1. Chapter 9 Political Parties

2. Warm-up Political identification spectrum Where do you fit in?

3. WHO GOVERNS? TO WHAT ENDS?
How has America’s two-party system changed, and how does it differ from the party systems of other representative democracies?
How much do parties affect how Americans vote?
TO WHAT ENDS?
Did the Founding Fathers think political parties were a good idea?
How, if at all, should America’s two-party system be reformed?
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4. Parties - Here and Abroad
Political Party – A group that seeks to elect candidates to public office.
A political party exists as
A label=voters identify
An organization=nominate and elect candidates
A set of leaders=organize government, political members
The United States versus Europe=nominated by party leader
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5. Figure 9.1 Decline in Party Identification, 1952-2004
Replace with jpeg, p. 195
Source: American National Election Studies, November 2005, table 2A.1.
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6. Discussion Why has political party identification been weakened?
Do you think political parties will ever be eliminated? Explain
Read article on independent voters

7. History of political parties
Identify and describe key events of the evolution of political parties
How has political parties changed over time?
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8. Election posters put up in 2005 during Iraq’s first free election in half a century.
Wisam Ahmad/Reuters/Corbis
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9. The Rise and the Decline of the Political Party
The Founding=fed/antifed/rep.
The Jacksonians vs whigs
The Civil War and Sectionalism (rep./dem)
The Era of Reform (progressives)
Party Realignments =if one is badly defeated/two come together
Party Decline=split ticket voting
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10. Founders Many disliked political parties like George Washington
Jefferson (Republicans) vs Hamilton (Federalists)
Then Republicans became so successful Federalists almost didn’t exist
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11. Q1
How do American political parties compare with political parties in Europe?
A. American parties are stronger and have more loyal members
B. American parties are more centralized, with more control by the national party organizations
C. because of federalism, American political parties are decentralized, with significant power at the state and local levels.
D. for the past three decades, the party that controls Congress has usually controlled the presidency
E. national law regulates European parties heavily
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12. A1
C. because of federalism, many important governmental decisions are made a the state and local levels. This gives state and local parties more authority, weakens the national party organizations, and decentralizes power
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13. Q2 Who are superdelegates?
A. powerful members of political parties and elected officials who become delegates without having to run in primaries or caucuses
B. delegates who have more than one vote
C. delegates who have veto power over the party’s choice of candidates
D. delegates who write the party’s platform and have a major influence over the issues emphasized
E. delegates, like movie stars, who have national recognition and, as a result, have great influence in choosing candidates
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14. A2
A. superdelegates are powerful members of political parties and elected officials. They may attend the confvention as a result of their status and are not required to run in primaries or caucuses. They are powerful within the party in selecting candidates
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15. A3
Which term best describes a gathering of delegates of a single political party from across the country to choose candidates for president and vice president?
A. national caucus
B. national primary
C. National convention
D. Party platform
E. General election
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16. Q3
C. a national convention is when a party chooses delegates from all over the country to gather, select the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, and draft a party platform
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17. Q4
Which of the following statements explains why America is described as having a two-party system?
A. the constitution specifically provides that there will be two major parties
B. third parties tend to represent specific racial and ethnic groups that do not have enough members to win an election
C. while third parties often run candidates in state and local elections, they rarely run candidates for the presidency.
D. third parties tend to represent certain regions of the country, like South
E. while third parties compete in elections, they rarely win.
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18. A4
E. two major parties have dominated government, alternating control. Third parties parties rarely win elections.
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19. Jacksonians (Democrats vs Whigs)
Party system created
Popular vote increased (laws made more people eligible to vote)
Built from bottom up (caucuses made up of congressmen didn’t select president), party convention replaced it
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20. Civil War and Sectionalism
Republican party created (3rd party/only time it gained major party status after Civil War)
Republicans=Union supporters
Confederacy=Democrat supporters
States became one party states=allowed for party machines to form
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21. Political party warmup
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22. Civil War and Sectionalism
Mugwumps or progressives=disliked party machinery/wanted political parties to take on unpopular issues
ERA OF REFORM=wanted primary elections (couldn’t be manipulated by party bosses, strict voter-registration, civil service reform to eliminate patronage, referendum and initiatives
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23. Party REALIGHNMENTS
Been close competition between two parties/alternation of dominance between the two
Realigning periods=sharp contrast people change/joining a party based on issues changing (slavery, economic issues, Great Depression)
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24. Party Decline Evidence that parties are declining
Split ticket voting has increased
It creates divided government (Office bloc ballot where you can’t straight vote for a political party
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25. When Andrew Jackson ran for president in 1828, over a million votes were cast for the first time in American history. This poster, from the 1832 election, was part of the emergence of truly mass political participation.
Tennessee Historical Society
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26. The Election of 1860. p. 199 Slavery was issue
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27. The Election of Bryan was for farmers, small towns, low tariffs/McKinley business, urban interests
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28. The Election of 1932. Economic depression, Dem
The Election of Economic depression, Dem. Brought together urban workers, northern blacks, southern whites, and Jewish voters
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29. Figure 9.2 Split-Ticket Voting for President/House, 1952–2004
Source: American National Election Studies, November 2005, table 9B.2.
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30. Warm-up VP debate by source fed
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31. The National Party Structure Today
National convention=meeting of party delegates every 4 years
National committee=delegates run party affairs between national convention
Congressional campaign committee=Party committee in congress that provides funs to members/would be members
National chairperson=day to day party manager elected by national committee
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32. Cleavages and Continuity in the Two-Party System
Figure 9.3
Cleavages and Continuity in the Two-Party System
a American Independent party.
b United We Stand American or
Reform Party.
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33. National Conventions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL7aDoRuorM
Delegates meet to cast votes for the presidential candidate for their political party
Super delegates=14% of delegates whoa re party leaders and elected leaders who become delegates to the national convention without a primary/don’t commit in advance to any person
Mitt
Obama
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34. What to watch for in Convention speeches
Watch for likability
Major points made
Crowd reaction
Visuals
Did this help the candidate?
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35. Figure 9.4 House Challengers Who Raised $1 Million or More (2000–2006)
Source: Campaign Finance Institute, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., October 19, 2006, figure 1, summarizing data from the Federal Election Commission
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36. Supporters of John McCain and Sarah Palin celebrate at the 2008 Republican convention. p. 205
Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images
The Internet is the latest means through which people are becoming politically informed and active. It has also become an important way to raise money for candidates and parties. p. 205
Democratic National Committee
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37. Sources: New York Times (August 29, 2004); CBSNEWS.COM, July
Replace with jpeg, p. 206
Sources: New York Times (August 29, 2004); CBSNEWS.COM, July
24, 2004; Boston Globe, August 31, 2004.
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38. State and Local Parties
The Machine=corruption
Winning above all else
Ideological Parties=3rd parties/factions (tea party/socialists)
Solidarity Groups=groups form that like the game of politics
Sponsored Parties=supported by another group (unions)
Personal Following=follow you during your election
By permission of the Houghton Library/Harvard University
Ex-Senator George Washington Plunkitt of Tammany Hall explains machine politics from atop the bootblack stand in front of the New York County Courthouse around 1905, p. 207
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39. Reuters/CORBIS
The personal following of former President George Bush was passed on to his sons, George W. (left) and Jeb (right), both of whom became governors of large states, and the former of whom became president. p. 209
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40. The Two-Party System
WHY HAS THE TWO-PARTY SYSTEM PERSISTED IN THE UNITED STATES?
Plurality System=person who receives most votes wins!
Voter Opinion=how voters perceive the parties/see differences between groups
State Laws=difficult to get on the ballot/ex 435,000 signitures
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41. Source: Data from CNN exit polls for each year.
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42. 3rd parties: Minor Parties
Ideological=marxist/feel
Outside mainstream
One-issue=one major issue
Ex. Prohibition party
Economic-protest=based on region, disappear when economic situation gets better
Factional=split in a major party/ideology/bull moose progressive
The Socialist party and the Progressive party were both minor parties, but their origins were different. The Socialist party was an ideological party; the “Bull Moose” Progressive party split off from the Republicans to support Theodore Roosevelt. p. 214
Library of Congress/LC-DIG pga-01130
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43. Copyright © 2011 Cengage

