1. Purpose and functions of political parties in the U.S.
Objective 6.5
Purpose and functions of political parties in the U.S.

2. What is a political party??
A group of people that
shares similar political ideas
takes action to achieve their political goals

3. help candidates win elections
Political parties…
help candidates win elections

4. Goals of Political parties
recruit and nominate candidates
find people that share party beliefs
Nominate people that can WIN!!!

5. educate the electorate about campaign issues
Political parties…
educate the electorate about campaign issues
VOTERS

6. monitor the actions of other elected leaders
Political parties
monitor the actions of other elected leaders
Point out mistakes of other party
report wrong doing
Make sure leaders are honest

7. raise money for campaigns
political parties….
raise money for campaigns
Campaigns are expensive and candidates need $$ to win

8. Two Major Political Parties in US politics
DEMOCRATS & REPUBLICANS
All Presidents for last 100 yrs
Overwhelming majority of members of Congress
Dominate state and local gov’t politics

9. political parties besides D or R
Third Parties
political parties besides D or R
Can influence voters with their ideas
Rarely win elections

10. Similarities and differences of political parties Obj. 6.6

11. both parties organize to win elections **MAIN GOAL**
similarities
both parties organize to
win elections
**MAIN GOAL**

12. both influence public policy by
similarities
both influence public policy by
Educating the public about issues
Helping candidates get elected

13. both reflect liberal and conservative political views
similarities
both reflect liberal and conservative political views
Liberal- modern ideas
Conservative- traditional ideas

14. Both appeal to the political center (moderates)
similarities
Both appeal to the political center (moderates)

15. similarities (moderates)
Many citizens are in the “middle” and support ideas of both parties
The party that wins support from moderates usually wins elections

16. differences
The major differences between political parties can be found in the Party Platform

17. Party Platform
A party’s statement of the issues of importance
The party’s solutions for dealing with issues

18. Party Platform
The two major parties have different platforms for dealing with major Social and Economic issues

19. Believe in large role of federal government
left
DEMOCRATS
Believe in large role of federal government

20. Differences DEMOCRATS
left
Differences DEMOCRATS
the federal gov’t should create programs to solve social problems

21. Differences DEMOCRATS
increase taxes (maybe) to pay for the social programs

22. Differences DEMOCRATS
domestic programs (programs in the US) are more important than giving foreign aid

24. Differences REPUBLICANS
believe the role of the federal government should be limited

25. Differences REPUBLICANS
right
Differences REPUBLICANS
think that state governments should create and fund programs to solve problems

26. Differences REPUBLICANS
right
Differences REPUBLICANS
decrease taxes (maybe) and provide for less social programs

27. Differences REPUBLICANS
foreign policy is very important
(gives money, food, military aid)

29. Advantages and disadvantages of the two-party system
Objective 6.7
Advantages and disadvantages of the two-party system

30. The two-party system
Since US politics is dominated by the Democrats and Republicans, it is said that the US is run on a 2 party system

31. Advantage: political stability
Both parties have large groups of supporters and popular leaders
This makes government stable and strong

32. Advantage: Electoral College Winner
51% electoral college winner needed to become President
Easier to achieve with only 2 parties competing

33. Advantage: continuity in government-
One of the parties will always have majority popular support
If one party fails, the second party leaders can take over and the government remains strong

34. Disadvantage: less opportunity to represent minority opinions
less popular issues may be ignored

35. What if you don’t like either the Democratic or Republican candidate??
Disadvantages
Less candidates for voters to choose from
What if you don’t like either the Democratic or Republican candidate??

36. Reasons for the formation of third parties
Objective 6.8
Reasons for the formation of third parties

37. Third Parties

38. Why do you think 3rd parties exist in American politics?

39. major parties fail to discuss popular issues
Why do 3rd parties exist??
major parties fail to discuss popular issues
Ex- the environment
3rd parties can bring attention to forgotten issues

40. Third parties introduce new ideas
Why do 3rd parties exist??
Third parties introduce new ideas

41. Why do 3rd parties exist??
To give voters more choices -Allows citizens to vote for a person outside of the two major parties

42. strong political personality of a candidate
Why do 3rd parties exist??
strong political personality of a candidate
Teddy Roosevelt (Bull Moose)
Ralph Nader (Green)
Ross Perot (Independent)

43. Meet Ross Perot Independent candidate in the 1992 election
Conservative ideology
Texas Millionaire, spent Millions of his own money to run as a 3rd party candidate
Click the picture to meet Ross Perot

44. Meet Ross Perot
Before Primaries, Perot led Republican and Democratic candidates
Republicans and Democrats said voter would waste their vote if they voted for Perot
First modern 3rd party candidate invited to debates

45. Meet Ross Perot Won 19% of popular vote during popular election
(19 Million votes)
Did not win popular vote of any state, therefore no electoral votes
Defeated by Democratic candidate, Bill Clinton who won 43% of popular vote

46. In the 2008 election… There were 11 third party candidates on the ballot

47. None earned more than 1% of the popular vote
In the 2008 election…
None earned more than 1% of the popular vote

48. Why do you think most people never hear about 3rd party candidates?