III. Political Parties
+ Elections
III. Pol Parties + Elections
1
A. Purpose of Political Parties
1. A Beacon in the fog of politics - a group of “likeminded individuals” whose purpose is to gain
control of gov’t and make policy.
2. Components: 3 headed political GIANT:
a. Party in the electorate - voluntary membership
b. Party organization - Nat’l, state and local day to
day operations whose goal is to select
candidates, building platforms, win elections.
c. Party in gov’t - elected officials - party or power
elites who sometimes agree on policy or the
making of policy.
3. Political Ideology
III. Pol Parties + Elections
2
4. Party History
a. US Parties typically been two-party offering American voters a choice. . .which is
what democracy is all about!
Historically - Federalists v. anti-federalists
evolved into Democrats v. Republicans
although . . .
III. Pol Parties + Elections
3
b. History of Pol Parties
History of Party development
1. Why have Democrats been predominately
from the Southern states?
2. Why did the Republican and Democrats
split?
3. Why have Democrats, who came from antifederalist roots and state gov’t idealism,
now favor Liberal causes?
III. Pol Parties + Elections
4
5. . . . 2+ Party system
3rd parties have popped up
a. ideological - Socialists, Independents
b. Single issue - free soilers, Greenpeace
c. Economic protests - greenback party
d. splinter - bull Moose
III. Pol Parties + Elections
5
5. Republicans and Democrats have switched in
dominance since 1800, referred to as
re-alignment. Since 1968, era of “Divided gov’t. . .”
one party runs the Exec Branch, the other controls
Congress . . .which could create legislative
gridlock.
6. All parties promotes the same purpose:
a. pick Candidates via a nomination
b. runs campaigns
c. establish an image. . .
d. articulate policies
e. coordinate policymaking
f. compete for votes
III. Pol Parties + Elections
6
(1) Down’s Rational Choice theory states . . .
(a) voters want certain issues addressed and
adopted by gov’t soooooooo
(b) parties want to win office byyyyyyyyy
selecting policies that are widely favored. . .
by the populous. . .nobody votes for losers.
. .only for winners!
(c) centrist policies usually win. . .don’t drift
too far from moderate proposals.
III. Pol Parties + Elections
7
7. Is the party beacon getting dimmer. . .
a. Many voters have moved to the middle of
party identification - a dealignment of
party ID.
b. 2000 election had over 40% claiming
independent monikers. . .w/ Democrats
losing more ID than Republicans.
c. table 8.1 pg 240. Many people split
tickets!
III. Pol Parties + Elections
8
Thesis statements
Thesis: Define Dealignment. Explain why it has
occurred and how it has impacted political party
identification.
Thesis two: Define Divided Gov’t. Explain how
dealignment encourages this type of gov’t by
describing how the electorate votes.
Thesis 2: Compare and contrast the differences
between Dealignment and Realignment. Which
one is more apt to lead to Divided Government?
III. Pol Parties + Elections
9
B. Party machines – The Hunt
for the right candidate?
each state manages its own party operation - a
decentralized and fragmented system.
1. Patronage dominates - It’s the good boy/girl club.
.Party regulars become gov’t appointees IF . . .
2. Finding the right candidates takes parties through
“grass roots” democracy, until the inTERparty
campaign begins. It seems to last foooooooor
evvvvverrrrr to find the right candidates!
a. How does one come across a potential party
elite? Be a party regular! and hold a public office
at some level - US Congressperson or state Guv
III. Pol Parties + Elections
10
Intraparty competition begins
b. goal- amass enough delegates at the nat’l
convention to win the NOMINATION! For your
party. All 50 states run their own shows! It starts
at . . . .
(1). The caucus (12 states use this road) finds
delegates for the next level. . . IOWA precinct to
county to state to national convention, and also
begins platform development. OR
(2).Primaries weed out the candidates, not parties.
. .you can win w/o party endorsement.. .but it is
difficult. GOAL: Get your primary scheduled
early? Right Nevada?
III. Pol Parties + Elections
11
Types of Primaries. . . .
(a) closed - only party faithful can vote
(b) Open - You select which camp to vote in
(c) Blanket - all parties run on one ballot. - Supreme Court said it was unconstitutional,
violated basic function of political party - to
choose candidates - Democratic party v.
Jones.
III. Pol Parties + Elections
12
(d) GOAL- you win the primary, you get the
number of delegates the state law allocates.
Some are proportional, some winner take
all. . . (Super Tuesday in February could
end the speculation quickly as state’s front
load their primary schedule to gain
importance, including Nevada!
(e) get the BIG MOo o o o!
(f) After all the primaries - tally up your
delegates and a majority gives you the
nomination.
III. Pol Parties + Elections
13
C. Nat’l level
- attempting to manage 50 states’operations
1. Nat’l convention - select presidential + VP
candidates, sets platform, endorses all party
nominees for other offices! Ho Hum
2. National committee
3. national chairperson
4. Campaign highway. Goal: Goal - form enough
coalitions ( of SIGS) to win the election
INTERparty event
(a) dominate the media
(b) vanquish your opponent via attack ads!
