Unit 1: Political Power Section 2: Political Parties Essential Question: Explain the purpose of political parties and how people participate in them?

Parties and What They Do The Role of Political Parties: – Nominate candidates – Inspire voters – Brings the people and candidates together (bonding agent) – Allows the party in power to govern the country – Acts as watchdog

The Two-Party System: The Framers were against political parties – Divisive from the beginning Federalists Anti-Federalists – Still divisive today Republican (Conservative) Democrat (Liberal)

The Two-Party System Why only a two-party system?: – Single-Member District “winner-takes-all” – The person who receives the most votes (plurality), wins, even if the victory is by a single vote – Other nations have proportional representation (parliamentary)

The Minor Parties: Impact of minor parties on elections – Their greatest impact is how they influence the major parties to address issues they otherwise would ignore – Sometimes a strong third- party can serve as an election spoiler by siphoning off votes from either of the major party candidates

Voter Behavior Conservatives: – believe in personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, individual liberty, traditional American values and a strong national defense. (Republican) – Liberals: – believe in government action to achieve equal opportunity and equality for all. (Democrat) – Independents: – People who identify themselves as having no party affiliation