1. American Political Parties
Political Process Unit 3
Lesson 1

2. The Two Party System
George Washington, our first President, hoped that parties would not develop
Washington’s Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and his Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton had major differences of opinion and the supporters of each man formed parties around their ideas
Political Party: association of voters with broad, common interests who want to influence or control decision making in govt. by electing members of their party
Thomas Jefferson v. Alexander Hamilton

3. The Two Party System Today
During most of American history there have been two major political parties, other parties have seldom won; US is said to have a two party system
The Constitution says nothing about political parties
Hamilton’s party wanted a stronger national govt.
Jefferson’s party wanted the states to have more power
Today the two major parties are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party

4. Third Parties
Sometimes people feel they don’t fit into either of the two major parties so they form “third parties”
No third party has ever won a Presidential election and rarely win other elections
Third parties can effect the outcome of an election by bringing up new issues and drawing votes away from the major party candidates
Famous third parties in American political history include the Populist Party, the Progressive Party, the Reform Party, and the Green Party
Ralph Nader, Green Party Presidential candidate in 2000

5. Types of Third Parties
Single Issue Parties: party arises not to win elections but to promote a social, economic, or moral issue; most famous is Prohibitionist Party; most fade away when then the issue is no longer important or a major party takes their idea
Ideological Parties: focus on changing society in major ways, usually by changing the size of govt.; Communist Party, Libertarian Party
Independent Candidates: party arises around a well-known individual who cannot get the support of a major party
John Anderson, 1980

6. Other Party Systems
Third parties struggle in the US because they lack organization, tradition, money, and the winner take all system
In many other countries there are lots of major parties; Canada has 3, Germany 5, Israel more than 20; often forces parties to work together
One party system: the party and the government are nearly the same thing; China only allows Communist candidates to run for office
Iran is a theocracy, Muslim religious leaders rule the country
Chinese Leaders