1. Political Parties 1.The unpopular party 2. Functions of parties 1. Linkage 2. Recruitment 3. Campaign assistance 4. Posing alternatives 5. Labels and cues 6. Conflict: does democracy work without parties? 3.Party in government: does it matter -look at the Courts -presidential patronage -organization of Congress -divided government

2. 4.Party organization -a fragmented reflection of federalism -national convention, national committee, national chairperson -as a practical matter, states (and counties) are more important 5.Party in electorate -mass organization? elite organization? 6. Party identification 1.Important predictor of political choice and engagement 2.Relatively stable – long term guide (commitment?) 3.Rise of independents but persistence of partisanship 4.Citizenship and partisanship 5.Changing nature of independence?

3. 6.Why two parties? -historical explanation? -dualism and persistent party loyalties? -electoral institutions: proportional representation vs. plurality, winner-take-all, single member districts 7. Consequences of two parties -moderate policies -2 large heterogeneous parties -negotiation and bargaining -convergence on median voter -partisan control over primaries -hard on political minorities and third parties

4. 8. Campaign finance -FECA of 1971 and its amendments -the importance of 1972-74 -Limits on individual contributions -The rise of PACs -No limits on individual expenditures -State parties and the role of soft money -Federal funding of presidential elections (and its demise) -McCain Feingold (2002) and the elimination of soft money -Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission (2010) corporate donations cannot be banned, based on 1 st Amendment overturns McCain Feingold limits on corporations and unions