III. Pol Parties + Elections
14
(c) spend lots of money.
“money is the mother’s milk of politics”
(1) FEC established in 1974 following H20GATE scandal.
•gives public financing to candidates.
•limits presidential candidates expenditures to $80 million
per candidate
• requires disclosure of all expenses.
• limits candidate’s contributions to $1000 (now $2,300).
•soft money allows “party” contributions but McCain +
Feingold legislation stopped soft money until 2010’s
Supreme Court Case Citizen’s United. . . .
•PACs can spend “unlimited amounts” (Buckley v. Valeo)
“indirectly” . . . .Power video.
• -Voluntary contributions
+ Super Pacs
:
III. Pol Parties + Elections
15
The milk spillage . . .$
Who’s Giving Who’s Getting
Where
1. Corps/Unions Nonprofits
Ads
Citizen United 527’s
“
Unlimited $$ Super Pacs
2. Individuals
Superpacs
Ads
Unlimited $$
Fed Pacs
Candidates
$5000
$5000
Natl Parties
Ads
III. Pol Parties + Elections
$2400
Unlimited ? 16
NY Times Ho
D. Divided Gov’t 5. Today- many constituents are pulling away from
party ID’s -- dealignment- - and this is leading to
1. Many states - 1946-85 had one party control
both
Gov + Leg; 2001 dropped to 42 percenta) Minnesota had a three way split!
b) Voters have become indifferent! --Dealignment
Where are voters going. . .
2. Third Parties - What do they represent?
Minnesota’s Reform Party is a prime exampleJesse’s Revolution:
III. Pol Parties + Elections
17
a). Jesse’s Platform
(1) brought left and right wing philosophies. .
.pro choice and pro-capital punishment
(2) brought out new voter. . .18-26
(3) manipulated the media to his advantage.
. .a lot of free publicity
(4) Other parties ran half-hearted campaign.
(5) don’t need a majority to win. . .need a
plurality (SMP)
6) Used Internet shortcut. . .fundraising,
deliver the message, avoid the media.
III. Pol Parties + Elections
18
b) . Ralph Nader + Ross Perot
Nader “stole” Al Gore’s left wing thunder in 2000 election. .
.It was that close! and . . . Ross Perot took away of
George Bush Sr’s thunder in 1992 when Bill Clinton won.
In the ’04 election, was a 3rd party an issue?
c). Third parties have an uphill fight. . .
(1) Single member plurality voting system (winner take all)
system favors two parties. . .
and Jesse is only 1 governor of 50
(2) Two Parties have organization. . . Nader was on the
ballot in only 43 states. Only seven third party
candidates in history have made it on all the states’
ballots. Organizations can raise $$$$
(3) Two parties can moderate views to enhance voters.
III. Pol Parties + Elections
19
E. Elections Legitimizing the political process
1. Elections provide for:
a. Institutionalizing the political process. All forms of political
participation can end here ..,
Voooooooootingggggggg b. Access to political power w/o violence. . Ballot instead of
bullets. The way to choose the right candidates. . .
c. Guiding policy direction - either by selecting a new person
or by
(1) initiatives (Put IT on a ballot) collect the signatures
(2) or referendums (vote for it) casting the vote .
2. 2000 Presidential Election was one of a kind. . .
Who chose the winner. . .Answer: Popular vote????
Electoral college???? Supreme Court ????. . .the
people???? or all of the above!
III. Pol Parties + Elections
20
a. A campaign of Gore’s future proposals v.
Bush’s attempt to “re-align” country around
conservative proposals
b. media polls declared it was “too close to
call” and it was
c. What do we know:
(1) Gore won the urban areas.
(2) Bush won the burbs
III. Pol Parties + Elections
21
(3) Gore won a majority of women and black voters
(4) Bush carried male vote decisively.
(5) Media would not declare a winner until Florida
vote was “legally” recounted because the spread
between the two voters was less than 1/10th of
one percent. Never in US political history was it
ever this close except in Hawaii.
Florida has six million voters. . .Bush’s eventual
winning spread was less than 1,000
III. Pol Parties + Elections
22
(6.) Florida Supreme Court upheld Gore’s
attempt to recount ballots in a way to show
the “clear intention of the voter”.
(7.) US Supreme Ct ruled in Bush v. Gore that
although a recount was legal, the same
procedure had to be used in ALL counties,
not only those in question. . .
.
III. Pol Parties + Elections
23
AND there was not enough time to accomplish
that mission B4 December 12, when the
electoral college was to meet. . .soooooo
Bush won Florida w/ 271 electoral votes to
Gore’s 269. . .
(8) only the 4th time the winner of the popular
vote lost an election
III. Pol Parties + Elections
24
(9) What did we learn from this process?
(a) need to refine the voting process. Many races
very close and the machinery designed to count
the votes is ooooooold in too many states --- and
it is a State problem.
(b) Media can’t determine the winners, the voters
must. Should Negative ads be allowed? (Living
candidate analysis)
(c) Third parties can be a major factor in close
elections. . .Nader’s Green party garnered 2.7%
of the vote and 97,000 in Florida. . .200 times
more than the 537 vote margin separating Bush
and Gore.
