AP Gov.
Political Parties
 Instructional Materials
Edwards Chapter 8
MyPoliSciLab Activities
Washington’s Warning
 Content Overview
In his farewell address, President George Washington warned against the growing influence of
political parties. From his perspective, parties represented a threat to democracy in the United States.
But in spite of his caution, political parties today play a central role in American democracy. In this
unit, we analyze the role of political parties in American politics. We begin by outlining the functions
that parties perform in American democracy. Then we explore the significance of party
identification. We describe how parties are organized in the United States, and evaluate how well
parties generally implement their platforms. Next, we examine the historical evolution of political
parties in the United States. We conclude by evaluating the role of third parties in the American
political system, and determine why the two-party system has persisted. By the end of the chapter,
you should have a good understanding of the role of political parties in American politics.
 Learning Objectives
8.1
Identify the functions that political parties perform in
American democracy.
8.2
Determine the significance of party identification in America
today.
8.3
Describe how political parties are organized in the United
States.
8.4
Evaluate how well political parties generally do in carrying out
their promises.
8.5
Differentiate the various party eras in American history.
8.6
Assess both the impact of third parties on American politics
and their limitations.
8.7
Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of responsible
party government.
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 Class Activities
CLASS ACTIVITY 1: discuss the short-term and long-term consequences of the polarization of
the two main parties.

election maps http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/ illustrate the
geographic distribution of party support in the United States. Contrast recent redblue patterns with historical patterns.

develop predictions and explain their reasoning for what the electoral map will look
like fifty years from now.

consider the implications of polarization for the U.S. political system, particularly
given the multiple veto point structure of the American political system and
Madison’s emphasis on compromise in Federalist No. 51.
CLASS ACTIVITY 2: It is generally believed that Americans favor divided party government over
a single-party government. Why do Americans favor a divided party government? What are the
advantages to this type of government? What are the disadvantages?

Is a divided party government more effective than a government with one party in
charge of both the executive and legislative branches?

How does the preference for divided government reconcile with increasing
polarization in Congress?

Analyze President Barack Obama’s address to the 2004 Democratic National
Convention (www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWynt87PaJ0), which challenges the idea
of polarization.
CLASS ACTIVITY 3: Americans often express frustration with the two-party system in the United
States. Consider the following questions:

How does the electoral system in the United States favor the development of a twoparty system? What is the role of minor parties?
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What would need to occur for a viable third party to develop in the United States?

Would American politics be improved by inclusion of a third party? Why or why
not?

Alternatively, note how the structural “rules of the game” in American politics
include single, plurality, winner-take-all district elections; encourage a two-party
system; and make it almost impossible for a minor or third party to win. Discuss
whether proportional representation electoral rules (at least in the House of
Representatives and state legislatures), which would create a multiparty system,
would improve politics and democracy in the United States.
.
CLASS ACTIVITY 7: Debate the reasons why parties have declined in popularity. In particular,
have draw comparisons between the benefits of membership in an interest group versus the benefits
of membership in a political party.
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 Research Activities (Tag Team)
RESEARCH ACTIVITY 1: Research the electoral systems of proportional representation and
instant runoff voting systems. Then, write a short paper contrasting the “first past the post” electoral
system used in most of the United States with PR and IRV systems.

For PR-based systems, you may look at Israel or any number of European countries.
For IRV, you might explore local elections in San Francisco or Burlington, Vermont,
or the Australian electoral system.

differentiate between the three systems.

reflect on how the electoral system shapes the relative structure and strength of
political parties.
RESEARCH ACTIVITY 2: Investigate the party system of Canada. Try to identify the major
features of the political parties in the system in terms of the party-in-the-electorate, the party as
organization, and the party-in-government. Briefly describe what you found in comparison to the
two-party system in the United States.
RESEARCH ACTIVITY 3: Find copies of the most recent national platforms for the two major
parties. Compare them on a variety of issues. Next, look at public opinion polls to see how the party
positions correspond to those of average Americans. What do you find? Why do you think that is
the case?
RESEARCH ACTIVITY 4: Create a family tree of political parties, starting with the Federalists
and Democratic-Republicans, and concluding with the modern day parties.

