WHAT IS A POLITICAL PARTY? A party is a group that seeks to elect candidates to public office by supplying them with a label after winning elections

Political Parties Chapter 7

Functions of Political Parties   Connecting citizens to their government Running candidates for political office Informing the public Organizing the government

Why a Two Party System? One out of 15 democracies in the world today has two party systems. 3 factors contribute to our two party system: Consensus of values Historical influence The Winner-Take-All System

US Federal system decentralizes power Differences from European parties US Federal system decentralizes power a. Early on, most people with political jobs worked for state and local government  b. National parties were coalitions of local parties c. As political power becomes more centralized, parties become weaker still

2. Parties closely regulated by state and federal laws 3. Candidates chosen through primaries, not by party leaders 4. President elected separately from Congress      

The rise and fall of the political party The Founding (to the 1820s) Founders' dislike of factions George Washington on Political Parties: “It (Parties) agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another…”

2. Emergence of Republicans, Federalists: Jefferson versus Hamilton b. Republicans' success and Federalists' demise v.

The Era of Good Feeling Jefferson emerged as the most popular leader at the turn of the nineteenth century. The two parties' points of view seemed to merge most notably in the "Era of Good Feeling" presided over by James Monroe, one of Jefferson's protégés. The Democratic-Republicans emerged as the only party, and their dominance lasted until the mid-1800's, though under a new name, the Democrats

The Jacksonians (to the Civil War) 1. Political participation a mass phenomenon a. More voters to reach b. Party built from the bottom up c. Abandonment of presidential caucuses  d. Beginning of national conventions to allow local control e. More local control, especially to the states

2. New Republicans become dominant because of The Civil War and Sectionalism 1. Jacksonian system unable to survive slavery issue. As economic and social tensions developed between North and South by the 1840's and 50's, Whig party unity was threatened by splits between the Southern and Northern wings- become the Republican Party. A new Republican Party emerged from the issue of expansion of slavery into new territories. 2. New Republicans become dominant because of Civil War and Republicans on Union side Party would dominate U.S. politics from 1860-1932

Democrats became fractured after the Civil War William Jennings Bryan alienation of northern Democrats in 1896 Democrats will then regain control after 1932 election

 3. In most states one party predominates  a. Party professionals, or "stalwarts," one faction in GOP b. Mugwumps (group of independent Republicans that broke away for good government), Progressives, or "reformers" another faction Most famous mugwumps: Mark Twain

The era of reform 1. Progressive push measures to curtail parties Primary elections No party-business alliances Strict voter registration requirements Civil service reform Initiative and referendum elections

The national party structure today Parties similar on paper National convention ultimate power; nominates presidential candidate 2. National committee composed of delegates from states 3. Congressional campaign committees 4. National chair manages daily work

The Era of Divided Government 1969-2003 With a few exceptions, control of the legislature and the presidency has been "divided" between the two major political parties since the late 1940s. The division brings with it the problem of "gridlock", or the tendency to paralyze decision making, with one branch advocating one policy and the other another, contradictory policy.

Party structure diverges in the late 1960s 1. RNC moves to bureaucratic structure; a well-financed party devoted to electing its candidates 2. Democrats move to factionalized structure to distribute power 3. RNC uses computerized mailing lists to raise money

National Conventions: Large party gatherings with the purpose to elect a candidate for office. Nowadays it’s just a rubber-stamping of the results of the primaries. Main goal is to announce candidate to the public and establish platform.

National conventions 1. National committee sets time and place; issues call setting number of delegates for each state 2. Formulas used to allocate delegates a. Democrats shift the formula away from the South to the North and West b. Republicans shift the formula away from the East to the South and Southwest c. Result: Democrats move left, Republicans right

Consequence of reforms: parties represent different set of upper-middle-class voters Republicans represent traditional middle class Democrats hurt because the traditional middle class closer in opinions to most citizens

Minor parties 4 Types of Minor parties: Ideological parties: comprehensive, radical view; most enduring Examples: Socialist, Communist, Libertarian B. Single-issue parties: address one concern, avoid others Examples: Free Soil, Know-Nothing, Prohibition

C. Economic protest parties: regional, appear during depressions and panics. Examples: Greenbacks, Populists D. Splinter parties: from split in a major party: Examples: Bull Moose, Henry Wallace, American Independent, Reform

Nominating a president Two contrary forces: party's desire to win motivates it to seek an appealing candidate, but its desire to keep dissidents in party forces a compromise to more extreme views Are the delegates representative of the voters? No. Democrats are liberals and Republicans are conservative

Presidential Primaries Party elections before actual election. Usually held from February to June of the election year First state that starts it? New Hampshire Two types: Open and Closed Open, anybody can vote. Closed, only party members vote. Raiding (opposition intruding primary)

Caucus: meeting of party followers at which delegates are picked a. Only most-dedicated partisans attend b. Often choose most ideological candidate: Jesse Jackson in 1984 Pat Robertson in 1988

Parties versus voters Formula for winning president a. Nominate candidates with views closer to the average citizen (e.g., 1996 election) b. Fight campaign over issues agreed on by delegates and voters (e.g., 1992 election)