1. American Political Parties
Introduction

2. Three Arenas What do you think of when you here the word “party?”
The term “Political Party” has at least 3 different referents:
A LABEL in the minds of voters
A Set of LEADERS in government
An ORGANIZATION that recruits and campaigns

3. American Parties have Weakened
As labels more independents
As set of leaders Congress less under their control
As organizations much weaker since 1960’s
Overall trend DECENTRALIZATION of power

4. Comparison to European Parties
The Big Picture WEAKER
Our federal system decentralizes power
Parties closely regulated by state and federal laws
Candidates chosen through primaries, not party leaders
President chosen separately from Congress
Political culture: parties activities separate from other aspects of life
Anyone ready to sign up for the Republican baseball team?

5. A Brief (oversimplified) History of The Two-Party System
1787
Federalists Whigs Republicans
Anti-Federalists
(Democratic) Republicans
Democrats
Party?
Party?
1796
1836
1860
Today

6. General Development of Presidential Nominating Process
Caucuses National Conventions Party Primaries
Founding Period
Jacksonian Era Reform
Reform Era Reform