1. Ch. 5 Political Parties

2. Where did these Political
Symbols come from?

3. Political Symbols - Donkey
Presidential candidate
Andrew Jackson was 1st
Democrat to be associated
with the donkey symbol.
His opponents during the 1828 election
tried to label him a “jackass” for his
Populist beliefs.

4. Andrew Jackson found it amusing and used
the donkey on his campaign posters.
Political Cartoonist Thomas
Nast is credited with making
the donkey the recognized
symbol of the Democratic Party

5. Political Symbols - Elephant
Thomas Nast is also
responsible for the
Republican Party symbol
Nast drew a elephant clothed in lion’s skin,
scaring away all of the animals in a zoo
One of the animals was labeled
“The Republican Vote” and it stuck.

8. Political Symbols - Ballot Box
Practice of secret voting
Dates back to Ancient
Greeks
used black and white balls
white - yes, black - no
placed into a bag so no
one would know your vote

9. US political parties during the early 19th
Century would print and distributed ballots
to voters
Not secret, politicians knew how you voted
Reformed: government printed all ballots
and supervised elections
so politicians could not
watch people vote.

10. Political Symbols - Uncle Sam
Cartoon representing the
government of the US
Character began to appear in
newspapers and magazines
around the 19th century
Over the years, he has evolved
into a tall, white-haired man
with a beard, dressed in
red, white and blue

11. Uncle Sam was modeled after Samuel Wilson,
a meat supplier
The US government bought their meat
from Sam during the War of 1812
Stamped his meat US and
became known as
“Uncle Sam”

12. Political Parties
and
What They Do

13. What Is A Political Party?
A group seeking to control government by winning elections and holding public office
Can be principle, issue, or election oriented

14. The Two Main Parties in the U.S. Are . . .
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS

15. What Do Parties Do? Provide options to the people
Link between government and the people
Bring conflicting groups together

16. The Nominating Function
Select Candidates for public office
exclusive job for the parties
sets them apart from all of the other groups in politics

17. The Informer-Stimulator Function
Inform people
activate interest in public affairs
campaign, define issues, criticize other candidates
the end goal of winning votes

18. The “Seal of Approval” Function Bonding Agent
choose candidates
qualified, good character, electable

19. The Governmental Function
legislative and executive work together
Appointments made to executive branch are according to party allegiance:
partisanship

20. The Watchdog Function The party out of power criticizes party in power
To convince the voters to vote for them in the next election

21. Why A Two-Party System? Historical Basis
Debate over the Constitution’s ratification created the first political parties
Federalists & Anti-Federalists
Washington very critical of political parties
Warned Americans in his Farewell Address “baneful effects of political parties”

22. early leaders mistrusted political parties James Madison:
political parties = special interests
Changed his mind
provided a way for like-minded people to promote their visions

23. After Constitution: political parties not actively involved in politics
rivalry between Jefferson and Hamilton (1804)
Hamilton - Founder of Federalist Party, manufacturing, elite
Jefferson - Founder Dem.Rep., farmers, workers

24. Election of 1800 (Jefferson & Burr)
Electors voted along party lines, casting two votes
Election resulted in a tie
House of Representatives selected after 36 ballots, Jefferson
12th Amendment
Pres and VP run together on one ticket

25. The Force of Tradition always existed, self-perpetuating
Reluctant to support minor parties
they made little headway.
Wasted vote?

26. The Electoral System Single-member districts (winner take all)
“wasting” votes on minor parties
Election written to discourage minority parties
Who writes the laws?

27. American Ideological Consensus
Americans tend to agree on fundamental issues
Major political parties take moderate stands-as do most Americans
built on compromise

28. Why Don’t Other Systems Work? Multiparty Systems
Each party represents very different interests
Creates an unstable government
American institutional and ideological ideas make a multiparty system unlikely

29. Multi-party systems
separate themselves from each other
secure the loyalty of voters who have a particular viewpoint - special interest
Enables smaller parties to compete
acquires legislative seats in proportion to its share of the total vote. (no winner-takes-all)

30. Difference between Multi-party and Two-Party Systems
Two-party: parties tend to have overlapping coalitions and programs
Each party must appeal to the moderate voter - majority
Winner takes all - seats are not distributed proportionally
Single member district: only one candidate is elected per district

31. One-Party Systems “No-Party” System
Nearly all dictatorships have one-party systems

32. How Do We Choose A Party?
Membership - voluntary and generally composed of a mixture of the population
Segments of the population tend to support one party or the other (for a period of time)
Example: Unions favored Democrats
Business favored by Republicans

