Development of Political Parties What are they? Why were they formed?

George Washington Warns Against Political Parties "Let me...warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of Party..." "It serves to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration.... agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one.... against another.... it opens the door to foreign influence and corruption...thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another."   George Washington Farewell Address, 1796 In this passage, George Washington speaks about political parties. How does Washington feel about political parties? Use words or phrases from the speech to support your opinion. Why do you think Washington feels this way? 3. Based on the country today, was Washington correct in his believes?

What is a political party? A group of people who share common views on the government and work to get candidate they support elected to office.

Political Parties Political parties aren’t mentioned in the Constitution, in fact, George Washington warned against them.  C. The first 2 parties in this country were: 1. Democratic-Republicans-Thomas Jefferson 2. Federalist-Alexander Hamilton 3. Parties have changed names and views over the years. Jefferson Hamilton

TWO-PARTY SYSTEM In the U.S. we have 2 major political parties- Republicans (aka GOP-Grand Old Party) Democrats. These 2 parties dominate politics and win major elections. All smaller parties (not Democrats or Republicans/) are called THIRD PARTIES

TWO PARTY SYSTEM Democrats Republicans

Thomas Nast Cartoons

Thomas Nast Cartoon

THIRD PARTY 1. Hard to get enough support to win elections. Many have influenced elections-Populist, Progressives. Problems with 3rd Parties: 1. Hard to get enough support to win elections. 2. Harder to raise money, b/c there are fewer members. 3. Hard to campaign b/c of lack of money and support. 4. No third party has ever won a presidential election, rarely win other elections.

Influence of 3rd Parties 1. Take votes away from 2 major candidates (ex. Ralph Nader, Green Party in 2000 Presidential Election) 2. Can get a person on the ballot who is not a member of 2 major parties

INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES A. Candidates who are not a member of a party. B. People who often cannot get support from 1 of the main parties will run as an independent. C. There are a couple of independents in the U.S. Congress

Political Parties Around the World Political parties are found all over the world. Not the same parties found in the U.S. Ex.-Canada has 3 major parties, Germany has 5, etc. The influence government in their own countries

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT THE PARTIES BELIEVE? Many people do not know what the two parties favor. Each party writes a PLATFORM. PLATFORM-a series of statements that express a parties views, principles, and believes on election issues. PLANK-is an individual part of a platform. Ex.-Gun Control, War in Iraq, Social Security

PARTY PLATFORM WEBSITES http://www.gop.com/ http://www.democrats.org/a/party/platform.html

What do Political Parties do for their candidates?

Campaign for Candidates Political parties raise money, volunteer to help candidates, help candidates get across their ideas, and most importantly- VOTE!!!

Inform Citizens Political parties work to inform citizens about issues that are important to their party. This is done through TV commercials, speeches, radio, pamphlets, websites.

Act as a Watchdog Usually the party that lost the election, watches the party that is in power to see if they make mistakes or misuse their power

Republicans Call Out Obama, Biden For Inciting Wall Street Protests President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are under increasing attack for egging on the burgeoning Occupy Wall Street protest that has spread to cities across the country. Senior Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah said he believes comments Obama made about “running Republicans out of town” could end up turning the protests ugly. “We are going to have riots in this country because of what these people are doing,” he warned.

Democrats target House GOP ethics concern “With Republican lawmakers facing investigations of allegedly improper fundraising, Democrats are turning to the Internet to try to paint the House GOP majority with the broad brush of scandal. “

Help Run the Government When the President and Governor appoint people to help them run the government, they usually pick someone from their party.