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OConnor and Sabato Chapter 11 Political
Parties and Interest Groups

• Presentation 11.2 The Structure and Role of
  Political Parties

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Key Topics

• The basic structure of American political parties
• The two-party system and third parties
• The roles of political parties

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The Basic Structure of American Political Parties

• The decentralized, pyramid nature of both major
  political parties
• The independent and autonomous nature of each
  component of the parties
• The problem of refining all the interests of a
  continent-sized, industrial nation-state into two
  political parties

Do you know what the big tent metaphor means in
the context of American party politics? Ask me!
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1a. The Pyramid Structure of American Parties
National Convention Committees
State central committees congressional
district committees
City county committees precinct/ ward
committees w/ party activists, volunteers,
party identifiers voters
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1ai. The National Party

• Quadrennial conventions to nominate presidential
  and vice presidential candidates
• Democrats established a governing body in 1848
  GOP in 1856
• The key national party official is the chair of
  the DNC/RNC

The chair is selected by the sitting president or
newly nominated presidential candidate, who is
give the right to name the chair for at least the
duration of the campaign.
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1aii. The National Party Chair

• The chairperson is often the primary spokesperson
  for the party during the four years in between
  elections
• Part of the chairs job is to minimize factional
  conflict negotiate candidate disputes
• Today, party chairs must spend a great deal of
  time on fundraising

Strict neutrality is generally expected of the
chair during the nomination process.
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1aiii. The Chair of the DNCTim Kaine

• Governor of Virginia
• Wants to continue Howard Deans 50 State Policy
• Very business friendly as governor

Picture courtesy www.democrats.org.
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1aiv. RNC ChairMichael Steele

• First African American GOP chairman
• Will serve until 2011
• Former Lt. Gov of Maryland

Picture courtesy www.rnc.org.
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1av. Congressional Committees

• Each party has House and Senate committees
• The purpose of those committees is to devise
  strategies to help their party win/maintain
  control of that institution
• Loosely allied with the DNC/RNC

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1b. State and Local Parties

• All politics is local (Rep. Tip ONeil)
• Party strength in the states is often a decisive
  determinant of their success in elctions
• Regulation of political parties is left to the
  states
• Most party leadership positions are filled at the
  state/local level

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1bi. County/Precinct Politics

• The smallest unit is the fundamental building
  block of both parties
• The leadership provided by county/precinct
  chairperson is vital to a partys prospects in a
  given state
• Local party members are key foot soldiers

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1c. Party Identifiers Voters

• Very few Americans are card carrying members of
  one or the other party
• A persons support for one or the other political
  party is often a function of that particular
  person their value system

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1ci. Party IssuesDemocrats Advocate
GOP Advocates

• Generally liberal policies
• Economic intervention
• Protection of civil rights
• Social safety net
• Environmental protection
• Multilateral foreign policy
• Protection of the working class

• Generally conservative policies
• Free market principles
• Lower taxes
• States rights
• Family values
• Unilateral foreign policy

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1cii. The Problem of Cross-Cutting Issues

• Voters are frequently attracted/repelled by
  aspects of both parties
• Catholics often oppose both abortion and the
  death penalty
• Many OK voters are conservative socially but
  progressive on economic issues

Many Americans are moderate ideologically and are
not driven by a single issue. Consequently,
these voters register as independents regularly
split their tickets in federal elections.
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1ciii. Party Identification

• A citizens personal attraction to and support
  for a political party
• Generally indicated in the tendency to vote for
  candidates of that party on a consistent basis
• Leaners people who register independent but
  generally favor one party in their voting
  preferences

Many Americans are ambivalent about the role of
parties in politics, and view party
identification as a convenience rather than a
necessity.
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1civ. The Institutionalization of the Two Major
Parties

• Most states have restrictive ballot laws (e.g.
  require 50,000 signatures to place a third party
  on the ballot)
• Campaign finance laws favor the established
  parties
• Americas dualistic tradition (favors pro/con
  dialogical discourse)
• Leaves American voters with a choice between
  Democrats/Republicans most of the time

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1cv. Sources of Party Identification

• The importance of parental partisanship
• Political active parents w/ the same partisan
  affiliation are likely to produce strong
  identifiers
• The role of leaders (e.g. FDR or Reagan)
• Intense social issues (e.g. abortion)
• Class is not an especially strong indicator of
  partisan choice in the U.S.

