Chapter 5
Political Parties
Section 1:
Parties and What They Do
• Objectives:
– Define a political party
– Describe the major functions of political parties
– Identify the reasons why the United States has a
two-party system
– Understand multiparty and one-party systems
and how they affect the functioning of a political
system.
What is a Party
• A group of persons who seek to control
government through the winning of elections
and the holding of public office
– Democrats and Republicans
– Organization made of three separate but closely
related elements
• The party organization
– Leaders, activists, “hangers-on”
• The party in government
– Party candidates and officeholders
• The party in the electorate
– People who call themselves Republicans or Democrats
What Parties Do
• Essential to a Democratic Government
• Link between the people and their
government
• Will of the people made known to the
government
• Government is held accountable
Nominating Candidates
• Nominate candidates for a public office
– Activity that most clearly sets political parties
apart from all of the other groups that operate in
the political process
Informing and Activating Supporters
• Inform and inspire voters
– Campaigning
– Taking stands on current issues
– Criticizing opposing candidates
– Inform voters
• Propaganda
The Bonding Agent Function
• Bond
– agreement that protects a person or a company
against loss caused by a third party
– Ensure the good performance of its candidates
and elected officeholders
Governing
• Those who govern are chosen on the basis of
party
• Partisanship-strong support of their party
and its policy stands
• Parties must also work together
– Executive and legislative branches
Political Parties
Republican Party
Democratic Party
Independent
Vacant
House of Representatives
245
188
0
2
Senate
54
44
2
0
The Watching Function
• Parties act as watchdogs over the conduct of
the public’s business
– Party out of power
• Criticizes the party in power
The Two-Party System
• Republicans and Democrats
• Historical Basis
– Framers were opposed to political parties
– Ratification of the Constitution gave rise to the
Federalist and Anti-federalist
• The force of Tradition-All that Americans
know
• The Electoral System-promote two major
parties
Multiparty Systems
• Scrap the two party system
• Several major and many lesser parties exist,
seriously compete for and actually win public
offices
– Each party is based on a particular interest
• Example: economic lass, religious belief, political
ideology.
One-Party Systems
• Only one political party, the party of the
ruling clique is allowed to exist
– “no-party” system
– Many states have a one party system, gains the
majority of the votes all the time
Major political parties
A party that has "an independent state organization... in a majority of the states" is listed as a major party. An
"independent state organization" is not to be confused with the organization of an Independent Democrat or
Independent Republican.
Political Party States*
Founded in
Democratic
Party
50 + DC
1828
Progressive Alliance
Republican
Party
50 + DC
1854
International Democrat
Union
Libertarian
Party
48 + DC
1971
Interlibertarians
Green Party
36 + DC
1991
Global Greens
Constitution
26
Party
1992
Former Titles International Affiliations
U.S.
Taxpayers'
Party
Section 2:
Two-Party System in American History
• Objectives:
– Understand the origins of political parties in the
United States
– Identify and describe the three major periods of
single-party domination and describe the current
era of divided government
The Nation’s First Parties
• Federalists
– “the rich and the well-born”
– Supported the Constitution
• Anti-Federalist
• Becomes the Democratic party in 1828
– “common man”
– Favored a very limited role by the new
government
• First clashed in the election of 1796
Four Major Eras
• 1800-1860
– Democrats won 13 of 15 presidential elections
– Lost in 1840 and 1848
• 1860-1932
– Republicans won 14 of 18 elections
– Lost in 1884, 1892, 1912, and 1916
• 1932-1968
– Democrats return to power and Franklin
Roosevelt’s first election to the presidency
The Era of Democrats
• Thomas Jefferson’s election in 1800
marked the beginning
• Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)-changes
in political landscape
– 1)voting rights for all white males
– 2)a huge increase in the number of
elected offices around the country
– 3)the spread of the spoils system-the
practice of awarding public offices,
contracts, and other governmental
favors to those who supported the party
in power
Whig Party
• Major party from the mid 1830s to the 1850s
– Lead by Henry Clay and Daniel Webster
– Elected only two men to the Whitehouse
• William Henry Harrison in the 1840s
• Zachary Taylor in 1848
– 1850s-Whig Party fell apart
The Era of the Republicans
• The Civil War signaled the beginning of the
second era of one-party sway
• Remained the leading party for 75 years
The Return of the Democrats
• Great Depression-1929
– Massive impact on nearly all aspects of American
life
• 1932-presidential election-Franklin Roosevelt
– New electoral base: southerners, small farmers,
organized labor, and big-city political
organizations
Section 3:
The Minor Parties
– Objectives:
• Identify the types of minor parties that have been
active in American politics.
• Understand why minor parties are important despite
the fact that none has ever won the presidency
Minor Parties in the United States
• Particular locale, single state, one region of the country
– Ideological Parties
• Based on a particular set of beliefs
– Socialist, Socialist Labor, Socialist Worker and Communist Parties
– Single-Issue Parties
• Focus on a single public question. Names usually indicate their
primary concern
– Free Soil Party-opposed slavery in the 1840s
– Right to Life Party-opposes abortion today
– Economic Protest Parties
• Rooted in periods of economic discontent. No clear-cut ideological
base. Disappeared as the nation has climbed out of the problem
– Splinter Parties
• Have split away from one of the major parties
– Teddy Roosevelt's “Bull Moose” Progressive Party of 1912-pulled away from
Republicans
Why Minor Parties are Important
• -1st used a national convention to nominate a
presidential candidate in 1831
• Can play a third party candidacy-spoiler role
Section 4:
Party Organization
• Objectives:
– Understand why the major parties have a
decentralized structure
– Describe the national party machinery and party
organization at the State and local levels
Decentralized Nature of the Parties
• Myth
– Often described as highly organized, close-knit and well
disciplined
• Truth
– Highly decentralized, fragmented and often plagued by
factions and internal squabbling
• Neither party has a chain of command running from
the national through the State to the local level
– Presidents party is usually more organized and united
than the minor party. President is leader of the party
National Party Machinery
• Both major parties are composed of five basic
elements
– National Convention
• Pick the party’s presidential and vice presidential
candidates, adoption of the party’s rules and the writing of
its platform
– National Committee
• Reps from each state and territories, plan national
convention
– National Chairperson
• Leader of the National Committee, directs the work of the
party’s headquarters and professional staff
– Congressional Campaign Committees
• Each party has a campaign committee in each house of
Congress, work to get seats for their party.
State and Local Party Machinery
• At the State and local levels, party structure is
determined by State Law
– State Organization
• Built around a state central committee, headed by a
State Chairperson.
Republicans: Jeff Essmann
Democrats: Jim Elliott