Politics in States and Communities (15 Ed.) Thomas Dye and Susan MacManus Edited by Bob Botsch

Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Parties and Campaigns in the States

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Learning Objectives Assess the effectiveness of political parties in the contemporary political arena. Compare the different ways in which political parties are involved in the process of selecting candidates for public office. Describe the activities of state and local party organizations, and compare how these activities differ during and between elections. Analyze how the fortunes of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party in the states have changed over time. Compare divided and unified party government in the states, and determine whether divided government is a major contributor to legislative gridlock. Analyze how party competition influences the operation of political parties within the states. Describe the professionals who are involved with state and local political campaigns, and outline how they use the tools of their trade. Examine the differences in campaign financing from state to state, and assess why these differences are often substantial. Evaluate the effectiveness of state and national laws that limit campaign financing in order to increase the perceived efficacy of the electoral process.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. American Political Parties: Disarray or Rebirth? Party: An organization that seeks to achieve power by winning public office in elections Responsible-Party Model: A party system in which each party offers clear policy alternatives and holds their elected officials responsible for enacting these policies in office Candidate-Centered Model: Individual candidates rather than parties raise funds, create personal organizations, and rely on professional consultants to direct their campaigns

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Responsible-Party Model How model is supposed to work: –Develop and clarify alternative policy positions for voters –Educate people about issues and simplify choices –Choose candidates who support positions and can win –Run campaigns to help them win –Organize government to pass policies –Held accountable—run in next election on basis of success or policies Problems with the model: –Parties generally do not offer voters clear policy alternatives –Voters mostly do not vote on policy –Candidates self-select –Political parties have no way to control elected officials

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Why we have a more Candidate-Centered Model of Elections The advent of primary elections Decline in party identification, increase in split-ticket voting Increased focus on candidate rather than party Influence of mass media, particularly television and the Web Decline in political patronage Rise of single-issue interest groups, PACs, and 527s

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Parties – Survivors Despite the decline, parties still perform important political functions: –They organize elections and narrow the choices of political office seekers confronting the voters. –They continue to play an important role in voter choice. –Party organizations and activists in the states play an important role in guiding their party and in shaping its image with the voters. –The Democratic and Republican parties perform the central task of organizing state legislatures.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Nationwide Party Supporters

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Parties and Primaries Filing—almost anyone can file Endorsements—some parties can do this Closed and Open Primaries—varies across states –Open allows more access and independent influence –Closed reflects member choice California “Two Top” system—the future? Runoff Primaries –Voting paradox problem –Hurts minority candidate Conventions—few states use to nominate Presidential Primaries and Caucuses—organized by state parties—SC very important as first in South

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Primary Elections in the States

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. State Party Organizations and Activists Activists as Ideologues—make party more extreme Activists as Potential Candidates—have advantages with info and contacts State Party Organizations—bottom-up structure State Laws Govern Parties—variation reflects federalism State Committees—more variation in how chosen and what they represent—often counties State Party Chairpersons—variation, role of sitting governor County Committees—most important level b/c of # of offices Local Party Organizations—usually all-volunteer

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Political Parties Are Built from the Bottom Up

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Party Control of Governorships

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Democratic and Republican Control of State Legislatures

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. “Color-Coded” State Party Competitiveness in National Elections

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Presidential Election Results Show Regional Party Strength Patterns

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Bimodal Distribution of Opinion

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Elements in Professional Media Campaigns Public Relations Firms Polling Name Recognition Campaign Themes Grassroots Campaigning Media Campaigning Negative Ads Free Air Time Campaigning on the Web M-Campaigning (smart devices): Mobile Technologies as Campaign Vehicles

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Money in State Politics What money can do: More important in contested primaries than general elections; “early money” especially effective Fund-raising: Has gone beyond individuals, with political action committees (PACs) increasingly important Big money in the states: In most states, top contributors include lawyers, lobbyists, and realtors Campaign spending in the states: Varies enormously, with a gubernatorial campaign in large states costing up to $20 million Third-party candidates face long odds: Typically only 2 percent win, as they have a tough time raising money, getting name recognition

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Campaign Contributions to Presidential and State-Level Candidates

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. State Campaign Finance Reform State Campaign Finance Laws Federal Campaign Finance Laws –Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974—Watergate reforms –Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002—soft money The U.S. Supreme Court and Campaign Finance –Buckley v Valeo (1976): no personal limits –FEC v. Wisconsin (2007): no limits on independent committees (superpacs) on free speech grounds –Citizens United v FEC (2010): corporations can spend unlimited amounts of money on independent ads Do Campaign Finance Reforms Work? Perhaps not as $ always finds a way in— maybe disclosure is all we can do????

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. On the Web Democratswww.democrats.org Republicanswww.rnc.org The Center for Responsive Politicswww.opensecrets.org Public Campaignwww.publicampaign.org learn all about candidates at all levelshttp://votesmart.org/