1. Development of Parties

2.  Group of people with broad common interests who organize to win elections, control government, and thereby influence government policies.

3.  Pick candidates  Run campaigns  Give cues to voters  Articulate policies  Coordinate policymaking

4.  The party is the government and the party leaders set government policy  Usually found in nations with authoritarian governments. ◦ One-party Communist governments  Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea, China ◦ One-party Theocracy (government run by religious officials)  Iran ◦ One-party authoritarian system  Russia

5.  Most common political system today ◦ France, Italy  Parties often represent widely differing ideologies (basic beliefs about government)  Voters have a wide range of choices on election day  One party rarely gets enough support to control the gov’t so several parties often combine forces to obtain a majority and form a coalition government (groups w/diff. ideologies share power ◦ Break down when disputes arise  Tend to be politically unstable

6.  Two major parties compete for power, although minor parties exist  Only about 2 dozen nations in world  United States ◦ Democratic and Republican Party

7.  Any party other than one of the two major parties  Labeled “third” parties because they rarely win major elections  Believe that neither major party is meeting certain needs- run candidates who propose ways to remedy situation.

8.  Single-issue party focuses exclusively on one major social, economic, or moral issue; generally short lived ◦ Liberty Party; Free Soil Party  Ideological party has a particular set of ideas about how to change society overall ◦ Socialist Labor Party; Communist Party  Splinter party splits away from one of the major parties because of some disagreement ◦ Progressive Party; Bull Moose Party

9.  Can influence the outcome of national elections  Promote new ideas that are adopted by major parties ◦ Min. wage; five day workweek; unemployment and health insurance

10.  Single-member districts- system where no matter how many candidates compete in a district, only one will win. ◦ Because most voters support a major party, the winner has almost always been a Democrat or a Republican  Many nations use an election system based on proportional representation- several officials are elected to represent voters in an area. ◦ Offices are filled in proportion to the votes that each party’s candidates receive. ◦ Encourages minority parties

11. Organization

12.  All generally cooperate, but are independent of each other ◦ Local ◦ State ◦ National

13.  Precinct: basic, local, voting district where voters cast their ballots at the same polling place  Precinct captain: organizes party workers to distribute info. about party and its candidates and to attract voters to the polls  Ward: several adjoining precincts comprise a larger district  Each precinct chooses a chairperson to represent ward at the party’s county committee  County committee selects a chairperson to handle the county party’s daily affairs

14.  State central committee: comprised largely of reps from the party’s county organizations  Chooses party state chairperson  Helps elect the party’s candidates for state government offices  Provides assistance to local parties and candidates  Helps coordinate the activities of local parties  Raises money

15.  National convention: a gathering of party members and local and state party officials that meets every four years primarily to nominate the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates  National committee: large group comprised mainly of reps from the 50 state party organizations runs the party  Elects party chairperson who manages daily operations- usually the choice of the party’s pres. candidate ◦ Raises money for party ◦ Touts achievements ◦ Promotes national, state, and local party cooperation

16.  Provides ways for citizens to influence government, esp. at the local level  Most citizens declare membership when they register to vote ◦ May choose Independent if you do not support any particular party  No duties or obligations beyond voting  Must be a member to hold office or be its candidate  Ways to support party ◦ Contributing money ◦ Volunteer work for party or candidates

17. Nominating Candidates

18.  Meetings of party members who choose almost all candidates for office ◦ Direct primary= elections in which party members select people to run in the general election ◦ Closed primary= only members of a political party can vote ◦ Open primary= all voters may participate, even if they do not belong to the party, but they can vote in only one party’s primary  Candidate requires a plurality: more votes than any other candidate

19.  A person announces his/her candidacy and files petitions that a specified number of voters have signed in order to be placed on the ballot  In a primary contest, the party-backed candidate has an advantage b/c party workers will circulate petitions and use its financial and organizational resources to back its candidate

20.  Presidential Primaries ◦ May use a delegate selection process or a presidential preference poll, or both ◦ Winner-take-all or proportional delegates system  National Convention officially nominates presidential and vice presidential candidate and adopts a party platform ◦ Sometimes planks divide the party