Political Parties

1
Political Parties

• Chapter 8

2
The Meaning of Party

• Political Party
• A team of men and women seeking to control the
  governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly
  constituted election.
• Parties can be thought of in three parts
• Party in the electorate
• Party as an organization
• Party in government

3
The Meaning of Party

• Tasks of the Parties
• Linkage Institution The channels through which
  peoples concerns become political issues on the
  governments policy agenda.
• Parties Pick Candidates
• Parties Run Campaigns
• Parties Give Cues to Voters
• Parties Articulate Policies
• Parties Coordinate Policymaking

4
The Meaning of Party

• Parties, Voters, and Policy The Downs Model
• Rational-choice theory Assumes that individuals
  act in their own best interest, weighing the pros
  cons.

5
The Party in the Electorate

• These are the voters in an election.
• Ticket-splitting
• Voting for candidates of different parties.

6
The Party Organizations From the Grass Roots to
Washington

• These are the people that work for the party.
• Local Parties
• Party Machines A type of political party
  organization that relies heavily on material
  inducements to win votes and to govern.
• Patronage A job, promotion or contract given for
  political reasons rather than merit. Used by
  party machines.
• Now local organizations are generally weak.

7
The Party Organizations From the Grass Roots to
Washington

• The 50 State Party Systems
• Closed voters must be registered with their
  party in advance and can only vote for that party
• Open voters decide on election day which party
  to participate in, and then only that party
• Blanket voters get a list of all candidates and
  can vote for one name for each office, regardless
  of party label

8
, - of a Blanket Primary

• Positives

• Negatives

Do you agree or disagree with the Supreme
Courts decision to ban blanket primaries?
9
The Party Organizations From the Grass Roots to
Washington

• The National Party Organizations
• National Convention The meeting of party
  delegates every four years to choose a
  presidential ticket and write the partys
  platform.
• National Committee One of the institutions that
  keeps the party operating between conventions.
• http//www.gop.com/2008Platform/
• http//www.democrats.org/a/party/platform.html

10
Party Eras inAmerican History

• Party Eras
• Historical periods in which a majority of votes
  cling to the party in power.
• Critical Election
• An electoral earthquake where new issues and
  new coalitions emerge.
• Party Realignment
• The displacement of the majority party by the
  minority party, usually during a critical
  election.

11
Party Eras inAmerican History

• 1796-1824 The First Party System
• Federalists and Democrat/Republicans
• 1828-1856 Second Party System
• Whigs and Democrats

12
Party Eras inAmerican History

• 1860-1928 The Two Republican Eras
• Republicans rose as the antislavery party
• 1896 election revolved around the gold standard
• 1932-1964 The New Deal Coalition
• Urban dwellers, labor unions, Catholics and Jews,
  the poor, Southerners, African Americans,
  Intellectuals

13
Party Eras inAmerican History

• 1968-Present The Era of Divided Party Government
• Party dealignment- disengagement of people from
  parties
• Party neutrality- people are indifferent towards
  the two parties
• Presidents and Congress rarely both hold
  unilateral control

14
Third Parties Their Impact on American Politics

• Political parties other than Democrat or
  Republican
• Rarely win elections
• But, they bring new groups and people into
  politics
• Two-party system discourages extreme views

15
What if

• Positives and Negatives of our current 2-party
  system?
• Positives and Negatives of a multi-party system?
• Positives and Negatives of a one-party system?