Political Parties

What is a Political Party? Political Party: organization of citizens who share similar views on issues and work together to put their ideas into effect through government action.

Role of Political Parties Selecting and Supporting candidates Serve as a link Acts as a watchdog Informing the public and activating supporters through pamphlets, bumper stickers, ads, signs, buttons Act as bonding agent To ensure qualified representatives are carrying the people’s message to government Enables the branches and levels of government to communicateThe party not in power is watching the party in power

Party Organization What do party members do? Nominate Candidates Campaign for Candidates Raise money, stuff envelopes, poll voters, and drive people to the polls Make telephone calls

Party Organization National State Raise money for Presidential campaigns Organize the national convention Create the party’s platform Senatorial Committee – elect Senators House Committee – elect Representatives State Work on electing state officials Work within the state to elect candidates to national office

Party Organization Local Cities are divided into districts or precincts Organizes local election efforts Responsible for all elections

Political Parties Platforms and Planks Platform – a political party’s statement of its goals and positions on all issues Plank – a single issue on a political party’s platform

Two Main Political Parties: Democratic Party: more liberal, favors a greater role in government in providing social programs. Republican Party: more conservative, supports reducing the power of the Federal government in operating social programs.

2008 Political Candidates Joe Biden Sam Brownback Hillary Clinton Chris Dodd  John Edwards  Rudy Giuliani  Mike Gravel  Duncan Hunter  Mike Huckabee   Dennis Kucinich  John McCain  Barack Obama  Ron Paul  Bill Richardson  Mitt Romney  Tom Tancredo  Fred Thompson 

Other systems… One Party System: A single political party controls the government. Multi-Party System: more than two strong political parties. Coalition: agreement between two or more political parties to work together to run the government.

American Parties: Four Major Eras 1800-1860: Era of the Democrats 1860-1932: Era of the Republicans 1932-1968: Democrats 1968- Present: Divided Government—Congress often controlled by the party opposite the President

Minor Parties in the US Ideological: Based on a particular set of beliefs Ex.: Communist Party Single-Issue: Major parties often take on their issue as their own Economic Protest Parties: Blames the business world and the major parties… Ex: Populist party, Occupy Wall Street Splinter Party: Usually form around a certain personality that failed to win the nomination in a major party (Teddy Roosevelt, George Wallace) Influence of Minor Parties Bring issues to light Play a spoiler role in an election Criticizing the major parties

Political Parties in the United States http://politics1.com/parties.htm

This is a range of differences in political views between parties. Political Spectrum This is a range of differences in political views between parties.

Political Parties The Political Spectrum in the United States Far left: Radical Left Wing: Liberal and Democrat Left Moderate: Democratic mainstream Centrist: Moderate. Democrat and Republican Right Moderate: Republican Right Wing: Conservative mainstream Far Right: Reactionary This should be considered a spectrum in which a candidate can fall in between two categories from left (democrats) to right (republicans) Majority of Candidates elected to office are considered “Moderate”

Writing Prompt Questions What are some reasons that American citizens might reject a one-party system? Do you think U.S. citizens value their “right” to vote? What purposes do political parties serve in the U.S. and elsewhere?