Political Parties in America

1
Political Parties in America

• (or, Whats Really Wrong With Democracy?)

2
Beliefs about Political Parties

• Founding Fathers felt they were unnecessary
• Some political scientists (E.E. Schattschneider)
  feel that political parties created democracy
  and that democracy is impossible w/o them.
  
• Many feel that they create conflict where none
  exists, yet still identify with one of them.

3
What are Political Parties?

• Group of people that share a like mind when it
  comes to politics
  
• Main purpose is to get people elected to office
  to affect the political agenda
  
• Knowing a candidates affiliation is a clue to
  their stance on major issues.
  
• Some voters vote according to party
  identification, without knowing anything about
  the candidate. (straight-ticket voting)

4
Common Functions of all Political Parties

• Nominating candidates who can develop public
  policy
  
• Running successful campaigns
• Develop a positive image
• Raise money
• Articulating issues during the campaign so that
  the electorate will identify with the party
  
• Coordinate in the governing process the
  implementation of the policies they supported
  
• Maintaining a watchdog function if they dont
  succeed in electing their candidates

5
The 5 Party Eras (Systems)

• Federalist 10 definitely shows that the Founders
  were extremely wary of factions in the
  governmentbut it mainly applies to interest
  groups.
• The system set up by the Constitution almost
  forced factions to exist, in order to achieve the
  checks and balances outlined in the document

6
First Party Era

• Development of Parties (The Era of Good Feeling)
  beginnings to 1828
  
• Democratic-Republicans
• 1796 John Adams defeats Jefferson by three
  electoral votes
  
• Jefferson defeats Adams in 1800 and his party
  controls Congress
  
• By 1828, D-Rs split into the Whigs (Henry Clay
  and Daniel Webster) and Democrats (Andrew Jackson)

7
Second Party Era

• Rise of Democrats (1828-1860)
• Jacksons emphasis of the common man gains a
  populist following
  
• Jacksonian Democracy results in several things
• Universal suffrage for all white males
• Popular election of presidential electors
• National nominating conventions
• Spoils system

8
Third Party Era

• Rise of the Republicans (1860-1896)
• New party alignment
• Whigs are gone and GOP takes their place
• Abe Lincoln is the first Republican president
• Republicans gain and maintain control of Congress
  and the Presidency time and time again
  
• Dems control state and local politics in the
  South, giving rise to the term Solid South

9
Fourth Party Era

• Republican Dominance (1896-1932)
• William Jennings Bryan
• Progressive Movement
• Championed political reform, especially big city
  machines
  
• Never win the presidency, but most of their ideas
  were eventually enacted into law
  
• Pushed for reform to check corruption in
  government, especially party influence in
  national government and elections

10
Fifth Party Era

• Democratic Dominance (New Deal Era)
• 1920s, GOP loses support in the support in the
  cities
  
• Depression hits in 1929 and FDR is elected,
  shifting dominance back to Dems
  
• FDRs New Deal Coalition
• City-dwellers
• Blue-collar workers
• Catholic and Jewish immigrants
• Blacks
• Southerners
• Northern liberals and southern conservatives

11
Current Trends in Realignment

• Dems have won the White House only 3 times since
  1964, suggesting another shift
  
• Ticket-splitting declined during the 90s, it was
  still double what it was in the 50s
  
• Many feel that we are in an era of divided
  government
  
• Reagan made the best use of dealignment
• Any attempt at bipartisanship has been replaced
  by use of ever-changing coalitions

12
The Parties Today

• Republican Coalition
• Traditional conservatives
• Minimize government intervention in the economy
• Develop natural resources on public lands
• Oppose affirmative action
• Support missile-defense program
• Cuban-Americans
• Veterans groups
• New conservatives
• Want to institutionalize religious and moral
  beliefs
  
• religious right
• Pro-life
• Prayer in schools
• Opponents of gay rights
• blue dogs
• Lower taxes and smaller government

13
The Parties Today

• The Democratic Coalition
• Some want the party to return to its liberal
  roots by appealing to working men and women
  
• Labor unions
• Lower and middle classes
• Others want to appeal to moderates who want lower
  taxes, less government, and more local control
  
• Pro-choicers
• Intellectuals
• City dwellers
• Feminists
• Environmentalists
• Ethnic/religious groups that are ardent
  supporters of the Dems
  
