POLITICAL PARTIES
Chapter 8
Goal of Political Parties:
• TO GET CANDIDATES
ELECTED!
– To mobilize voters and their
funds in an effort to win
office
• Founding Fathers felt they
were unnecessary and
feared factions (Federalist
No. 10!)
• BUT … could our democracy
exist without them?
Political Parties are Linkage
Institutions:
• They link input from the public
with output from policy makers
• Four linkage institutions in
U.S.:
– Political Parties
– Elections
– Interest Groups
– The Media
Five Common Functions of All
Political Parties :
•
•
•
•
•
Nominate candidates
Run campaigns
Provide a party image
Advocate specific policies
Coordinate policymaking
and its implementation
• Which function is most
important to parties?
Are America’s two parties extreme
in their differences?
Purpose of
Political Parties:
• A “beacon in the fog of politics….”
– A group of like-minded individuals seeking
control of government & policy making
• Three major components of Political
Parties (3-headed Political Giant):
1. Party in the Electorate
1. that means us … the voters!
2. Party Organization
1. National, state, and local levels
3. Party in Government
• People in office, the policymakers
1. Party in the Electorate:
– Those who identify with the party
• Only about 60% of the public
– Voluntary membership in U.S.
– What do you do to join? Any dues?
– Recent trends in party affiliation?
• What is “Ticket-splitting?”
– A ballot cast for candidates of two or more
political parties
• Generalizations for Democrats:
–
–
–
–
Younger
Females; Minorities
Upper East Coast (New England)
West Coast (mostly Democrat)
• Generalizations for
Republicans:
– Generally, higher education levels
(BUT…independents have most
college)
– Male
– South & Midwest
Party Affiliation:
January 31, 2011
Republican Democrat
Other
R-D
2011
Jan
35.4%
35.0%
29.6%
0.4%
2010
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sept
Aug
July
June
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
37.0%
36.0%
33.4%
33.1%
33.8%
31.8%
33.0%
32.0%
31.6%
32.9%
32.1%
32.3%
33.7%
34.7%
36.3%
34.6%
35.0%
35.4%
35.4%
35.1%
36.0%
36.2%
35.1%
35.4%
29.3%
29.3%
30.3%
32.3%
31.1%
32.8%
31.6%
32.8%
32.5%
30.9%
32.9%
32.3%
3.3%
1.3%
-2.9%
-1.5%
-1.2%
-3.6%
-2.4%
-3.1%
-4.4%
-3.3%
-3.0%
-3.1%
Quarterly
0.6%
-2.1%
-3.3%
-3.1%
2. Party Organization
– Party professionals in national,
state, local day-to-day operations
whose goal is to select candidates,
build platforms, win elections
– National organization is also
referred to as the “National
Committee”
Late 1800s Party Organization –
Local Urban Political Machines
• PATRONAGE RULED!
– What is it?
– Another phrase for it?
• Urban city machines
such as Boss Tweed’s
Tammany Ring in NY
used to be the primary
political party
organization
• Mayor Daley of Chicago
– Last survivor of city
machines
Party Organization – States:
• Each state manages its own party
operation
– Decentralized & fragmented
• 3 Types of State Primaries:
– Open
• Voters can decide on the day of the
election which party’s to vote in
– Closed
• Only registered party voters can vote
– Blanket
• All voters – all candidates – can pick
some of each party
Party Platforms:
• Democratic Platform
– Views on Economy/Taxes? Healthcare?
Environment? Defense? Social Issues?
• Republican Platform
• Views on Economy/Taxes? Healthcare?
Environment? Defense? Social Issues?
• Libertarian Platform?
• Green Platform?
3. Party in Government
– Those who are elected or
appointed to office as members of
a political party
VOTER TURNOUT
• Was on the decline from 1964 to 2000:
– Larger electorate; more mobile
– Party dealignment and less party mobilization
– Rising apathy and lack of trust in gov’t… WHY?
• Rising from 2000 – 2008 (62%) ….. BUT
dropped in 2012 (57%)
• Higher in P elections though than midterm
Congressional elections – why?
