Politics and You
Positions, Platforms, Ideologies, and
Parties
What Is a Party?
•
A political party is a group of persons who
seek to control government by winning
elections and holding office.
•
The two major parties in American politics
are the Republican and Democratic parties.
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Parties can be principle-oriented, issueoriented, or election-oriented. The American
parties are election-oriented.
What Do Parties Do?
1.
Parties pick candidates
2.
Parties run campaigns
3.
Parties give cues to voters
4.
Parties articulate policies
5.
Parties coordinate policymaking
Importance of Parties:

Major mechanisms behind the development of broad policy and
leadership policies; medium for public options

Link between the governed and those who govern; will of people is made
known to government and government held accountable

Promote compromise, blunt conflict, help to unify rather than divide?
Party Membership Patterns
Factors that can influence party membership:
Family
 Nearly 2/3rd of Americans follow
the party allegiance of their
parents
 Minorities more likely to vote
Democrat
 White males more likely to vote
Republican
Economic Status
 Generalizations risky
 Higher incomes more likely
Republicans
 Lower incomes tend to be
Democrats
Occupation
 Business community more likely
Republican
 Union members more likely
Major events
 Great Depression, Vietnam War
 9/11, War in Iraq
Religion
 Majority of Protestants are
Republican
 Majority of Catholics, Jews
Democrat
Age
 Teenagers more likely to have liberal
views?
 Adults more likely conservative?
Political Party Contacts
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Major Political Parties
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Republican Party
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www.rnc.org
General Platform: Lower taxes, socially conservative, smaller
government, moral issues, free market, personal responsibility
Government should play more of a role in personal/social/moral issues and
should not play as much of a role in economic issues
Democratic Party
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www.democrats.org
General Platform: Civil liberties, social freedoms, equal rights, equal
opportunity, fiscal responsibility, larger government, safety-net
Government should not play as much of a role in personal/social/moral issues
and should play more of a role in economic issues
Minor Parties in the United States
Significant Minor Parties
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Libertarian Party
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www.constitutionparty.org
Anti-tax party; strongly pro-life; pro-school
prayer; opposes gun control, immigration, free
trade, UN, gay rights
Communist Party USA
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www.reformparty.org
Advocates trade agreements to protect
American jobs, balanced budget, tax and
electoral reforms, term limits
Constitution Party
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www.lp.org
Stresses individual liberty; opposes taxes,
foreign involvements, government intrusion
into private lives
Reform Party
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www.cpusa.org
Promotes Communist ideology; seeks
complete restructuring of American political
and economic institutions
Natural Law Party
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www.natural-law.org
Natural law is supreme organizing priniciple;
Preventions compared to reactions; lower taxes
but keep services; “Bring the light of science
into politics.”
America First Party
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Green Party of the United States
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www.gp.org
Committed to “environmentalism,
nonviolence, social justice, and grass-roots
democracy.”
Socialist Labor Party
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www.americafirstparty.org
Splinter from Reform Party; promotes
Christian beliefs, and originalist
interpretation of the Constitution; opposes
immigration, free trade, UN
www.slp.org
Marxist party; seeks “a classless society based
on collectivist ownership of industries and
social services.”
Socialist Party USA
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www.sp-usa.org
Staunchly anti-Communist; advocates
democratic socialism; seeks “a non-racist,
classless, feminist, socialist society.”
Why Minor Parties Are Important
Minor parties play several important roles:
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“Spoiler Role”
Minor party candidates can pull decisive votes away from one of the
major parties’ candidates, especially if the minor party candidate is
from a splinter party.
Critic
Minor parties, especially single-issue parties, often take stands on
and draw attention to controversial issues that the major parties
would prefer to ignore.
Innovator
Often, minor parties will draw attention to important issues and
propose innovative solutions to problems. If these proposals gain
popular support, they are often integrated into the platforms of the
two major parties.
Political Ideology

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System of beliefs in which one or more general
organizing principles connect your views on a
wide range of particular issues
Political ideologies have two dimensions:
Goals: How society should work (or be arranged).
 Methods: The most appropriate ways to achieve the
ideal arrangement.

Psychological Factors
Voters’ perceptions of their party, the candidates, and the issues
significantly affects their voting.
Party Identification

The loyalty of people to a
particular political party is the
single most significant and
lasting predictor of how a
person will vote.
Candidates and
Issues

Candidates and issues are two
short-term factors that can
influence even the most loyal
Democrat or Republican.
People may vote out of their
chosen party if they dislike a
candidate or the party’s stand
on a particular issue.
Sociological Factors
Voter preferences can’t be predicted by just one sociological
factor. Voter opinion is a combination of all of these factors
and more.
Income and
Occupation
Education
Gender and Age
Religious and
Ethnic Background
Geography
Family and Other
Groups
y
Rational Choice Theory
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Popular theory in political science explaining
actions of voters and politicians
It assumes that individuals act in their own best
interest, carefully weighing the costs and
benefits of possible alternatives
Agree?
Opposing thought- What’s A Matter With
Kansas? By Thomas Frank
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Vote for issues that actually hurt own’s interest
because of other issues that are moral/values based
Typology- Beyond Red and Blue
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Enterpriser- Individuals responsible for own well-being
Social Conservatives- Moral, religious based
Pro Government- Religious, populist economics
Upbeats- Favorable views on government
Disaffecteds- cynical, unsatisfied; oppose immigration,
immigration, environmental policies
Conservative Democrats- Oppose gay marriage, morality, oppose
war, want social “safety net”
Disadvantaged Democrats- Anti-business, help society
LiberalsBystanders- choose not to participate or pay attention
The Political Spectrum
People who have similar opinions on political issues are
generally grouped according to whether they are “left,”
“right,” or “center” on the political spectrum.
Liberalism and Conservatism

Liberalism
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Political current
embracing ideologies that
promote change
Promote social and
economic equality/equity
Individuals should have
freedom of choice
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Conservatism
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Political philosophy
embracing ideologies that
oppose change
Reject the proposition
“Change is good in itself ”
Set of traditional values
that the government
should protect
Politics and You?

Do people vote and/or make decisions:
Based on Party affiliation?
 Based on individual issues?
 Based on political ideology?
 Combination of the three?
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What about you?
Political Participation and
Awareness in America