Session 27 Political Parties

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Session 27Political Parties
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Political Parties

• Function
• A linkage institution
• they link people with the government and its
  policies
• Three components of political parties
• in government
• in the electorate
• party organizations

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Political Parties

• Specific Functions (how the linkage function is
  realized in practice)
• Nominate Candidates channels competition,
  narrows the field, selects candidates with
  certain credentials
• Run Campaigns
• Provide Cues (a heuristic something that guides
  learning)

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Political Parties

• Mobilize Voters and Channel the Vote
• Articulate Policies
• Coordinate Policymaking horizontally fragmented
  between the president and Congress, vertically
  fragmented by federalism, parties fill in aspects
  of organization
• Provide Accountability
• Manage Conflict

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How is a political party different from an
interest group?

• Run candidates under their own labels
• Broad issue concerns
• Priority to controlling the personnel of
  government
• Quasi-public organizations
• A unique relationship with supporters

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Models of Party Competition

• Responsible Party Government
• Theory Elections and parties present voters
  with a real choice
• Problems in theory and practice

Electoral Competition Theory Parties compete
for votes by taking the most popular positions
they can Problems in theory and practice