Political Parties

The What & Why? Political Party: A group of persons who seek to control government through the winning of elections and the holding of public office. The primary purpose of the political parties is to control government through winning election to public office.

Why are they important in democracy? Political parties are essential to democratic government. They are a vital link between us (the people) and the government. Political parties work to end conflict, like power brokers. They bring conflicting groups together for compromise. Soften the impact of extremists at both ends of the political spectrum.

The political spectrum On the LEFT we have…

The political Spectrum On the RIGHT we have…

A DONKEY & AN ELEPHANT…WHY? That’s what each party was labeled in a political cartoon by Thomas Nast in the late 1800s, it wasn’t their choice Another explanation for the Dems: Andrew Jackson was being labeled a “Jackass” by his opponents. He decided to embrace it and began using the donkey. It was forgotten until Nast brought it back…

So what do political parties do exactly? Nominate Candidates Inform and Activate Supporters: Shared responsibility with media & interest groups. Act as “Bonding Agent”: Ensure good performance of its candidates. Choose candidates that are qualified & posses good character. If not, they suffer in the next election. Governing: Helps legislative & executive work together. Congress is organized on party lines, which means they conduct business on partisanship Partisanship: Strong support of one’s political party and its policy standards. Act as watchdog: Usually the watchdog is the party who is out of power. They urge the public to “Throw the rascals out”

democratic national Convention: Nominating Clinton

INFORM & ACTIVATE SUPPORTERS

Bonding agent Political parties nominate/endorse their officials for public office who are of good character and quality. Mitt Romney possessed these characters, but to some in his own Republican Party he wasn’t Republican enough:

Partisanship Allegiance to a political party

Watchdog The party out of power is responsible for monitoring winning parties actions.

Minor Parties Minor Parties are exactly what they sound like. Minor Parties are political parties without wide vote support Examples: The United States Pirate Party, United States Marijuana Party.

Two Party System We have a very dominant two party system in the U.S. A two party system is exactly what it sounds like it is a political system dominated by two major parties. We have only two parties because it’s in our history: Federalists & Anti-Federalists Is this good or bad? Or both?

The Electoral System Nearly every election held in the U.S. are single member district elections. Single-Member Districts: contests in which only one candidate is elected to each office on the ballot Winner take all! Winner receives a plurality. Plurality: receiving the largest number of votes cast for office This may not mean the majority of all voters, but just the MOST votes.

American Ideological consensus American’s are ideologically homogenous: Americans have shared many of the same political ideals, beliefs, and principles. (Freedom, Opportunity, etc) BUT we’re not all the same. We are pluralistic society. A pluralistic society is a society consisting of several distinct cultures and groups.

But there is still consensus… Consensus is the general agreement among various groups on fundamental issues. We eventually compromise. The U.S. has been free of long-standing, bitter disputes based on factors like economic class, social status, religious beliefs, or national origin.

Should there be a multi-party system? Some argue there should be a multi-party system. A multi-party system is a system in which several major and many lesser parties exist. They seriously compete and actually win public office.

This brings in coalitions Multi-party systems have positives and negatives. Because many of the smaller parties represent one group/belief, how can they win over a majority of voters? They form coalitions. Coalitions are a temporary alliance of several working groups who come together to form a working majority and so to control a government. What are the positives/negatives of multi-party systems?

Then there are one-party systems A one-party system is a political system in which only one party exists Sound familiar?

5.4 – The minor parties Throughout history and today, there have been minor parties: Remember we talked about the Pirate Party and the Marijuana Party Well there are plenty more: Green Party Communist Party Socialist Party Libertarian Party

Types of Minor Parties Ideological Parties – Parties based on a particular set of beliefs – a comprehensive view of social, economic, and political matters. Examples – (Built on Marxist thought) Socialist Party, Libertarian Party The Libertarian Party of today calls for individualism and less government functions and government.

Create Your Own Political cartoon Create your own political cartoon that pokes fun at either the party system or a particular party This is individual work. I have examples on the following slides!