33. Reasons For Choosing a Party
Family - 2 out of 3 Americans follow party allegiance of parents
Major Events – war, depression
Economic Status
Place of Residence
Level of Education
Work Environment

34. The Two-Party System in American History

35. The Era of One-Party Domination

36. The Era of the Democrats, 1800–1860
– DEMOCRATS rule (Th. Jefferson’s election – Civil War) (Federalist party dies out in 1816) – represents workers, poor farmers, etc.
Whig party develops
– represents bankers, merchants, industrialists – business –
Henry Clay, Daniel Webster
Won only two elections -Whigs die out in the 1850’s
Democrats split into North and South parties – disagreeing over slavery –
Republican party comes in 1854 – a third party in election, but pulls in Whigs and anti-slavery Democrats – Wins 1860 election: Abraham Lincoln, Republican

37. The Era of Republicans 1860-1932
Abraham Lincoln- 1st Republican President
Business, finance, farmers, newly freed African Americans
Democratic party held only the South
the pro-Slavery democrats ran the party.
election of 1892 important: Democratic party candidate, William Jennings Bryan loses election, but pulls politics away from regionalism (North vs. South) toward economic issues
Republican McKinley wins election as Republican.
Populist party had backed Bryan as well

38. The Return of the Democrats, 1932–1968
Franklin Roosevelt elected, Democrat
New Deal -Govt involvement in social programs Recruits many to Democratic party – blacks, disenfranchised, poor, southerners, organized labor

39. Divided Power 1968-present
Since 1968 the Republicans dominated the White House, while Democrats controlled Congress
1968-Richard Nixon, Republican (2 terms)
Ford – Republican (not elected)
Carter – Democrat (one term)
Reagan – Republican (2 terms
Bush Sr. – Republican (one term)

40. Divided Powers Continued
Bill Clinton – Democrat (2 terms)
George W. Bush – Republican (2 terms) --first election lost majority of votes, won electoral votes, election contested to US Supreme Court
Obama –Democrat (2 terms)
Trump- Republican

41. Minority Parties in the US Ideological Parties
Based on a specific set of beliefs, including a comprehensive view of social, economic, and political matters
Example: Libertarian Party
Receives little votes, but are long-lived

42. Single-Issue Parties Concentrate on a single public policy matter
Example: Know Nothing Party
Faded into history as issues disappear

43. Economic Protest Parties
Focus on economic discontent
Example: Populist Party, TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party

44. Splinter Parties
Groups that break off from one of the two major parties
Examples: “Bull Moose” Party and “Dixiecrats”

45. The Key Role of Minority Parties
Introduced useful ideas in American Politics
Can play a “spoiler role” in an election when the two major candidates are evenly matched.
Most important is their roles as critics and reformers

46. Barriers to Minor Parties
Constitution: no mention of Political Parties
Winner-takes-all elections
Petition in all 50 states plus DC to get on ballots
Rules regarding campaign fund raising - advantages to incumbent

47. The Organization of Political Parties

48. Reality of Political Parties
Two major parties are highly decentralized (internal fighting)
No real chain of command
States parties loosely tied to national
Local parties independent of states

49. The Role of the President
The President’s party is usually more solidly united than the opposing
The President is the party leader
The other party has no comparable leader - party out of power (Speaker of the House or Senate Majority leader?)

50. National Party Machinery Four Elements
1. National Convention
Meet to nominate the presidential and vice presidential candidate every 4 years, create party platform
2. National Committee
Handles the party’s affairs between conventions

51. National Party Machinery Four Elements
3. National Chairperson
Heads up the national committee
4. Congressional Campaign Committees
Job to increase party’s congressional seats

52. State and Local Party Machinery
State – job is to further the party’s interests in that state
Local –follow the State’s electoral map, most active a few months before an election

53. Three Elements of the Party
Party Organization
leaders, activists, and hangers-on who control party machinery
Party in the electorate
loyalists who vote their candidates
Party in government
officeholders at all levels of government

54. The Future of the Majority Parties
Political Parties have been in a state of decline since the late 1960s
Parties are unlikely to disappear as long as they continue to perform necessary functions

55. Reasons for Decline
Larger number of voters registering as independent
SPLIT-TICKET VOTING – voting for candidates of both parties for offices at the same election.

56. Reasons (cont) Greater internal conflict
Changes in technology of campaigning.
Growth of single-issue organizations who side with a candidate on a specific issue.