III. Pol Parties + Elections
25
(d) Does the electoral college need an overhaul?
((1)) Bush carried the Mountain West and
South... Gore the NE and Pacific coast
((2)) Directly voting a winner takes power away
from smaller states (at least 12 of them).
((3)) Will 38 states overrule an institution that has
been in place for over 200 years?
III. Pol Parties + Elections
26
F. ’04 election
1. Polls showed election too close to call but:
(a) GW won handily with 286 electoral votes
and an overwhelming popular vote. . .
Biggest popular vote win since the 1980’s.
Maps showed red all over except in California
and the NE and. . .
Minnesota.
(b) Bush also pulled larger wins in House and
Senate, which disappeared in ’06 election.
Did “re-alignment” occur?
III. Pol Parties + Elections
27
G. A bigger issue. . . Suffrage
Getting citizens to vote.
1. Suffrage an issue in three constitutional
amendments:
15th, 19th, 26th. YOU’RE 18,
you can vote. . .but too many don’t. 51% in 2000
election. . .only 30%+ in off year voting. 54%
appeared in 04; 56% in ‘08. MN leads in voter
turnout. Nevada is on the other end of the list.
2. Who does vote: The Demographics + why
a. Old b. high SES
c. Educated d. Gender - Females higher
e. Married f. union membership
III. Pol Parties + Elections
28
3. Who can vote:
a. Registration is simple in Minn. . .complicated in
other states- ‘93 Motor Voter Act-- driver’s license
application check off. It’s complicated in Nevada.
b. registration is up but turn-out is down.
c. And often parties like it that way. . .because if
young, less educated, less well-off people don’t
vote. . .power and political elites can remain in
power. . .
d. e-mail registration and e-mail voting may change
the nature of the game as election day becomes
election week or another high tech phenom.
e. Institutional requirements. . .Citizen, no felons, 18
III. Pol Parties + Elections
29
4. A better issue is “How do voters vote”?
a. Party ID. . .although its waning vs. candidate centered
elections. Being an incumbent may have more influence
than the party in office.
Voters don’t seem to mind divided gov’t.
“Floating voters” or those so called independents, who vote
for the candidate instead of the party beacon, are an
issue. Both major parties seek their vote. And a
successful campaign can attempt to lure them.
06 voting results
b. Candidates’ personna. - What are those leadership
qualities: Miller-Wattenberg-Malanchuk:
(1) reliability
(2) integrity
(3) competence
III. Pol Parties + Elections
30
I.Voters can dictate policy IF
- that IS what a politician does once elected -- make
policy- Now will he/she do what they claim?
(1) voters know what they want
(2) “
“
“
the candidate wants?
(3) There are differences between candidates?
(4) One casts the vote for your choice
When given the option, voters’ policy choices carry
IF the candidates positions are clear. .
And there are wide policy differences between the
candidates. . . . BUTTTT Too often this is not true.
III. Pol Parties + Elections
31
(5) Retrospective voting
a. Voters CAN support candidates who will
provide for them. Ronald Reagan coined
it. . .
b. “What have you done for me lately?” “Are
you better off today than you were
yesterday?” If yesssssss . . .vote for me
again!
b. Obviously major events and economics
impact voter preferences. . .
III. Pol Parties + Elections
32
(6) A lot of issues. . .
(a)Nat’l Youth Service League.
(1)At 18 or upon graduation. . .America’s
youth will perform two year service to
establish one’s civic duty.
(a)Military obligation. . .We are at war
(b) Civilian duty. . .Schools. . . .inner city . .
.Institutional work. . .Parks (CCC)
(2) Pay off. . . Intrinsic – Good for America
Extrinsic – Civilian GI Bill.
III. Pol Parties + Elections
33
H. Why don’t people vote?
1. Institutional obstacles
Age, registration, citizenship
2. Apathetic– No political efficacy. No sense
of civic duty.
3. Time issues – Too busy . . .costly to give up
work . . .It’s a Tuesday
4. Too many elections. . .diffuses enthusiasm
5. No difference between the two parties.
6. Third parties never win so no changes.
7. Vote doesn’t matter, 1 of 100 million!
III. Pol Parties + Elections
34
I. Who elects the president?
Electoral College?
1. Who are electors?
Party wonks. . . Selected by
State legislators
2. How “win” electors:
Carry states popular plurality vote = unit rule
Only Nebraska and Maine goes proportional
3. How many need to win?
Need 270, If Tie EC... race goes to . . .
the House where each state gets . . . .
one vote. Need Majority
4. Big states benefit, especially those w/ big cities.
5. But the EC protects . . .
small states!
6. Today issue of swing states. – NV; MO, OH, PA, VA, NC,
III. Pol Parties + Elections
35
FL
I. Do politicians really
understand the voters?
1. If politicians give clear policy options. .
.voters can make reliable decisions. . .
Retrospective voting “What have you done for
me lately?
a. economy is a major factor.
b. Citizens do benefit from those policy
decisions. . .If you don’t like the policy. . .
throw the bums out!
III. Pol Parties + Elections
36