• African-Americans
• Non-Cuban Latinos
• Jewish people

14
Characteristics of the Two-Party System

• Two Parties
• US is one of the few two-party democracies in the
  world
  
• Multi-party systems are the norm throughout the
  rest of the world
  
• Why do we have a two-party system?
• Nature of the electoral system
• Single member districts
• Winner take all system of elections
• It is to the advantage of the two major parties
  to keep any minor parties out of power

15
Characteristics of the Two-Party System

• Fragmentation
• Federal system leads to fragmentation
• At the national level, no one really controls the
  party
  
• Coalition building is illustrative of the growing
  independence of party members
  
• Fragmentation and dealignment makes it very hard
  to get a strong, unified party

16
Characteristics of the Two-Party System

• Moderation
• US political parties are, by comparison, very
  moderate
  
• The major ideological differences are really
  between the party bases
  
• Liberals in the Democratic Party
• Conservatives in the Republican Party
• Each party must be moderate enough to appeal to
  the independent voter, but still pull in the
  party base

17
Democrats

• Less defense spending
• Less disposed to spend money on vouchers
• Spend money on advanced social-welfare programs
• Government-run health care programs
• Tax relief to targeted groups (lower and middle
  class)
  
• More gun control

18
Republicans

• Increase defense spending
• Use government money for voucher programs
• Tax relief for everyone (including wealthy and
  corporations)
  
• Less money on social welfare programs
• Opposed to government-run health care
• Less gun control

19
Third Parties in American Government

• Even though they have little to no chance of
  winning, third parties often wage very vocal
  campaigns, influence the political platforms of
  the two major parties, and sometimes influence
  the outcome of the election

20
Three Types of Third Parties

• Ideological (Doctrinal) Parties
• Ideology that is considered too radical by
  mainstream politics
  
• Reject prevailing attitudes and policies of the
  political system
  
• Socialist Party, Libertarian Party
• Single-Issue Parties
• Promote a single-issue rather than a general
  philosophical position
  
• American Independent Party
• Bolter Parties
• Factions of one of the two major parties
• Dixiecrats, Bull Moose Party

21
Why are Third Parties Not Successful?

• Often lack widespread support
• Ideas often stolen or absorbed by the Dems and
  Repubs.
  
• Institutional hurdles
• Access to ballots
• If a third party candidate has not been on the
  ballot before, many state election rules make it
  very difficult
  
• Funding
• FEC allocates some public funding to elections,
  but in order to be eligible, the party must have
  received at least 5 of the popular vote in the
  previous presidential election
• Winner-take-all format of US elections
• Whoever gets the greatest portion of the vote in
  a district receives all of the representation

22
Three Ways to Look at Political Parties

• Party in the Electorate
• Those who identify with the party
• Democrats and independents are generally older
  than Republicans
  
• Republicans are somewhat better educatedbut
  independents have the highest percentage of
  college graduates
  
• Women and African-Americans tend to be Democratic

23
Three Ways to Look at Political Parties (Party in
the Electorate Continued)

• Geographical Setting
• Upper East Coast (New England) Democrat
• South Republican
• Upper Midwest Democrat
• Lower Midwest Republican
• West Coast mix, but mostly Democrats

24
Three Ways to Look at Political Parties

• Party in Government
• Those who are elected or appointed to office as
  members of a political party
  
• The Responsible Party Model
• Forces a strong party discipline on party
  members
  
• Based on several principles
• Party represents a clear, distinct, and
  understandable set of programs to voters
  
• Voters choose candidates on the basis of the
  partys platform
  
• Party that wins the majority of seats in the
  legislature adopts its policy platform
  
• In the following election, voters must hold the
  majority party responsible for the success or
  failure of its agenda

25
Three Ways to Look at Political Parties

• Party Organization
• The party professionals who run the party at
  the national, state, and local levels
  
• National Party Organization
• National Committee
• Seldom meet
• National chair and permanent staff are really the
  national organization
  
• Choose the site of the national convention
• Establishes formulas for choosing delegates
• Helps form the party platform
• National Party Chair heads the national
  committee
  
• Both parties have House and Senate Campaign
  committees to help elect their party to Congress
  
• State and Local Party Organization
• Each party has a state and local chair to direct
  the activities of the party activists
  
• Some local parties are so weak, all you have to
  do to help is show up