Review: Political Parties

Vocabulary Political Party Primary Elections Platform National Convention National Committee Soft Money Split Ticket Straight Ticket Political Machine Sponsored Party Ideological Party Off-Bloc Ballot Party-Column Ballot Realignment Period Critical Election Coalition Influence Peddling Federal Election Campaign Act Nominations General Elections Closed Primary Open Primary Blanket Primary Plurality Runoff Primary Delegates Super-Delegates Federal Matching Funds Super Tuesday Federal Election Commission Winner-Take-All System Brokered Conventions Mandate Caucus Australian Ballot Activists Personal Following Coattails Malapportionment Sophomore Surge Position Issue Valence Issue Prospective Voting Retrospective Voting

What Is a Political Party? A group of political activists who organize to win elections, to operate the government, and to determine public policy Ralph E. Becker Collection /Smithsonian Institution

What are the three elements that make up a political party?  The party organization is the party professionals who run the party at all levels by contributing time, money, and skill  The party in government includes the candidates and officeholders who serve at all levels of government  The party in the electorate are the millions of voters who identify strongly with a particular party and support its policies

Role of Parties  Recruit candidates to run for elective offices at all levels of government  Mobilize citizens to vote and participate in elections  Bear the responsibility of operating government at all levels  Provide organized opposition to the party in power keeps a close eye on the actions of their office holders

Roles of Parties Parties act as a “bonding agent” to encourage accountability among their candidates and office holders  Legislatures are organized along party lines and parties shape the electoral process  Partisanship guides many legislative votes and appointments to public office  Parties provide channels of communication between the branches of government

The Nation’s First Parties The battle over ratification of the Constitution led to the first major parties  The Framers opposed political parties; they saw parties as “factions” that caused disunity and conflict  The Federalist Party was formed by supporters of the Constitution  They wanted a stronger national government and policies that helped financial, commercial, and manufacturing interests  Alexander Hamilton and John Adams were key representatives

Democratic-Republican Party  Opposing the Federalists was the Democratic-Republican Party  They wanted a more limited national government, with policies aimed at helping farmers, planters, labor, and small business  Key leaders such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison favored a strict interpretation of the Constitution  The election of 1796 was the first time two parties fought for the presidency; the Federalists won, but faded from power after losing the 1800 election

The Era of the Democrats  The Democratic-Republicans later split and gave rise to the Democratic Party  The Democratic Party won 13 of 15 presidential elections from 1800 to 1860  In the 1830s, President Andrew Jackson began a period of Jacksonian democracy  Voting rights were expanded to all white males, not just those with property  A huge increase in the number of elected offices around the country  The spread of the spoils system

 The Democrats drew much of their support from small farmers, pioneers, and slaveholders in the South and West  Their greatest rivals were the Whigs, who were supported by wealthier merchant and industrial interests in the East  The debate over slavery split the Whigs apart in the 1850s; the Democrats were split between northern and southern factions  Many Whigs and Democrats joined the new Republican Party in 1854 Democrats v. Whigs

Era of the Republicans  The Republican Party won 14 of 18 presidential elections from 1860 to 1932  The Civil War crippled the Democrats since all their powers was concentrated in the South  The Republican dominated nationally with the support of farmers, laborers, business and financial interests, and freed African Americans  The Republicans benefited from years of economic prosperity

Party Identity: Past and Present Cartoonist Thomas Nast has been credited with creating the party symbols in is 1874 cartoon for the magazine Harper’s Weekly Originally, neither party adopted his ideas. Over time, each party assumed and revised the symbols, which have become synonymous with party identity

Activity Visit the websites of both Orange County Florida Democratic Party and Orange County Florida Republican Party With your group, critique the two sites and compare and contrast the parties’ positions of issues; be prepared to discuss with the class

Into the Twentieth Century  Labor unions joined small farmers and small business owners to back the Democrats  The Republicans won by appealing to business and corporate interests  The Republicans lost the presidency in 1912 largely due to a third party candidacy of Theodore Roosevelt, helping Democrat Woodrow Wilson win  Republicans reclaimed the White House during the Roaring Twenties

