Unit 3
Political Parties
What is a political party?
• Political parties are the groups that seek to
elect candidates to public office
• They are the means (how, who, what, why,
when) to the end (elections/public officials)
• Primary linkage institution
– What does this mean?
– Linkage institution: connects the people to the
government
– Gives “label” to the candidate
What is a political party?
• So, what’s the difference between a political
party and an interest group?
– Parties are dedicated to electing candidates
– Interest groups are dedicated to advancing an
issue/cause
What are the core functions of political
parties?
1. Nominating candidates who can develop
public policy
What are the core functions of political
parties?
2. Running successful campaigns
What are the core functions of political
parties?
3. Developing a positive image
What are the core functions of political
parties?
4. Raising money
What are the core functions of political
parties?
5. Presenting issues in a way the people
(electorate) can understand
What are the core functions of political
parties?
6. Coordinating the implementation of policies
they support in the government
What are the core functions of political
parties?
7. “watchdog” function if they do not succeed in
getting their candidate elected
Two-Party System
• A government system with two dominant
parties that compete in national elections
Two vs. Multi Party System
• Multi-party systems are much more common
• Why does the U.S. have a two-party system?
– Plurality system: the person who gets the most votes
wins, doesn’t have to be a majority
– So, in the U.S., there is rarely a need for run-off
elections or alliances, like in other countries. A party
only has one shot at winning, so they make all the
alliances they can in the beginning (coalitions within
parties)
– Public opinion: can generally be divided into the two
major divisions
Two vs. Multi Party System
• In a two party system power is much less
fragmented and there are fewer alliances
Coalitions
• Instead of alliances like a multi-party system,
the two major parties have coalitions within
the party
• Democrats: African-Americans, Hispanic,
Jewish people, Union members, poor
• Republicans: Business, Southerners, Christian
groups
Effects of Two Party System
• 3rd (minor) parties and their ideas are either
marginalized or incorporated into the major
party platforms
Divided Government
• Gridlock that occurs because one party
controls legislative branch and one controls
executive branch
• Why doesn’t this occur in a parliamentary
system?
– Majority in the legislative branch chooses the
executive
Organization of Political Parties
• State parties are independent of national party
organization, but receive directives and follow
example of national party
• Due to federalism, national parties are coalitions
of state and local organizations
• National convention: meets every four years to
nominate a presidential candidate
• National committee: manages affairs between
conventions; made up of delegates from each
state
Decline in Power
• Elections have become more candidate centered
and less party centered
• The party machine has lost its power (party
machine = money and patronage)
– now candidates are more likely than before to deviate
from the “party line” to appeal to voters in certain
areas
– Candidates raise their own funds and use their own
consultants
– Media focuses on the candidate
– Parties have lost some control over candidates
because of primaries
Third (Minor) Parties
• Rarely win national office
• Usually adopt one issue or small set of issues
that drive their existence (sectionalism,
economic protest, etc.)
Obstacles to 3rd Party Success
• Issues absorbed by major parties
• Requirements (amount of support) to get on
ballots
• Lack of name recognition
• Lack of resources (funding and people)
• Electoral college is winner-take-all
• People don’t want to “waste” their vote
• Lack of media coverage
Role of 3rd Party
• Biggest is to be a policy innovator, calls the
public attention to their issue
• Example: Ross Perot and balancing the budget
• Third parties can also be “spoilers” and take
votes away from the majority party
– Perot in 1992
– Nader in 2000
Realignment
• Periods when a major, lasting shift occurs in
the coalitions supporting one or both parties
• Two kinds:
1. Major defeat of a party so that it dissipates and
a new party emerges (1860)
2. Existing parties continue but voters switch
loyalty (1896, 1932)
Realignment
• Why does it happen?
- issues replace traditional basis of party identification
- new voters lured into an existing party coalition
** Less common now in the era of candidatecentered campaigns
Periods of Realignment
• 1860 – Whig Party collapses and Republicans under Lincoln
win
– Slavery: Lincoln and Republicans (opposed), Democrats (split on
slavery); Civil war fixes loyalties
• 1896 – Economics: Greenbackers/Populist issues:
Democrats (William Jennings Bryan) defeated by
Republican McKinley
• 1932 – because of Great Depression, New Deal coalition is
formed; Democrats take urban workers, African Americans
and Jewish away from Republicans
• Another eventual side effect of that shift (and Civil Rights,
etc.) is that the South has shifted from Democratic to
Republican
Dealignment
• The tendency for voters to not identify with
either party, but to call themselves
“independents”
• Candidates are much more focused on issues
and image rather than party message
• Dealignment has increased steadily since
1968, more voters are independent and more
split ticket voting, as well