– Greater media interest generated & more
info available about P candidates
– More money spent on campaigns
– National party conventions
Party Eras in U.S. History
• U.S. has typically been a 2 party
nation whereas most democratic
nations are multi-party with real
differences between those parties
• Does a “2 party system” mean that
there are only 2 parties?
– No… means that 2 parties continually
win the P and most of seats in Congress
• Party eras are typical in U.S. history
• Each party era is noted by:
– a critical election and
– party realignment
First Party Era: 1796-1824
Development of Parties
• Federalists
–
–
–
–
Alexander Hamilton
1st & shortest-lived party
Capitalists / bankers, merchants, etc.
John Adams is only Federalist P
• Democratic-Republicans
– Jefferson, Madison, Monroe
– Agrarian interests
– Torn apart by factionalism after
Federalists die out
Second Party Era: 1828-1860
Rise of the Democrats
• Andrew Jackson & Democrats
– Common man, farmers, universal
male suffrage
• Whigs were Anti-Jackson
party
– Henry Clay, northern
industrialists
– only 2 Whig Ps were aging war
heroes (William Henry Harrison
& Zachary Taylor)
Third Party Era#1: 1860-1896
Rise of the Republicans
• Anti-slavery party; replace Whigs
• Democrats only control South
Third Party Era#2: 1896-1932
Republican Dominance
• William McKinley v. William
Jennings Bryan
• Gold standard vs. free silver
• Industry, urban dominance
• “Grand Old Party” – GOP (Thomas Nast)
Fourth Party Era: 1932-1964
Democratic Dominance
• New Deal Coalition, FDR
– City dwellers, immigrants, bluecollar, Jews, Catholics, blacks,
southerners
• Great Society, LBJ
– War on Poverty
– Vietnam tore Dems apart
& opened door for
Republicans in 1968 – Nixon
• Democrats have only 3 P wins
since 1964 – Who?
Fifth Party Era:
1968-present
Divided Government
Southern Realignment
• One party controls one or both houses of Congress,
a different party as P
• Nixon, both Bushes, Clinton (by ’94), Obama
• South realigning to a GOP stronghold has helped
Republicans with majorities in Congress
– 1987 GOP: 39 of South’s 116 House seats
– 2007 GOP: 78 of South’s 131 House seats
• Ticket-splitting declined during the 90s BUT double
what it was in the 50s
• Reagan made best use of “dealignment” by pulling
conservative Democrats over to the Republican
Party – “Reagan Democrats”
Characteristics and
Reasons for the 2-Party
System:
• Multi-party systems dominate
throughout the world other than in
the U.S.
– Great Britain, Germany, Israel….
• Moderation! – strong characteristic of
2 party system
• Historical reasons - controversies
with two opposing points of view:
– Ratification of Constitution
– Power of Fed. over State Gov’t (Civil War)
– Economic issues in 1900s (working class
v. middle/upper business class)
More reasons for the
2-Party System:
 System of political socialization
Children begin to think as Ds or Rs
 Our electoral system!!
 Single member districts with a winner
take all form – single winners win with a
plurality of the vote
 Proportional representation elsewhere
 Works to the advantage of the major
parties and keeps out minor parties
 State and federal laws favor the 2 parties
States make it easier for the 2 parties to
get on the ballot; FECA only gives
matching funds for D & R candidates for P
Majority vs. Proportional
Representation
Proportional
Representation
Single Member
Districts (Majority
Representation)
• State entitled to 10
reps in House
• State divided into 10
congressional districts
• Each district has an
election and elects 1
rep
• Legislative seats awarded to
parties in proportion to total
# of votes they get in election
• State holds statewide election
for its 10 seats
• Each party presents a rankordered slate of 10 candidates
• Candidates elected from the
top of each list depending on
proportion of votes party wins
– so… if party won 30% of votes,
its top 3 candidates would be
elected.
THIRD PARTIES &
THEIR IMPACT ON
THIRD PARTIES & THEIR IMPACT ON U.S. POLITICS
U.S. POLITICS
• Minor parties have a hard time
competing
• Minor - THIRD - parties form
because of a belief that certain
needs & values are not being
addressed by the 2 major parties.
