Two-Party System Chapter 5 Section 1 and 2
Bellringer When you think of the term political party, what comes to mind? What associations do you make with this term? Write some positive and negative associations, or impressions, you hold about political parties.
Objective Students will be able to identify the reasons why the U.S. developed a two-party system.
Two-Party System **America has a two-party system (Democrats and Republicans).** In a typical election, generally, only the Republican or Democratic candidate has a reasonable chance of winning.
Two-Party System **The Framers of the Constitution were opposed to a two-party system. {Note: the Constitution makes no provision for political parties} **However, the ratification of the Constitution gave rise to the this country’s first two parties: Federalists (led by Alexander Hamilton) and the Anti-Federalist (led by Thomas Jefferson). Note: in the first election for President in 1789, there was really no election. There were no political parties, and there was no race among competing candidates. George Washington was the unanimous choice of all the electors.
Two-Party System To most of the framers, parties were “factions” and therefore agents of divisiveness and disunity. George Washington, in his Farewell Address, warned the new nation against “the baneful (i.e., troubling) effects of the spirit of the party.”
Two-Party System Why do we have just two major political parties? 1) Tradition (always been that way in this country); 2) Electoral System (we have single-member districts/elections, that is contests in which one candidate is elected to office in the district. Voters usually face only two viable choices: the office holder or the candidate of the party with the best chance of winning). Also, Democrats and Republicans will usually work together when drafting election laws, resulting in the squeezing out of minor parties from the ballot.
Two-Party System Why do we have just two major political parties 3) Electoral system: Several features of the system, such as the fact that election laws are largely written by members of the two parties, helps perpetuate the two-party system. 4) Ideological consensus: There is not wide disagreement among the electorate on most issues (we are a moderate country). Hard to believe, but there is usually broad consensus on matters of fundamental importance.
One-Party Systems A one-party system is generally associated with dictatorships. However, in America, we have a “modified one-party system” in some states? That is, in those states one of the two major parties, either the Republicans or Democrats, consistently wins most of the elections. The Solid South held by the Democrats from the 1870s-1960s.
Multiparty Systems Multiparty arrangements have long been a feature of most European democracies. See the multiparty versus two-party system chart on page 128. Question: How are majorities built in Germany? Answer: political parties join together to form a coalition.
A coalition is a temporary alliance of several groups who come together to form a working majority and so to control a government.
Question: How are majorities built in the German system?
Question What do you think are the strongest factors working to preserve the two-party system today? Possible answers might include that the two parties, through their control of State and federal legislatures, write all the election laws. These tend to be written so as to perpetuate the power of the existing parties. In addition, the existence of single-member districts ensures that smaller parties have a difficult time gaining the support needed to survive and succeed.
Quote “There are many people of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle.” - Alexis de Tocqueville Question: What is the author saying here? Do party affiliations corrupt otherwise principled public servants? Principled means moral, virtuous, honorable; acting in accordance with morality and showing of recognition of right and wrong.
Worksheet Debating the two-party system, HuffingtonPost article.