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1d. Political Parties in Comparative Perspective

• Election rules in the U.S. dictate a strong
  two-party system
• However, many nations have multi-party systems
• Nations with proportional representation schemes
  favor smaller parties multi-party politics

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2. The Two-Party System and Third Parties

• The existence of challenges to the two major
  parties
• The history of one-party domination in certain
  states (e.g. Maine Utah) and regions (the
  South)
• The significance of genuine two-party competition
  throughout the country as a recent development

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2a. Third-Party Challenges

• Third parties frequently challenge the dominance
  of the two major parties
• The intermittent nature of third-party challenges
• Election rules and the flexible nature of the two
  major parties make it extremely difficult for a
  third party to survive between election cycles

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2ai. The Roots of 3rd Party Challenges

• Sectionalism (e.g. the Dixiecrat revolt in
  1948)
• Economic protest (e.g. Populists in the late 19th
  century)
• Specific issues (e.g. Green Party)
• Ideology (e.g. Socialists Libertarian Parties)
• Charismatic leadership (e.g. Teddy Roosevelts
  Bull Moose Party in 1912)

Ross Perots Reform Party was one of the more
consequential recent third- party challenges. He
used his personality and an important issue (the
deficit) to win 19 of the popular vote, probably
denying George H.W. Bush reelection.
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2b. The Nader Effect

• Naders Green Party candidacy collected just 2.86
  million votes (just over 2 ½ of the popular
  vote)
• However, some claim his candidacy cost Al Gore
  the election
• In FL, 45,000 of the 97,000 Nader voter indicated
  that they would have voted for Gore in a two-way
  race, but Gore could have won if he won TN or WVA

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2c. Minor Candidates for CongressThree
Conditions for Success

1. The existence of an open House seat
2. Instances where a minor party candidate has
   previously competed in the district
3. When partisan competition in the district is close

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3. The Role of Political Parties in the United
States

• Parties channel conflict perform numerous other
  essential roles in the political process

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3a. Mobilizing Support and Gathering Power

• Leaders count on support from their voters
• Leaders regularly appeal to the public through
  the media for support
• Parties create communities of interest that
  facilitate the creation of coalitions

In American party politics, no single interest is
large enough to win parties help forge
coalitions of different interests that otherwise
might not cooperate.
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3b. A Force for Stability

• Parties are motivated by one primary factor
  winning elections
• In two-party systems, parties serve to moderate
  extreme elements
• Parties are drawn to the center, where most
  voters are

In systems characterized by proportional voting
rules, parties can derive support from making
extreme appeals.
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3c. Unity, Linkage, Accountability

• Parties as the glue that binds a fragmented
  system together
• Party identification provides a common
  affiliation that insures cooperation from
  executive and legislative institutions that are
  otherwise natural rivals

Parties can also take credit and receive blame
for wise or foolish policies.
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3d. The Electioneering Function

• The ceremonial function of election
• Parties recruitment of candidates
• The importance of parties as conduits of
  financial support

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3di. Hard Soft Money

• Hard money is regulated by federal campaign laws
• Soft money is raised spent for party-building
  activities, and is essentially unregulated

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3dii. Party Funding Escalates
Source The Federal Election Commission
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3diii. The Rise of Issue Advocacy

• A great deal of soft money goes to hiring and
  training staff
• However, some of it goes to advertising that is
  not regulated by campaign finance laws
• As long as an ad does not say support, vote
  for, or vote against, it isnt regulated

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3e. Policy Formulation Promotion

• Every four years, the major parties meet at the
  national convention to draft their national party
  platforms
• Platforms help the partys distinguish themselves
  from their opponents
• Offer insight into what the party will do in
  office

Party platforms help voters hold the party as a
whole to account for its successes failures,
and its ability to deliver what it promised.
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3ei. Selected Contrasts in the 2000 Party
Platforms
Issue Democrats GOP
Taxes Tax cuts for middle-class families Capping the top marginal rate ending the death tax
Abortion Support a womans right to choose Support a human life amendment
Social Security Use prosperity to save Social Security Favor personal savings accounts
Education Advocate strengthening public education Support vouchers
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3f. Legislative Organization

• Political parties help to organize the
  legislature
• The importance of the caucus conference
• The steady growth of party cohesion party-line
  voting (where 80 of each party votes against the
  other partys proposals)