1. POLITICAL PARTIES AND ELECTIONS Luke and Daniel make another PowerPoint

2. Function  Political Parties:  Recruit candidates for elections. This helps them build their party.  Organize & run elections; this adds structure to the process  Present alternative policies EX: Republicans provide an opposition to the Healthcare Bill  Accepting responsibilities for operating govt.  Acting as an opposition to the other party Give you a choice

3. Organization  Political Parties  Have a sort of pyramid structure  Other levels National State Local  We have a two-party system There are third parties, but they don’t succeed. Leader Political Leaders People of Party

4. Effects on Political Process  Political Parties  They organize ideas for people and provide a platform to stand on. Gives a platform to vote on, which is essential to the process  Provides the opposition This makes the two party system; Democracy could not exist without this  Political Parties give people a side to take and vote on, this allows people to get involved and connects people to the govt. Interest Groups, Lobbyists, etc. can be created and also act as a link between the govt. and people

5. Development  Political Parties  Originally developed by taking sides on Federalism v. Anti- federalism.  The 2 major parties came about through issues such as slavery, constitutional ratification, etc. There were always two sides to these issues.  That was one contributor to the 2 party system. Others are The Winner Take All system Petition Signatures Campaign Finance Laws Other laws  Third Parties are more focused on single issues, so they develop from many people with the same issue or from splinter parties Another reason they don’t prosper

6. Functions  Elections  Elections are where citizens of the U.S that are 18 or older can vote for political representatives  Elections are the primary way that the common citizen can influence government  They do this by electing representatives that share their beliefs and will work to influence policy the way they want them to.  Elections range from national presidency to local mayors

7. Organization  Elections  There must be 2 strong candidates, usually 1 from the Democratic party, 1 Republican, or the process would be considered unconstitutional  Usually positions of higher power or prestige have more people willing to run  Political primaries are statewide elections that help a party determine it’s presidential nominee  Presidential Election process: Candidates must raise campaign money, which includes money to travel and money to fund promotional ads Primaries are held The remaining nominees campaign for around a year Elections are held The popular vote does not decide the winning candidate, the electoral college votes do, each state has an electoral college that has a certain number of predetermined votes depending on mostly population Most electoral colleges have a winner-take-all system, the candidate that recieves the majority of votes for that state receives all of the electoral college votes. Candidates will try to win over states with the most votes first.

8. Effect on Political Process  Elections  Is the biggest way that citizens can influence their government, gives them a way to voice their opinions and beliefs and help shape the policies of their own country  Basically elections keep a democracy democratic and fair, and keep the power from becoming too centralized on one side or another.

9. Development  Elections were developed very early in this country’s conception, coming from a monarchy the colonists wanted a process where the citizens could have a say and everything would be as fair as possible