Political Parties
Two Party System
Political Competition: Battle between
Democrats and Republicans for control of
public offices.
• Competition creates choice.
• Two party system for over 200 years
What is a Political Party?
Political Party: Team of men/women seeing
to control governing apparatus by gaining
office in an election.
Team?
3 headed political giant
1. Party is the Electorate
• Largest component
• The American voters
• Registered as a Dem.\ GOP
2. Party is an Organization
• National Office and staff
• Each party maintains state/local offices
• Keep the party running between elections
3. The Party in Government
• Elected Officials
• President, governors, congresspeople…
• Don’t always agree on policies
Linkage Institution
• 300 million Americans care about issues
• Linkage Institutions find the most pressing
issues and push them on to the Gov.
Agenda.
What Do Parties Do?
1. Pick Candidates
• Must have the parties endorsement to win
an election.
• Endorsement=Nomination
What Do Parties Do?
2. Run Campaigns
• National, state, and local organizations
help push their candidates.
• Inform voters
What Do Parties Do?
3. Gives Cues to Voters
• A candidates party affiliation shows voters
what they believe in.
What Do Parties Do?
4. Articulate Policies
• Each party advocates specific policy
alternatives
What Do Parties Do?
5. Coordinate Policymaking
• Helps coordinate people in each of the
branches of government.
• The party sticks together.
The Downs Model
• Model of the relationship between citizens,
parties, and policy.
Rational-Choice theory: political actors
have goals, and pursue those goals.
1. Voters want to maximize the chance
their policies will be adopted by the gov.
The Downs Model
• 2. Parties want to win office (must adopt
popular policies)
•
-candidate that understand/support the
policies most popular win.
• Don’t stray far from the mid point
The Party in the Electorate
• U.S.: No formal attachment to a party
• Affiliation is more of a psychological label
• Party image: voters image of the parties
• Party identification: Self proclaimed
preference for one party or another.
• Growing trend: Independent voters
The Party in the Electorate
• Independents more likely to split ticket
vote
Ticket Splitting: voting with one party for
one office and the other for another office.
ex. 2012: Obama and a GOP Senator.
Possible to have GOP governors in blue
states.
Party in the Organization
Parties in History
Political Machines:
depends on rewarding
its members in some
material fashion.
Patronage: A
government job
awarded for a political
reason, not merit based.
The 50 State Party Systems
• National parties are formed by lose groups
of state parties.
• Some states have well organized parties
• States make their own party regulations
-Run their own elections
The 50 State Party Systems
Primary elections: How parties nominate
their candidates.
Closed Primary: Only people who are
registered in advance with the party can
vote.
Open Primary: Voters can decide on
election day to participate in the Republican
or Dem. Primary.
The 50 State Party Systems
Blanket Primaries: voters choose from a
list of all candidates (no matter the party)
• Straight ticket voting option?
National Party Organization
National Convention: Meets ever 4 years
-Officially nominate a pres. Candidate
- Draft the parties platform
National Committees keep the parties
running between conventions.
-composed of party officials
National chairperson: hires the staff, raises
the money, pays the bills, keeps the party
running.
The Party in Government
• Must turn campaign promises into policy.
• Voters are attracted to a party in power
based on its performance and policy.
Coalition: a set of individuals and groups
supporting it.
Urban Rural Divide
• People in Urban cities tend to vote
Democrat.
Why?
• People in rural areas tend to vote GOP
Why?
Republicans
• Want Smaller government
Why?
A. Individual responsibility
• Less social welfare
Why?
A. Individual responsibility
• Lower Taxes on the rich (or flat tax)
Why?
A. Oppose the redistribution of wealth to the
poor.
Republicans
• Less government regulations ( on
Business & other…)
Why?
A. Smaller gov. (What is the role of gov.?)
• Hawkish on international affairs.
Why?
A. American exceptionalism/ insure our way
of life.
Republicans
• Pro Death Penalty
Why?
A. Individual responsibility
• Pro-Life (Anti Abortion)
Why?
A. Religion
• Anti Same-sex Marriage
Why?
• Religion
Republicans
• Anti Immigration
Why?
A. America first/protect U.S. business
• Pro Gun
Why?
A. Individualism, scope of government.
Democrats
• Want the scope of government to
increase
Why?
A. Feel the government should do more.
• Want more social welfare
Why?