TYPES OF THIRD PARTIES:
 IDEOLOGICAL PARTIES - support
a particular belief or political
doctrine
 Socialist Party founded 1901 –
dissolved in 1972
 Green Party
 Grassroots environmentalist
organization, 1996 – Ralph Nader for P
in 2000
 Libertarian Party
 Laissez-faire economic capitalists, 1971
• ECONOMIC PROTEST PARTIES
– Protesting some economic
development or issue
– Best historical example is
farmers protesting bad
economic times
• The Populist Party
– The Tea Party movement?
• SPLINTER OR PERSONALITY
PARTIES
– Develop out of a split within a
major party (for ex., Teddy
Roosevelt’s progressive bull
moose party)
– And seem to be form around a
leader with a strong personality
(for ex., Ross Perot’s reform
party)
What point do you think the cartoonist is
making with this portrayal of 1912
presidential candidates Theodore Roosevelt
and William Howard Taft?
IMPACT OF THIRD PARTIES ON
AMERICAN POLITICS:
• INNOVATOR:
• Bring unpopular
or controversial
issues to the
public’s attention
• For example, the
Free Soil Party
and the issue of
slavery
• CRITIC
• Provide a voice
for voters who
are frustrated
with the
Democrats &
Republicans
• For example, Ross
Perot’s reform
party in ‘92 & ‘96
Continued….
• THE SPOILERS!
• Affect election outcomes by splitting the
vote in one party and giving the victory
to the other major party
• For example: Teddy Roosevelt’s
Progressive Party in 1912 split the
Republican vote and gave victory to the
Democrats & Wilson
– Perot in 1992….split Republicans
– Nader in 2000….split Democrats
EXCEPTION TO THIRD PARTIES
DON’T GET ELECTED:
• Jesse Ventura,
Governor of Minnesota
• Brought together left &
right wing philosophies
– pro-choice & procapital punishment
• Brought out a new
voter – age 18 to 26
• Manipulated media to
his advantage
• Former Pro-Wrestler
PROBLEMS FACED BY THIRD
PARTIES:
• Americans’ habit of voting D or R
• Raising funds -- voters don’t like to
donate $ to candidates they don’t
believe can win
• Getting candidates on the ballots
in all states
• Winner take-all format of our
elections
NOTE:
INDEPENDENTS
ARE NOT A
“THIRD PARTY”
Party
Realignment
• Realignment = a substantial number of voters switching
party allegiance creating a long-term political change
• Associated with critical elections
– 1896 when Republicans ascended to power
– 1932 when Democrats became leading party
• Doesn’t have to mean a switch in dominance though and can
take place over a number of years
– Could have parties becoming equal … after election of
1860 and Civil War Rs and Ds equal in strength
– Most recently, conservative southern Ds became
conservative southern Rs (started with Nixon’s southern
strategy in 1968 but took years)
Party
Dealignment
• Dealignment = a decline in party loyalties that
reduces long-term party commitment
• From 1937 to present, there has been a rise in the
number of independent voters
• Fall in support for the Democrats since the 1960s
• Straight-ticket voting, nearly universal in the early
1900s, mostly gone now.
– Up to 40% split-ticket voting in recent elections
• BUT, “independent voters” may not be so
independent after all – of 33% who claim to be
indepencents, 11% persistently vote D and 12%
consistently vote R
TIPPING
• When a group that is becoming more
numerous over time grows large enough to
change the political balance in a district, state,
or country
• Immigration is one cause of this phenomenon
• MA was a solidly R state until 1928….when D
Irish voters became dominant segment of
population
• From ‘52 to ’92 , CA consistently supported R
candidates for P when it voted for Clinton and
no R has won there since….CA became a nonwhite majority state
• In America, most would be considered moderates
of one view or the other, rather than true liberals
or true conservatives.
– Most actually vote according to what personally benefits
them the most, not a party ideology.
• Note: a Moderate really isn’t an ideology, just a
way to look at government problems and
solutions.
• Are Americans ideologues? Shifting in the winds?
• Reagan era shift to the right. . .Clinton era shift to
the left, then to the middle. . .Bush era – Right,
Obama to the left…..any moving to middle?