POLI 101: U.S. Government Dr. Kevin Lasher

Government Intervention in Economy FOR AGAINST Govt. Intervention in Personal Matters AGAINST FOR LIBERALS LIBERTARIANS POPULISTS CONSERVATIVES

Political Parties Definitions Roles of political parties Why two parties? History of US political parties kkkkkkkkkk

US Political Parties Political parties are NOT mentioned in the U.S. Constitution Founders were hopeful that we would avoid political parties

US Political Parties: Definition Political party is a broadly-based coalition which attempts to gain control of the government by winning elections Focus is on political parties in democracies, especially the United States

Political Parties in non-democracies The Communist Party in China shares some of these characteristics Big difference is lack of competitive elections

Roles of US Political Parties Recruit and select candidates Provide public policy alternatives Organize government Channel conflict kkkkkkkkkk

Recruit and Select Candidates American parties locate and help choose candidates for all offices There was a time when each party picked candidates in “smoked-filled” rooms Parties still do some of that, but mostly candidates run within primaries (intra-party elections)

Recruit and Select Candidates Parties have more influence at state and local level At the core, parties provide labels for relatively uninformed voters

Provide Public Policy Alternatives Democrats and Republicans offer different types of policy solutions to various national problems Democrats propose more liberal policies; Republicans propose more conservative policies

Provide Public Policy Alternatives Legislation is much more than just half and half compromise between the two parties Democrats may have two or three versions of a bill and same for Republicans

Provide Public Policy Alternatives Every four years, both parties create “platforms” that summarize the issue positions of their party’s presidential candidate

Organize Government House and Senate leadership and committees are divided by party (and party strength) House: Democratic Speaker and Democratic majorities on all committees Senate: Republican leader and Republican majorities on all committees

Organize Government President Trump appoints mostly Republicans to serve in the Executive Branch departments (and President Obama appointed mostly Democrats)

Organize Government While SC Justices do not have formal party affiliations, they can be identified as liberal, moderate or conservative Democratic presidents will nominate more liberal judges and Republicans will nominate more conservative judges

“Channeling” Conflict American parties both create and limit conflict They create the “parameters” of the political debate Democrats and Republicans agree on many policy fundamentals, while arguing policy details

“Channeling” Conflict Republican Solution Democratic Solution National Health Care Pay Own Health Care Health Care Policy

Why Two US Political Parties? North-South differences Single member district plurality (SMDP) electoral system “Capitalist politics” Moderate American public Election laws biased toward existing parties Political Socialization kkkkkkkkkk

North-South Differences From 1860-1960 the “Solid South” was solidly Democratic The Republicans dominated the North and West (although not quite as much) This is NOT the case today, with much of the South becoming Republican kkkkkkkkkk

Single Member District Plurality (SMDP) Electoral System

Single Member District Plurality (SMDP) Electoral System Seven SC districts; 435 House districts nationally SMDP systems are very likely to create two large parties fighting for the majority/plurality New Tiger Party wins about 20% of the vote in each district How many seats do they win with their 20% ? NONE

Single Member District Plurality (SMDP) Electoral System District One Republican 42% Democrat 38% Tiger 20% District Two Republican 52% Democrat 28% District Three Republican 35% Democrat 45%

Single Member District Plurality (SMDP) Electoral System SMDP systems make it difficult for new parties to emerge and survive Because they rarely win elections and eventually disappear (or fall into being irrelevant) Proportional representation (PR) systems make it easier for third and fourth parties to be created and survive

Proportional Representation (PR) Electoral System SC Republicans 57% 4 seats State-wide Democrats 28% 2 seats Tiger 15% 1 seat National 15% 65 seats Tiger

“Capitalist Politics” Two main political parties are generally supportive of the capitalist economic system Parties of the “far left” (socialist and communist) are almost unknown in the US Democrats and Republicans argue about the nature of American capitalism kkkkkkkkkk

Moderate American Public Americans also reject parties of the far right (neo-fascist parties) As the wealthiest country in the world, it is understandable that MOST Americans are fairly supportive of the “status quo” Have the American people become less moderate recently? kkkkkkkkkk

Biased Election Laws Election laws are written in legislatures in 50 states controlled by either of the two major parties Democrats and Republicans are not going to create election laws that make it EASY for a competitive third party to be born and survive kkkkkkkkkk

Political Socialization We grow up learning that there are basically two political parties in the United States We have had the same two political parties since 1860s Democrats and Republicans is what “we expect” kkkkkkkkkk

History of US Political Parties 1790s-1828 Democ-Republicans vs. Federalists 1828-1860 Democrats vs. Whigs 1860-1896 Democrats = Republicans 1896-1932 Republicans > Democrats 1932-1980 Democrats > Republicans 1980 – now Democrats = Republicans (???) kkkkkkkkkk

The End