1. WHAT IS A POLITICAL PARTY?
A party is a group that seeks to elect candidates to public office by supplying them with a label after winning elections

2. Political Parties
Chapter 7

3. Functions of Political Parties
Connecting citizens to their government
Running candidates for political office
Informing the public
Organizing the government

4. Why a Two Party System?
One out of 15 democracies in the world today has two party systems.
3 factors contribute to our two party system:
Consensus of values
Historical influence
The Winner-Take-All System

5. US Federal system decentralizes power
Differences from European parties
US Federal system decentralizes power
a. Early on, most people with political jobs worked for state and local government
 b. National parties were coalitions of local parties
c. As political power becomes more centralized, parties become weaker still

6. 2. Parties closely regulated by state and federal laws
3. Candidates chosen through primaries, not by party leaders
4. President elected separately from Congress      

7. The rise and fall of the political party
The Founding (to the 1820s)
Founders' dislike of factions George Washington on Political Parties:
“It (Parties) agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another…”

8. 2. Emergence of Republicans, Federalists: Jefferson versus Hamilton
b. Republicans' success and Federalists' demise v.

9. The Era of Good Feeling
Jefferson emerged as the most popular leader at the turn of the nineteenth century.
The two parties' points of view seemed to merge most notably in the "Era of Good Feeling" presided over by James Monroe, one of Jefferson's protégés.
The Democratic-Republicans emerged as the only party, and their dominance lasted until the mid-1800's, though under a new name, the Democrats

10. The Jacksonians (to the Civil War)
1. Political participation a mass phenomenon
a. More voters to reach
b. Party built from the bottom up
c. Abandonment of presidential caucuses
 d. Beginning of national conventions to allow local control
e. More local control, especially to the states

11. 2. New Republicans become dominant because of
The Civil War and Sectionalism
1. Jacksonian system unable to survive slavery issue. As economic and social tensions developed between North and South by the 1840's and 50's, Whig party unity was threatened by splits between the Southern and Northern wings- become the Republican Party.
A new Republican Party emerged from the issue of expansion of slavery into new territories.
2. New Republicans become dominant because of
Civil War and Republicans on Union side Party would dominate U.S. politics from

12. Democrats became fractured after the Civil War
William Jennings Bryan alienation of northern Democrats in 1896
Democrats will then regain control after 1932 election

13.  3. In most states one party predominates
 a. Party professionals, or "stalwarts," one faction in GOP
b. Mugwumps (group of independent Republicans that broke away for good government), Progressives, or "reformers" another faction
Most famous mugwumps:
Mark Twain

14. The era of reform
1. Progressive push measures to curtail parties
Primary elections
No party-business alliances
Strict voter registration requirements
Civil service reform
Initiative and referendum elections

15. The national party structure today
Parties similar on paper
National convention ultimate power; nominates presidential candidate
2. National committee composed of delegates from states
3. Congressional campaign committees
4. National chair manages daily work

16. The Era of Divided Government 1969-2003
With a few exceptions, control of the legislature and the presidency has been "divided" between the two major political parties since the late 1940s.
The division brings with it the problem of "gridlock", or the tendency to paralyze decision making, with one branch advocating one policy and the other another, contradictory policy.

17. Party structure diverges in the late 1960s
1. RNC moves to bureaucratic structure; a well-financed party devoted to electing its candidates
2. Democrats move to factionalized structure to distribute power
3. RNC uses computerized mailing lists to raise money

18. National Conventions:
Large party gatherings with the purpose to elect a candidate for office. Nowadays it’s just a rubber-stamping of the results of the primaries.
Main goal is to announce candidate to the public and establish platform.

19. National conventions
1. National committee sets time and place; issues call setting number of delegates for each state
2. Formulas used to allocate delegates
a. Democrats shift the formula away from the South to the North and West
b. Republicans shift the formula away from the East to the South and Southwest
c. Result: Democrats move left, Republicans right

20. Consequence of reforms: parties represent different set of upper-middle-class voters
Republicans represent traditional middle class
Democrats hurt because the traditional middle class closer in opinions to most citizens

21. Minor parties 4 Types of Minor parties:
Ideological parties: comprehensive, radical view; most enduring Examples: Socialist, Communist, Libertarian
B. Single-issue parties: address one concern, avoid others Examples: Free Soil, Know-Nothing, Prohibition

22. C. Economic protest parties: regional, appear during depressions and panics. Examples: Greenbacks, Populists
D. Splinter parties: from split in a major party: Examples: Bull Moose, Henry Wallace, American Independent, Reform

23. Nominating a president
Two contrary forces: party's desire to win motivates it to seek an appealing candidate, but its desire to keep dissidents in party forces a compromise to more extreme views
Are the delegates representative of the voters?
No. Democrats are liberals and Republicans are conservative

24. Presidential Primaries
Party elections before actual election.
Usually held from February to June of the election year
First state that starts it?
New Hampshire
Two types: Open and Closed
Open, anybody can vote. Closed, only party members vote.
Raiding (opposition intruding primary)

25. Caucus: meeting of party followers at which delegates are picked
a. Only most-dedicated partisans attend
b. Often choose most ideological candidate:
Jesse Jackson in 1984
Pat Robertson in 1988

26. Parties versus voters Formula for winning president
a. Nominate candidates with views closer to the average citizen (e.g., 1996 election)
b. Fight campaign over issues agreed on by delegates and voters (e.g., 1992 election)