Political Parties

What is a Political Party? Group that seeks to elect governmental officials under a given label The primary goal of a political party is to win control of government

Roles of political parties Electioneering Nominate candidates Simplify voting choices Serve as voting and issue cue Provide stability and policy direction “big tents” Coordinate actions of government officials Propose and pass programs

Why does America have a two-party system? single-member districts instead of proportional representation Ballot obstacles and funding challenges Lack of media attention political socialization and dualist theory absorption of third party issuesthird party

Nader campaign 2004

Nader faced numerous lawsuits about ballot accessaccess

Campaign spending Expensive presidential campaign Expensive Incumbent v. challenger spending in Wisconsin (finances)finances Incumbent advantage overall in

Three faces of political parties Party in government Party in the electorate Party organization

Party in government party structures the operation of government Congressional leaders are chosen on the basis of the controlling party reason--set the agenda for what government will do

HouseSenate 435 Members 100 Senators (Vice President votes in case of a tie) 229 Republicans 205 Democrats 1 Independent 51 Republicans 48 Democrats 1 Independent 108 th Congress

HouseSenate 435 Members 100 Senators (Vice President votes in case of a tie) 232 Republicans 201 Democrats 1 Independent Republicans up by 3 55 Republicans 44 Democrats 1 Independent Republicans up by th Congress

House of Representatives House tends to be more partisan Dennis Hastert (Speaker) Nancy PelosiPelosi

Senate Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader Who is the Senate Minority Leader? Leadership of congressional committees goes to the majority partyparty

Changes in the Senate 2001: split— which party had control? Committee members were equally divided between parties 2002: Jeffords leaves the Republican Party

Party unity Political parties hold members accountable for voting party will Trends in congressional voting Figure 12.3 (455) Republican split with president? Ability of parties to raise fundsfunds

Party in the electorate Party identification: person’s affinity for a party, usually resulting in voting for party’s candidates Roughly split between Republicans, Democrats and Independents

Split-ticket voting voter chooses candidates from different parties May lead to divided government

candidate, issue or party centered voting Vast majority of Americans insist they vote for “the person, not the party” What are the benefits/weaknesses of each type?

Optional writing assignment visit the websites of the Republican and the Democratic National Committees ( and and answer the following: what is the focus for each party? Which site do you prefer, and why? Which party (if either) do you agree with, and why? Due Tuesday, March 8

Judicial assignment Supreme Court decisions that are on the docket ( Choose a case, choose a justice, predict or describe opinion What happened this weekweek

Listen to the Newshour reports What was the decision in the juvenile death penalty case? What were the issues in the Ten Commandments cases? Which justices were identified as important? How do you think these cases will be decided?

Political parties (review) Party in government Ability of party to control leadership positions Party unity Party in the electorate Extent people identify with one party Party as voting cue (candidate, issue or party centered voting)

Democratic party regroups New chair of the Democratic National Committee What does each speaker (Elaine Kamarck, Jesse Jackson, Sen. John Breaux, Rep. Tim Ryan) say went wrong? wrong

Party unity Political parties hold members accountable for voting party will Trends in congressional voting indicate unity is increasing. Why? Ability of parties to raise fundsfunds

However, Congress represents US! What happens when local and party interests conflict?

Party organization Republican and Democratic national party committees (national conventions) State-level committees State-levelcommittees County-level organizations County-levelorganizations

Parties appeal directly to voters DNC RNC Do these appeals go too far?

Responsible party model Parties are distinct, with clear platforms People vote according to party Elected officials follow party wishes Party holds elected officials using label accountable To what extent does this model describe political parties today?

Redistricting and parties 2000 census requires redistricting Power of parties: state legislatures/governors