1. Party Era
American Government

2. Party Organizations
The national convention is the supreme power within each party
The convention meets every four years and are responsible for:
Writing the party platform
Nominating the candidates for President
Nominating the candidates for Vice President

3. Party Eras
A party era is a delineation of time in which a single party is the majority party for a long period of time
In each party era there is a critical election, or an election that has new issues that divide the electorate in new ways
After a critical election, party realignment takes place
Party realignment is a rare event and normally takes place after a major crisis in the country
i.e. the Civil War, the Great Depression, etc.

4. : The First Parties
The Federalist party was formed by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison
The Federalist party was designed to support strong national government that would help run the government after the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
The party faded after Adams lost his bid to be re-elected in 1800
The party that helped crush the Federalist party was led by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe
This party was known as the Democratic-Republicans, or the Jeffersonians
The Democratic-Republicans looked at agrarian interests rather than capitalist interests
This party fell as they tried to focus on everyone

5. : Democrats and Whigs
Jackson was originally a Democratic-Republican, but after winning the Presidency, his party became known the Democrats
The Democrats were composed of western and southern citizens who believed in stamping out elitism and listening to the masses
The opposition party was the Whig party
The Whig party pushed policies for industry in the North and Southern planters
These two very different interest groups were brought together by mutual dislike of the Democratic-Republican platform

6. : Republican Eras
The first Republican era began in the 1850’s
The Republicans were known as the anti-slavery party
The Republican party was able to obtain such strong support in the North, that Lincoln was able to win the Presidency without carrying a single Southern state
The second Republican era began in 1896, when Republicans pushed for a gold standard rather than a silver standard
Republicans reigned supreme until the stock market crash in 1929

7. 1932-1964: The New Deal Coalition
The New Deal coalition was reinforced by FDR and formed by Democrats
The New Deal Coalition resulted in:
Urban dwellers shifting from the Republican party to the Democratic party
Labor unions began to staunchly support the Democratic party
Catholics and Jews began to strongly support the Democratic party
The poor started to overwhelmingly support the Democratic party
Racial minorities began to overwhelmingly support the Democratic party
Southerners continued to support the Democratic party
This time period is characterized by social progressivism

8. 1968-Present: Divided government
This time period is characterized by party dealignment
This means that people are gradually moving away from both parties
This has led to growing party neutrality
This means that there is a growing number of people who have no preference for either party
We currently have a divided government
This means that no one party controls both houses in the Congress and the Presidency