1. Politics in States and Communities (15 Ed.)
Thomas Dye and Susan MacManus

2. Parties and Campaigns in the States
Chapter 5
Parties and Campaigns in the States

3. 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.
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4. 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
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5. Responsible-Party Model
As per this model, the parties:
Develop and clarify alternative policy positions for voters
Educate people about issues and simplify choices
Recruit candidates for office who agree with the party positions
Organize and direct their candidates to win elections
Hold their elected officials responsible for enacting the parties’ policy positions after they were elected
Organize legislatures to ensure party control of policymaking
Problems with the model:
Parties generally do not offer voters clear policy alternatives
Voter decisions are not motivated primarily by policy considerations
American political parties have no way to bind their elected officials to party positions or even to their campaign pledges
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6. 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
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7. 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.
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8. Nationwide Party Supporters
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9. Parties and Primaries Filing Endorsements Closed and Open Primaries
Runoff Primaries
Conventions
Presidential Primaries and Caucuses
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10. Primary Elections in the States
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11. State Party Organizations and Activists
Activists as Ideologues
Activists as Potential Candidates
State Party Organizations
State Laws Govern Parties
State Committees
State Party Chairpersons
County Committees
Local Party Organizations
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12. Political Parties Are Built from the Bottom Up
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13. Party Control of Governorships
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14. Democratic and Republican Control of State Legislatures
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15. “Color-Coded” State Party Competitiveness in National Elections
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16. 2012 Presidential Election Results Show Regional Party Strength Patterns
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17. Bimodal Distribution of Opinion
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18. 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: Mobile Technologies as Campaign Vehicles
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19. 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
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20. Campaign Contributions to Presidential and State-Level Candidates
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21. State Campaign Finance Reform
State Campaign Finance Laws
Federal Campaign Finance Laws
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002
The U.S. Supreme Court and Campaign Finance
Do Campaign Finance Reforms Work?
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22. On the Web
Democrats
Republicans
The Center for Responsive Politics
Public Campaign
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