44. Nominating a President
Are the delegates representative of the voters?
Who votes in primaries?
Who are the new delegates?
Reed Saxon/APPhoto
Ross Perot founded the independent Reform party in 1996, p. 215
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45. Replace with jpeg, p. 217
Source: New York Times/CBS News polls as reported in Katharine Q. Seeley and Marjorie Connelly, “The Conventioneers; Delegates Leaning to the Right of G.O.P. and the Nation,” New York Times, August 29, 2004.
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46. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
M E M O R A N D U M To: Elizabeth Bunting, All for Life president From: Ralph Marx, political consultant Subject: Upcoming presidential election Without regard to your organization’s cause or issue, I have been hired to brief you on the pros and cons of backing or beginning a third-party candidate in the presidential election.
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47. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Arguments for: 1. Independent and third-party candidates can garner votes for president or tip an election result. In 1992, Ross Perot won nearly a fifth of the votes. In 2000, Green party candidate Ralph Nader got only 3 percent, but that included 100,000 votes in Florida where Republican Bush was credited with only 600 votes more than Democrat Gore. 2. Third-party candidates (Eugene Debs, Robert La Follette, George Wallace) can make a mark on American politics. Third parties have advocated policies later championed by the two main parties: abolishing slavery (Free-Soil party), women’s right to vote (Woman’s party), direct election of U.S. senators (Progressive party), and many others.
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48. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Arguments against: 1. It is virtually impossible to win, thanks to the winner- take-all system of elections. Since the 1850s, over a hundred third parties have come and gone. There will be a brief media frenzy when you bolt; but, after that, you might be ignored. Better to grumble but be heard inside a major party than to shout but not be heard with a minor party. 2. Splitting off from a major party could weaken support for your issue and lead one or the other major party to “resolve” it in a watered-down way. In the 1930s, the Democrats plucked Social Security from the Socialist party’s far-reaching plan. In the 1980s, the Republicans’ position on taxes only faintly echoed the Libertarian party’s.
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49. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Your decision: Back or begin a third party? Stay with the major party?
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