parties
US:
Simple Plurality......2 parties
Party Systems and Electoral
Rules
Rules that affect number of parties:
SMSP vs......... PR (but see last slide)
Size of national legislature
Presidential vs..... parliamentary
Federalism (regionalism)...Canada
Runoffs, ‘alternate’ vote systems (Australia)
Comparing parties
How do US parties compare to Europe?
Does a two party system = less distinct parties?
more distinctive parties?
Does a multi-party system = more ideological diversity?
Party Identification
“Generally speaking, do you think of yourself as a Democrat,
Republican, independent, or what?”
Where do attachments to party come from?
Sociological determinism
You have no free will?
Funnel of Causality
Early life-->PID----------------->vote