Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman Longman PoliticalScienceInteractive Magleby & Light Government by the People Chapter 7 Political Parties: Essential to Democracy

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Party Functions Political Party An organization that seeks political power by electing people to office so that its positions and philosophy become public policy Unify the Electorate - Deemphasizing single issues Help Organize Government - Use of patronage Translate Preferences into Policy - If elected support policy changes supported by party (candidate politics vs. party politics) Provide Loyal Opposition - Honeymoon= period at the beginning of a new president’s term during which the president enjoys generally positive relations with the press and Congress Organize the Competition - Designating candidates to run under their party - How states organize their ballots

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman The Nomination of Candidates Closed Primary System Only registered members of the party are allowed to vote in the primary Open Primary System Voters are allowed to participate in the primary election without declaring membership in a party Party Convention A meeting of party delegates to vote on matters of policy and in some cases to select party candidates for public office

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman The Nomination of Candidates Caucus: A meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform Hillary Rodham Clinton; contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Party Systems Multiparty  Coalition government is necessary  Minor parties have an incentive to persevere  Proportional representation  Governments tend toward instability Two party Winner-takes-all system “ Wasted vote ” syndrome discourages minor parties Government tends toward stability Policy change is incremental

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Minor (Third) Parties: Persistence and Frustration Ideological PartiesProtest Parties Single-Issue Parties Splinter Parties

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Minor (Third) Parties: Persistence and Frustration Libertarian Party Green Party Reform Party

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Minor Parties in the United States 240towin.com

Realigning Elections Intense electorate involvement Disruption in traditional voting patterns Formation of new and durable electoral groupings Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Realigning Elections Jacksonian Democrats and Whigs (1824) Abraham Lincoln (1860): Post-Civil War Republican Dominance

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Realigning Elections Roosevelt’s optimism and “can do” attitude in the face of the Great Depression helped cement the New Deal Democratic coalition that won him the presidency Converting Realigning election (1896) The New Deal Democratic Party (1932)

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Divided Government Since 1953, divided government, with one party controlling Congress and the other the White House, has been in effect twice as long as one- party control of both the legislative and executive branches

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman The 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008 Elections: Into the New Century 2000: partisan tie in the Senate, slim Republican majority in House and contested presidential vote count 2002: President’s party gained seats in the House and Senate 2004: Bush reelected and his party picked up seats in Senate and House 2006: Democrats win majority in both House and Senate 2008: Democrats increase majority in House and Senate, and win the presidency 2010: Republicans regain control of House, Democrats lose 6 seats in Senate, but keep 51 to 47 majority 2012: Republicans keep majority of House seats, Democrats hold majority in Senate and win the presidency 2014: Republicans increase majority in House, Republicans gain control of Senate 54 to 46

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Partisan Realignment and Dealignment Voters are becoming less predictable Dealignment: Weakening of partisan preferences –Rejection of both major parties –Rise in the number of independents 2/3 of all “independents” are really partisans in their voting behavior/attitudes

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Are the Parties Dying? Critique of the American party system 1.Parties do not take meaningful and contrasting positions on most issues 2.Party membership is essentially meaningless 3.Parties are so focused on voters in the middle of the spectrum they are incapable of serving as an avenue for social progress

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Are the Parties Dying? Winning wins over principle

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Reform Cover this info at the end of Chapter 7 in the textbook