Government should do more to help those in
need
Democrats
• For progressive taxes
Why?
A. Help pay for social programs (even the
playing field)
• More government regulations
Why?
Preserve the Enviro, protect workers
Democrats
• Anti Death Penalty
Why?
A. No need
• Pro-Life (Anti Abortion)
Why?
A. Right to privacy/civil rights
• Anti Same-sex Marriage
Why?
• Civil Rights
Democrats
• Pro Immigration Reform
Why?
A. More compassionate
• Anti Gun
Why?
A. Government must protect citizens
Party Eras & Minor Parties
Party Eras
Party Eras: Parties tend to be dominant for
long periods of time.
• Critical Election: new coalitions form and
eras change.
Party Realignment: new coalitions form
-normally in times of crisis
1796-1824: First Party System
• First party: The Federalists
• 1800: Democratic Republicans took power
• Popular to the agrarian South.
1828-1856: Democrats & The
Whigs
• Andrew Jackson elected.
• Formed coalitions around the nation
• Changed to Democrats
• Opposing party: Whigs
1860-1928: Two Republican
Eras
• 1850: Republicans form to oppose slavery
• Democrats control the South
• Republicans dominate until the Great
Depression.
1932-1964: The New Deal
Coalition
• People blamed Hoover (GOP) for the
Depression
• FDR Wins in 1932, promises a New Deal.
New Deal Coalition:
• Urban dwellers jumped to the Dems
• Labor Unions went Dem
• Catholics/Jews
• Poor people
• African Americans
The New Deal Coalition
• Remained strong for decades.
• Broken by Eisenhower, back with JFK
• Fair Deal, Great Society…
1968:Southern Realignment
• Nixon Wins in 68: employs the “Southern
Strategy.
-Pushed the states rights issue
-Won over Southern conservatives
The South has been strongly Republican
since.
Current Eras
• More political turnover today.
• Much less likely to have long political eras.
• Much more divided government
Party dealignment: people are moving
away from both parties.
Minor Parties
Third Parties
Third Parties: political party other than the
dems/reps
• Types of third parties”
1. Splinter parties: splinter off of a major
party (Bullmoose party, populist party)
2. Parties based on a popular individual
3. Parties that push a particular
cause/causes
Importance of Minor Parties
• Gives more
Americans a political
voice.
• Publicizes
controversial issues
• Can have huge
impacts on elections.
• “Spoiler vote”
Minor Parties
Green Party
Libertarian Party
Reform Party
American Independent Party
The 3rd Party
Workers party
Progressive workers party
Constitutionalist Party
American Nazi Party
Communist Party of the U.S.
Family Values Party
Socialist Party
Socialist Action Party
U.S. Marijuana Party
American Pot Party
Peace and Freedom Party
Responsible Party Model
• Many complain that parties lie/don’t fulfill
campaign promises.
• Must meet the following conditions:
1. Parties must offer distinct programs for
governing the nation.
2. Party candidates must be committed to
its programs
Responsible Party Model
1. Majority party must implement its
programs/ minority party must offer their
programs.
2. Majority party must accept responsibility
for the performance of the government.
• More efficient
• Helps voters push policies and know who
to blame for inaction.
• Critics: to simple for a large complex
nation.
Political Parties & The Scope of
Government
• Lack of discipline and cohesion in
American political parties leads to a
smaller scope of gov.
• Parties rarely unite around a particular
policy
End of Parties?
• Access to information has weakened the
parties hold on voters.
• Parties evolving to stay important
Nomination
• A parties official endorsement of a
candidate for office.
• Open to all
• Campaign strategy: The way in which
candidates attempt to manipulate funding,
the media, and political momentum to
achieve the nomination.
Deciding to run
• Not everyone wants to run. (grueling
campaigns)
• U.S. has one of the longest campaign
cycles.
Competing for Delegates
National Party convention: Supreme
power within each of the parties, which
functions to select presidential and vice
presidential candidates and write a parties
platform.
• State parties chose their delegates to the
national convention via either a caucus or
a primary election.
Primary Overview
• Each Party has a National Convention where
they chose the 1 candidate for their party.
State By State Voting
• Candidate wins the primary election vote
in a state, their delegates go to the
convention.
• The candidate with the most delegates at
the convention becomes the official
candidate.