Political Parties
• A political party is a group of persons who
seek to control government through the
winning of elections and holding public
office. #########Test Question
– Today the Democrats and the Republicans
(G.O.P) are the two major parties ######
Political Party Functions
• Nominating Candidates – parties select candidates and
present them to voters as options
• Informing and Activating Supporters – parties must
inform the public and encourage their participation in
government
• The Bonding Agent Function – ensure the good
performance of its candidates and officeholders
• Governing – most government business is based on
partisanship.
– Most decisions made by political officeholders is based around
how they think their party would want them to vote.
• Acting as Watchdog – parties act as watchdogs over the
conduct of the public’s business.####
– The party out of power, will often criticize the role of the party in
power (the party that holds the most governmental positions
The Two-Party System
•
•
A political system dominated by two
major parties.
Reasons for U.S. two-party system ####
1. History – once Washington left office,
government officials divided themselves
between those that supported Hamilton
(Federalists) and those that supported
Jefferson (Anti-Federalists
Reasons for Two-Party System
(cont.)
2. The Force of Tradition – we have two major
parties because that is the way it has always
been done. Humans do not like change.
3. The Electoral System – The winner-take-all
system of elections in the U.S. encourages
only two parties to guarantee one side gets a
majority of the votes.
4. The American Ideological Consensus – over
time, the American people have shared many
of the same ideals, principles, and patterns of
belief.
Single-Member Districts (SMDs)
• A single member district is an electoral
district from which one person is chosen
by the voters for each elected office.
– SMDs discourage minor parties because only
one winner can come out of each contest.
• You can either vote for the party in power, or for
the party with the best chance of replacing the
party in power. Some believe a vote for another
minor party is a wasted vote.
DEMOCRATS
African-Americans
Catholics
Jews
Union Members
REPUBLICANS
White males
Protestants
Business owners
Party Membership Patterns
• Factors that can influence party
membership:
Family
Major events
Economic Status
Religion
Occupation
Age
Two-Party System in American
History
• The first two real political parties were the
Federalists and the DemocraticRepublicans. ######
– Federalists – founded by Alexander Hamilton,
party of the “rich and well-born.”
– Democratic-Republicans – founded by
Thomas Jefferson, more sympathetic to the
“common man”
Four Major Party Eras
1.
2.
3.
4.
The Era of the Democrats, 1800-1860 –
Democratic domination until the Civil War, mostly
due to disorganization by the opposition.
The Era of the Republicans, 1860-1932 – The
election of Abe Lincoln marked the beginning of
70+ years of GOP dominance.
The Return of the Democrats, 1932-1968 – the
Great Depression helped the Democrats regain
control
Divided Government, 1968-present – neither party
can consistently hold the presidency, Congress is
often controlled by the opposing party.
Minor Parties
• The Libertarian Party #####
– Stresses individual liberty, opposes taxes, foreign involvements,
government intrusion into private lives
• Prohibition Party ######
– Advocates a nationwide ban on alcohol
• Constitution Party
– Advocates “free pursuance of happiness, not the regulation of it.”
• Communist Party USA
– Terms itself, “the Party of the American Working Class.” Looks
forward to the restructuring of the American political and
economic systems.
• Green Party #####
– Promotes environmental concerns with the slogan “We do not
inherit the Earth from our parents, we borrow it for our children.”
The Minor Parties
• Types of “Third” Parties
– Ideological parties – based on a particular set of
beliefs (Communist party) ###
– Single-issue parties – concentrate only on one publicpolicy matter (Prohibition Party, Green Party) ###
– Economic protest parties – found in poor economic
times, dissatisfied with current conditions and
demanding better times(Occupy Wall Street)
– Splinter parties – parties that have split away from
one of the major parties (Bull Moose party, Dixiecrats)
####
Roles of Third Parties ####
1. Spoiler role – even if they don’t win the
election, they can pull enough votes away from
one side to sway the election.
2. Critic – unlike the major parties, minor parties
are ready, willing, and able to take clear-cut
stands on controversial issues. They draw
attention to issues, major-parties are trying to
avoid
3. Innovator – Some of the most important issues
have been brought up by minor parties, but
stolen by major parties when the proposal gain
a real share of public support.
Party Organization
•
Party organization tend to be decentralized,
meaning they have no chain of command from
the top to the bottom, because:
1. The role of the presidency – the president is
obviously his party’s leader, the opposition
party has no clear leader.
2. The impact of federalism – there are more than
half a million elected offices in the US, it is
hard for one group to make all the decisions
3. The role of the nominating process – the
nominating process is often a divisive one.
National Party Machinery
• 4 elements of both major parties
– The National Convention – party’s national voice.
Nominates candidates for president, adopts party
rules, and writes the party platform
– The National Committee – between conventions, the
party’s affairs are handled by the national committee
– National Chairperson – leader of the national
committee, directs the work of the party’s
headquarters, and its small staff in Washington
– Congressional Campaign Committee – each party
has one for each house in Congress. Works to
reelect incumbents and ensure members of their
party take open seats.
State and Local Machinery
• Although national party organization are largely
the product of custom and of the rules adopted
by the national conventions, state and local
levels are set by State law.
• At the State level, party machinery is built
around a State central committee, headed by a
State chairperson
• Local party structures vary widely from place to
place. Local units include congressional and
legislative districts, counties, cities and towns,
wards and precincts.
3 Components of the Party
•
•
•
The party organization – leaders and
activists who control the party machinery
The party in the electorate – the party’s
loyalists who vote for the party in
elections
The party in government – party’s
officeholders at all levels of government
Why Have Parties Weakened?
• Most voters in the United States do not identify
themselves with one party or the other.
• There has been a large increase in split-ticket
voting, or voting for candidates of different parties
• Parties are less organized and have greater internal
conflict. This conflict results from primary elections
• Changes in technology have made the media more
important than the party in the spread of information
• The growth in number and impact of single-issue
organizations