P OLITICAL P ARTIES 10/12-13/09 Mr. Westerfeld

W HY DO P ARTIES FORM ? To facilitate Collective Action in the Electoral Process Means of organizing competition and political opposition To Resolve Collective Choice in the Policy- Making Process Speeds up policy making process because permanent coalitions are developed To Deal with the Problem of Ambition Parties are vehicles for candidates with ambition and provide structure but also check their individual goals

W HAT FUNCTIONS DO THEY PERFORM ? Recruiting Candidates Offering financial support and organization to quality candidates willing to participate Nominating Candidates By convention Formal caucus bound by a number of rules that govern participation and nominating procedures. (diff in each state) Primary Election- elections within parties to choose candidates Closed Primary-only party members registered previously with a party may vote Open Primary- voters may declare affiliation on primary election day Getting out the vote Lower information costs for voters

W HAT FUNCTIONS DO THEY PERFORM ? Influencing National Government Policy Allow for party goals to become national policy Congress Cooperation in congress is facilitated by the party system- majority party delegates positions like speaker of the house, committee appointments, allocate office space. President Pres provides resources for party reelection and in turn party members in government provide support in implementing the pres agenda

P ARTIES AND T HE E LECTORATE Political Socialization into a party leads to party identification. Development of ties with a party Group Affiliations- Page 493 Race and ethnicity Gender Religion Class Ideology Region Age

How do you think your group membership effects your party id?

P ARTY S YSTEMS - PG st -Federalists and Democratic 2 nd -Demorcrats and Whigs 3 rd -Republicans and Democrats 4 th -Republicans and Populist-Democrats Party Machines develop Organized parties which controlled local politics through patronage and nomination process 5 th -The New Deal Coalition and Democratic dominance 6 th ?-Republican and Democrats Infighting and Coalitions

T HIRD P ARTIES Problem – nobody wants to vote for a loser Who makes the rules? Single member district- U.S. system where one representative is elected Multiple member district- system where multiple seats are assigned in one district and each voter given multiple votes. Should we adopt multiple seats?

T ECHNOLOGY AND C ANDIDATES Polling Broadcast media Phone banks Direct Mail-renting subscription list Professional PR-consultants The Internet-media fragmentation and direct access Overall these developments have made campaigns more dependent on capital than volunteers

P OLITICAL P ARTY O RGANIZATION National Committees Fundraising and organization Congressional Campaign Committees Fundraising and organization