Political Parties Unit Three

The Purpose Section One

Necessary for Democracies  Offer a choice in elections  Help citizens develop a vision for society  Give us a path for political participation

Roles of Political Parties  Find Candidates: help voters choose a candidate that matches a certain platform  Partisanship: politicians often vote with their party, which can keep the majority from taking control  Inform the Public: debates and discussions help the public stay aware of government issues  Predicting Behavior: most politicians stay true to their party’s platform once they’re in office

Why Only Two Parties?  Agreement: regardless the party, Americans tend to share the same values  History: it’s what we’ve always had  Winner-Takes-All: too many parties would give less of a majority to the winner

Why Have a Third Party?  A Third Party is a minor party, other than Democrat and Republican  Act as watchdogs  Raise awareness for specific issues  Can sometimes split the vote and change an election’s results

Dangers  Political Parties can fail to respond to the concerns and needs of the citizens  Are often distrusted by the public

The History Section Two

Two Main Parties in the U.S.  We started with the Federalists and the Anti- Federalists  Today, the two main parties are the Democrats and the Republicans

The Federalists  Believed in a strong central government  Wanted ratification of the Constitution  Supported industrialization, a national bank, and government aid to build roads and canals  Eventually becomes our modern Republican Party

The Anti-Federalists  Supported states’ rights  Favored farming over manufacturing  Are soon called the Democratic-Republican Party  Eventually becomes our modern Democratic Party

Historical Parties  Federalist (  Anti-Federalist / Democratic-Republican ( )  Whig ( )  Free Soil ( )  Socialist ( )  Bull Moose ( )  National Woman’s ( )  Farmer-Labor ( )  American Nazi ( )  Black Panther ( s)

Major Parties Section Three

Democratic Party  Founded in 1828  Based on American Liberalism  Increase government spending to spur the economy  Supports same-sex marriage, ease immigration,  Wants strict gone control laws  Focuses on the Middle Class

Republican Party  Founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists  Also known as the GOP (Grand Old Party)  Based on American Conservatism  Supports free markets  Limits Government intervention  Wants to uphold traditional values (against same-sex marriage, abortion, and drugs)  Has had issues with the influential Tea Party movement which has split Republican votes in recent elections

Constitution Party  Founded in 1992  Focused on restoring the government to its constitutional limited authority  Formerly known as the U.S. Taxpayers’ Party  Views: pro-life, anti-gun control, anti-tax, anti-immigration, trade protection, anti- gay rights, anti-welfare, pro-school prayer

The Green Party  Founded in 1984; follows a similar movement that began in Europe  Ten Key Values: grassroots democracy, social justice & equal opportunity, ecological wisdom, non-violence, decentralization, community-based economics, gender equality, respect for diversity, personal & global responsibility, sustainability

The Libertarian Party  Founded in 1971  Focus on a free-market economy  Are dedicated to personal freedoms (pro- drug legalization, pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-home schooling, pro-gun rights) and total economic freedom (anti- welfare, anti-government regulation of business, anti-minimum wage)  Limit foreign intervention

Communist Party USA  Founded in 1919  Focuses on uniting the working class against oppression, discrimination, and segregation  Supports all races, genders, and sexual orientations  Has a vision of socialism for the U.S.: social ownership of the means of production

Choosing a Party

When to Choose  You “declare” your political party by requesting that party’s ballot in a partisan primary election (held in May in Ohio)  If you want to remain unaffiliated, you won’t be able to vote for partisan contests, but will still vote on issues and tax levies

Can You Change Your Mind?  Absolutely!  The next time you vote in a primary election, you simply say something else