Parties at the Founding
• The Constitution contains no provision for
political parties
– The Framers did not consider them to be necessary
• Washington warned against the rise of parties in
his Farewell Address
• Federalists 10 and 51 warn against “factions”
o Why did they form and why do they persist
today?
 They are useful to candidates and to voters
Roles of Political Parties
•
Organize elections
–
–
•
Provide Voting Cues
–
•
Nominate candidates and compete for office
National, State and Local Committees
Help deflect information costs
Connect citizens to government
–
Help elected officials create packages of policy
•
•
Ex: Contract with America
Crucial to organization of the legislative branch
Evolution of Party System and
Critical Elections
• First Party System: Jeffersonian
– 1796-1824
• Second Party System: Jacksonian Democracy
– 1828-1856
• Third Party System: Civil War Period
– 1860-1892
• Fourth Party System: Industrial Republican
– 1896-1928
• Fifth Party System: New Deal
– 1932-1964
• Sixth Party System: Divided Government
– 1968-Present
Two Party System
• Other nations:
– Multi-member districts, proportional representation
How Does the American electoral system
reinforces two-party system?
• Structure of elections:
– Single-member, simple plurality system
• “First past the post” elections
• Other factors:
– Media attention (or lack thereof)
– Contributions and Federal Funding
– Debates
Problems with Two Party
System:
• Almost all third parties are marginalized
• Natural incentive for parties and
candidates to be similar to each other
• Divided Government and gridlock
Why Are Parties So Similar?
Spatial Model:
Model of Political Competition
• Median Voter Theorem
• Median Party Position
• “Race to the Middle”
• Other uses of Spatial Model (elections,
congressional votes)
Divided Government
• What is divided government?
• Trends of Divided Government
– On national level, divided governments has
existed for all but 6 years between 1969-2000
• How do we get divided government?
– Split-ticket balloting (intentional divided gov’t)
• Does Divided Government cause gridlock?
Traditional Constituencies:
Democratic Party
• Draws support disproportionately from:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Urban, big-city voters
Labor
Minorities voters
Ethnic voters
Catholics
Women
Low-income/ Poor
Highest and Lowest Education groups
Traditional Constituencies:
Republican Party
• Draws support disproportionately from:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Rural, small-town voters
Suburban voters
Protestants
Business people and professionals
Upper-class/ Wealthy
College educated
Constituencies for Parties in 2000
Election
Parties on State Level
• At the state level, the importance of political
parties varies greatly from one state to another
• In one-party states, it is obvious that parties
exercise little discipline over legislative voting
(and little effect on policymaking) AL and LA
– Factions within parties are more important in these
states
• In states like Connecticut and Michigan, both
parties are active and cohesive  In these
states, the parties have considerable influence