American Government and Organization

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American Government and Organization

• PS1301
• Monday, 26 January

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Announcements

• Review Quiz

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The Constitutions Unwanted Offspring

• The Constitution contains no mention of political
  parties.
• What is a political party?
• An organization whose purpose is to monopolize
  government. Power.
• One definition A coalition of people who seek
  to control government by contesting elections and
  winning office
• A party differs from a single candidates
  campaign because a party runs an entire slate of
  candidates for a wide range of offices.
• A party differs from an interest group because a
  party seeks to win offices rather than to
  influence those in office.
• Parties are made up of ordinary voters,
  officeholders, office seekers, and activists

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What do parties do?

• Organization
• organize people by bring people under one tent.
• Provide information, propagandize party ideology
• for the average citizen they simplify the
  political world
• Parties recruit candidates
• (more commonly, politicians are self-starters)
  But candidates need the party label to get
  elected.
• Contest elections
• Parties mobilize the electorate

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Consequences of Party Action

• Form governments
• Form organizations committee/party leadership
• -inter-branch coalitions between executive and
  leg. senate/house
• legislatures of 49 states and the US Congress are
  organized along party lines.
• Provide accountability
• provide a set of people to reward or blame
• Dispersal of power destroys political
  responsibility

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Why only two parties?

• The rules of our political system play a large
  role in determining how voters and parties
  behave.
• Our electoral system is based on winner take
  all. It is referred to as a single member
  plurality system (SMD). Also referred to as
  first past the post.
• Under such a system, voters are discouraged from
  voting for smaller parties that have no chance of
  winning.
• Smaller parties are discouraged from contesting
  elections

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Multi-party Systems

• Most modern democracies have an electoral system
  that is based on proportional representation.
• The system gives a party a share of seats in the
  legislature matching the share of votes it wins
  on election day.
• In most cases, parties put forth a list of
  candidates and citizens vote for the list. Thus
  voters choose among parties, not individual
  candidates.
• Voters have less of an incentive to defect (from
  their sincere preference) and smaller parties
  have a greater incentive to contest elections.

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• Sample (SMD) Ballot

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(No Transcript)
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Proportional Representation German Bundestag

• Generally, vote for party not candidate
• Mixed system two votes
• Germany and New Zealand

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New Zealand Proportional (Mixed) System

• 120 members total
• About 55 elected by party vote from one large
  national district
• Also divided into first-past-the-post (plurality
  winner) single member districts (electorate vote)

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Implications of Two Party System

• Encourages parties to converge toward the median
  voter.
• Parties adopt moderate platforms to appeal to the
  broadest possible audience
• Difficult for voters to recognize differences

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Example of Spatial Competition
Number of Voters
Party A
Party C
Party B
Median Voter
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Disadvantages with Having Only Two Parties

• Normative concerns (what is lost)
• Fairness
• Should 50 of participating voters make govt.?
  Should incumbent parties draw districts?
• Trust
• If voters are not aligned with major party, and
  their vote is wasted on a third party, will
  they trust government?
• Participation
• US has one of the lowest rates of participation
• Why show up if vote will be wasted?

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Advantages of Two Party System

• Stability
• Multi-party democracy said to be unstable
• Must form coalition governments
• Evidence is that coalition governments are less
  stable than single party government
• Illusion of Majority Rule
• Accountability
• responsible party thesis

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How Could a Third US Party Form?

• Institutional Change
• Prospects slim for US Congress to act
• State Legislatures
• Citizens initiative
• Major split in existing party
• Rise of regional conflict

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Should Parties be Strengthened?

• Strong parties would
• Promote party discipline
• Provision of a clear choice
• Concentration of power in hands of winning party

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How Can Parties be Strengthened?

• Campaign Finance Reform
• Allow soft money?
• Limit contributions from interest groups
• Reform primary system
• Closed primaries