1. Political Parties

2. What’s a party? Group that seeks to elect candidates to office
It’s an organization
It’s a label
It’s part of the government
It’s a linkage institution

3. History We’ve had lots of different parties
Federalists and Anti-Federalists
Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson and Madison)
Whigs
Tons more

4. Realignments – a shift in the coalitions that support one or both parties
1800 – Jeffersonian republicans defeat Federalists
1828 – Jacksonian democrats
1860 – collapse of Whigs and rise of republicans
1896 – republicans defeat William Jennings bryan
1932 – rise of democrats under Roosevelt (New deal coalition)

5. Functions of political Parties
Recruit candidates
Nominate Candidates
Help candidates win elections

6. Parties recruit candidates
Candidates usually have to be asked
Parties seek out, find and support candidates with a good chance of winning

7. Parties nominate candidates
They help decide who will fight under the party’s banner
Used to be done by “bosses” – not very democratic

8. Now there are primaries
Closed
Open
Blanket
Top-two

9. Delegates
To get the nomination, a candidate needs enough delegates
Each state is assigned a certain number of delegates (various complicated formulas)
When you vote in a primary you’re actually voting for delegates
Each party does it a bit differently – proportional vs. winner-take-all
All of these are “pledged delegates”

10. They vote at the convention Gives the party more influence
There are also “super delegates” – unpledged delegates who are elite party members (Just Dems)
Would trump be president if the republicans had super delegates?
They vote at the convention
Gives the party more influence

12. Parties help candidates win elections
Give them the extra special party label
Get people to vote (“get-out-the-vote”)
Give lists of supporters/polling data
Give money – only $5,000, but it’s a signal to potential donors that the candidate is legit

13. National, state and local Parties
Not a business with a ceo, no strict hierarchy
They’re all somewhat independent and somewhat not

14. Big things to know:
National convention – every 4 years to nominate pres.
Affairs managed by a national committee, headed by a national chair
Congressional campaign committee for congressional elections

15. Ronna McDaniel

16. Tom Perez

17. Party in the electorate
Your party affiliation basically describes how you vote (90%)
About 40% of Americans call themselves independents, but only 10% actually vote independent
The rest “lean” one way or the other and vote that way
Partisan studies

18. The two-party system
A two-party system is rare; most countries have multi-party systems
We have a plurality (winner-take-all) system
You need the most votes, not a 51% majority
It’s whoever comes in First

19. We have Single-member districts – in each congressional district there is only one winner
The electoral college is a winner-take-all system – if you get the most votes you win all of that state’s electoral votes (except Maine and Nebraska)
What are the consequences of this?

20. In a proportional system, a candidate who won 20% of the vote would get 20% of the electoral vote
What does this mean for minor parties?

21. Do minor parties contribute anything of value?

22. Ok of course they do!
New ideas
Voice for fringe groups (promotes democracy)
More participation
Safety valve (you always have a choice)
Forces major parties to include other groups and clarify their positions