Return of the Democrats  The Democrats won 7 out of 9 presidential elections from 1932 to 1968  The Great Depression sparked the comeback of the Democrats  With the economy in ruins, the Democrats gained the support of southerners, small farmers, big- city political organizations, labor unions, and minority groups

Republicans in the 1980s  The Republicans won 7 out of 10 presidential elections from 1968 to 2004  Party Realignments results after the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and President Nixon’s “Southern Strategy”  The Republicans made major changes to U.S. foreign trade and domestic policies during the 1980s  Republican candidates Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush won three landslide victories during this period

Era of Divided Government  Republicans controlled Congress from 1995 to 2000 while Democrat Bill Clinton was President  Typically newly elected Presidents has a “coattail” effect that brings other candidates from their party to Congress, but recently, this has not been the case  Control of Congress and Presidency has shifted back and forth between the major parties  This division of power meant that neither party could easily control the agenda of the government without making compromises

What role have minor parties played in American politics?  American minor parties have fallen into four broad categories: ideological parties, one-issue parties, economic protest parties, and splinter or factional parties  Minor parties can play a spoiler role in elections by taking critical votes from a major party  They can also be the first to bring key issues to public attention with their campaigns

Policies of Selected American Third Parties Since 1864

Activity Activity: Design a Minor Party Complete the worksheet Each student must submit a worksheet, however you may discuss the elements with your group; be prepared to discuss your party with the class

Why Has the Two Party System Endured?  Scholars disagree why  Political socialization and practical considerations  The Winner-Take-All electoral system and state and federal Laws favoring the two parties  Few Minor Parties have a broad platform or following  Money

 Parties are decentralized  The President is the nominal leader of his or her party  National Committees represent each party’s interests at the national level  Most states have a central party committee which organize the state’s primaries or caucuses  Local party structures vary from place to place How are political parties organized?

Leads the national committee and is chosen after the national convention by the presidential nominee  Directs the work of the party headquarters in Washington, D.C. on the presidential and other campaigns  In non-election years, the chairperson concentrates on building party unity, raising money, and recruiting new voters for the next election  Each party also has a campaign committee for each house of Congress National Chairperson

 The national convention is held every presidential election year  The convention names the party’s candidates, adopts the party’s rules, and writes the official party platform  The convention does not name candidates for other offices and has no control over the actual policies supported by candidates  The nominating process can lead to competition within the parties and can divide party members The National Convention

Delegates are party members chosen to represent their states at the National Convention The number of delegates and the manner in which they are chosen can influence the choice of candidates Superdelegates are Party Leaders and Elected Officials who represent the party “establishment”

Raising Funds  Congressional campaign committee spending has increased dramatically for both parties in the past twenty years or so  Well-known party members may attract party supporters to pay to attend fundraising dinners and donate money

State Party Organization Most states have a central party committee headed by a chairperson  State law largely determines party organization at the state level  The chairperson has a great deal of independence in conducting party affairs  These officials try to promote party unity, find candidates, and raise funds  A local or state party largely supported by another organization (e.g., UAW) is called a sponsored party

Local party structure varies a great deal  In some places local party organizations are active year-round, but usually focus in the months before an election  A party boss or chairperson and an associated committee operating at each of the levels of organization (right), in addition to many job opportunities for volunteers assisting various party candidates  The social rewards – sense of pleasure, status or companionship – that lead people to join a political party are called the solidary incentives Local Party Organization

Party Coalitions and Realignments Realignment occurs when coalitions fall apart and defect to the minority party. The last realignment was the critical election of 1932; a result of the Great Depression DemocratsRepublicans Urban Moderate Republicans Pro-Choicers African-Americans Latinos Labor Unions LBGT Intellectuals and Academia Rural Defense Industry Veterans Libertarians Tea Party Pro-Lifers Anti-LBGT Rights Religious Conservatives

Are Political Parties in Decline?  Prior to 1968, typical for one party to control executive and legislative branches; now rare  Split Ticket – voting for president and legislators from different parties  Dealignment, a decline in party participation and even party identification

Party Identification

Split-Ticket Voting Source: American National Election Studies, November 2005

Building Consensus