Be sure to differentiate between the various elements of this tree, including
organizational continuity, ideological position, and political coalitions.
RESEARCH ACTIVITY 5: Compare and contrast the role of the parties and their platforms in
the 2000 and 2004 elections and in the 1948 election of Harry S. Truman. In particular, pay special
attention to how media, especially television, were used to promote party goals. Because television
was still very new in 1948 and was used strategically in 1996 and 1998, the comparisons should result
in starkly different images of parties. In addition, you should see the difference between partycentered and candidate-centered campaigns.
RESEARCH ACTIVITY 6: Read editorials for a period of several days following Ronald Reagan’s
1980 and 1984 elections. You should have no difficulty in finding a number of articles that
speculated on whether or not each was a realigning election. Write a “follow-up” essay reflecting on
Bill Clinton’s victories in 1992 and 1996 and on George W. Bush’s wins in 2000 and 2004. Were the
journalists correct in describing the early 1980s as a realigning period? Why or why not?
RESEARCH ACTIVITY 7: Use the Internet to look up state party organizations in three states
that have the potential to be different from one another (for example, a Southern state, a New
England state, and a Western state). Compare the Democratic and Republican parties from these
states on a variety of indicators, including issue positions, platforms, and organizations. Are they
different? How and why?
RESEARCH ACTIVITY 8: Following the 2012 election, many observers raised questions about
whether or not the Republican Party needs to change as a result of the changing demographics of
the American electorate. Specially, they argued that the poor performance of Republicans with single
female, Latino, and urban voters makes future electoral success in Presidential elections for the party
increasingly difficult.

Identify the most important demographic changes occurring in the United States,
and speculate how these demographics will likely affect electoral politics in the
future.
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 Short Answer Questions (respond to all 15)
1.
Explain the significance of critical elections to realignments.
2.
How is the national party convention important for democracy in the United States? How
has the convention changed over time?
3.
Describe how the New Deal coalition realigned American politics.
4.
Does party image help parties succeed with any of their major functions or tasks?
5.
Define divided government. Why, in recent years, has it been so prevalent in the United
States?
6.
Explain how third parties affect the results of elections in winner-take-all systems.
7.
What is the story behind third-party formation in American political history?
8.
Explain the concept of political parties as “three-headed political giants.”
9.
Why are politicians not more responsible for adhering to their party’s platform and their
own campaign promises? What explains this?
10.
Define political realignment and describe it using one particular period to illustrate your
response.
11.
Which political era saw the longest period of Republican domination? Explain the origin and
demise of party domination during this period.
12.
Briefly assess evidence in support of an occurrence of dealignment in the party system.
13.
Demographically speaking, who are the major supporters of each party? What major changes
have occurred since the New Deal era?
14.
Assess the utility of the party platform in drawing party support and to what extent
politicians are held accountable to it.
15.
Briefly differentiate between coalition building in the U.S. and in Europe. What are the
advantages and disadvantages of each system?
 Essay Questions (respond to 1)
1.
The national party convention serves several purposes. Examine its functions, assessing the
importance of each. How has electoral participation, through political parties, changed over
time? How has the convention process affected American democracy?
2.
Give an overview of the key phases of political party development in the United States. How
did the Framers envision electoral participation in government? How has this been realized?
Be certain to demonstrate where realignments have occurred and the reasons why. Evaluate
in detail what dealignment entails, and assess whether it has occurred.
3.
Examine the role of minor (third) parties in U.S. politics. Address how a minor party
affected the presidential election of 2000 (Bush versus Gore) and discuss the limitations that
keep minor parties from achieving major-party status.
4.
How does the American two-party system facilitate or hinder democracy? Compare the U.S.
electoral system to multiparty systems. How did the American electoral system arise and who
has manipulated it? Offer an analysis of the potential for realistic pro-democratic change in
the U.S. electoral system.
5.
Provide a detailed analysis of Anthony Down’s Rational Choice Model. What are its core
propositions? What does it say about American public opinion? How do political parties
attract the most votes? When do parties best work together? When might they differentiate?
Do you feel Down’s theory is entirely valid? Why or why not?