Political Parties

What’s a party? Group that seeks to elect candidates to office It’s an organization It’s a label It’s part of the government It’s a linkage institution

History We’ve had lots of different parties Federalists and Anti-Federalists Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson and Madison) Whigs Tons more

Realignments – a shift in the coalitions that support one or both parties 1800 – Jeffersonian republicans defeat Federalists 1828 – Jacksonian democrats 1860 – collapse of Whigs and rise of republicans 1896 – republicans defeat William Jennings bryan 1932 – rise of democrats under Roosevelt (New deal coalition)

Functions of political Parties Recruit candidates Nominate Candidates Help candidates win elections

Parties recruit candidates Candidates usually have to be asked Parties seek out, find and support candidates with a good chance of winning

Parties nominate candidates They help decide who will fight under the party’s banner Used to be done by “bosses” – not very democratic

Now there are primaries Closed Open Blanket Top-two

Delegates To get the nomination, a candidate needs enough delegates Each state is assigned a certain number of delegates (various complicated formulas) When you vote in a primary you’re actually voting for delegates Each party does it a bit differently – proportional vs. winner-take-all All of these are “pledged delegates”

They vote at the convention Gives the party more influence There are also “super delegates” – unpledged delegates who are elite party members (Just Dems) Would trump be president if the republicans had super delegates? They vote at the convention Gives the party more influence

Parties help candidates win elections Give them the extra special party label Get people to vote (“get-out-the-vote”) Give lists of supporters/polling data Give money – only $5,000, but it’s a signal to potential donors that the candidate is legit

National, state and local Parties Not a business with a ceo, no strict hierarchy They’re all somewhat independent and somewhat not

Big things to know: National convention – every 4 years to nominate pres. Affairs managed by a national committee, headed by a national chair Congressional campaign committee for congressional elections

Ronna McDaniel

Tom Perez

Party in the electorate Your party affiliation basically describes how you vote (90%) About 40% of Americans call themselves independents, but only 10% actually vote independent The rest “lean” one way or the other and vote that way Partisan studies

The two-party system A two-party system is rare; most countries have multi-party systems We have a plurality (winner-take-all) system You need the most votes, not a 51% majority It’s whoever comes in First

We have Single-member districts – in each congressional district there is only one winner The electoral college is a winner-take-all system – if you get the most votes you win all of that state’s electoral votes (except Maine and Nebraska) What are the consequences of this?

In a proportional system, a candidate who won 20% of the vote would get 20% of the electoral vote What does this mean for minor parties?

Do minor parties contribute anything of value?

Ok of course they do! New ideas Voice for fringe groups (promotes democracy) More participation Safety valve (you always have a choice) Forces major parties to include other groups and clarify their positions