1. American Political Parties Ch. 12
STUDENT NOTES 1

2. DEFINITION A group of persons who seek to control government
An organization of voters who all support similar policies and styles of government
ELECTION-ORIENTED
Winning = control

3. ROLE OF PARTIES 1. Nominate candidates/run campaigns
2. Proposing/formulating policy
3. Organize government (Congress)
4. Connect citizens to gov - unity (linkage)
5. Educate electorate – inform the public/give cues to voters

4. TWO PARTY SYSTEM
An electoral system in which two dominant parties compete in national elections
Rare in the world – most multiparty
: 17R; 15D

5. PARTY SYSTEMS

6. The two-party system
The Democratic Party evolved from Anti-Federalist factions that opposed the fiscal policies of A. Hamilton in the early 1790s.
T. Jefferson and J. Madison organized these factions into the Democratic-Republican Party. The party favored states' rights and strict adherence to the Constitution; it opposed a national bank and wealthy, moneyed interests.
The Democratic-Republican Party ascended to power in the election of 1800.
Andrew Jackson is generally considered
The first Democratic president ( ).

7. Liberal v. Conservative
Liberals: believe the government must play a big role in society, especially by setting rules for business and the economy.
They believe this is necessary to ensure fair treatment for many groups, especially the poor, and certain minorities, such as Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanics, and others.
Liberals usually think the wealthy should pay a larger share of their income in taxes.
While many liberals worry about government spending, they usually remain strong supporters of government
programs that help poor and
middle-income groups.
Many Democrats are liberal.

8. G.O.P
Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP (Grand Old Party), although the rival Democratic Party is older.
Eighteen US presidents have been Republicans.
The current head of the Republican National Committee is Reince Priebus.

9. Liberal v. Conservative
Conservative: Want to limit the role of government.
While liberals stress “fairness,” conservatives tend to stress “freedom.”
For example, they say businesses and individuals should be as free as possible to make decisions without government interference.
They say many regulations add to business costs and slow the economy, hurting rich and poor alike.
Many conservatives want to reduce government spending and cut taxes.
Conservatives usually feel that
state governments can solve problems
better than the federal government can.

10. PARTIES NOW (DEMOGRAPHICS)

11. AMERICAN TWO PARTY SYSTEM
Why we have it?
Tradition and culture
Facilitated by American electoral procedure
Winner-take-all: (aka plurality aka first past the post) party that receives plurality (most votes) wins, other party doesn’t get anything
Single-member districts
Legislative seats awarded only to first place finishers.
HOR, Senate, Governor, POTUS
You do NOT need MAJORITY
RESULT
parties are MODERATE (broad)
Keeps minority (third party’s) out of contention

12. ADVANTAGES
Present readily understandable political info to voters in a convenient manner
Represent major political issues
BROAD platforms
Stability/support
Discourage sudden shifts in political trends
Encourages political participation

14. PARTIES IN MULTIPLE FORMS
Party Label: identify with a party (in electorate)
Party Leadership: elected or appointed officials
Party in Organization: run the party

15. PARTY IDENTIFICATION
Inclination to identify w/ party and vote w/ party
Has DECLINED
INDEPENDENT = no party ID
Evidence =
split-ticket voting
STV = an effect of decline in party ID
Result = divided gov

16. WHY ARE INDEPENDENTS ON THE RISE?

17. PARTY LEADERSHIP
Organize and try to control government institutions

18. PARTY LEADERSHIP
Congress is organized based on PARTY – whose in the majority and whose in the minority
MAJORITY :
CONTROLS AGENDA!
CONTROLS DEBATE!
HOLDS ALL IMP. LEADERSHIP POSITIONS!
MAKES THEIR PLATFORM THE PRIORITY!

19. PARTY ORGANIZATION
National - official central organizations for their respective parties, plan convention, raise money for campaigns
Democratic National Committee (1848)
Republican National Committee (1856)

20. NATIONAL DUTIES
National Convention: meets every 4 years to write party’s platform and nominate Pres. And VP
formal statement of its basic principles, objectives, and positions on major issues
National Committee: keep party operating b/t conventions and…$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
National Chairperson: hires staff, raises money, pays bills, attends to daily duties of the party

21. STATE OF PARTIES
A powerful party is one whose label has a strong appeal for voters, whose organization can decide who will be candidates and how their campaigns will be managed, and whose leaders can dominate one or all branches of government.

22. STATE OF PARTIES
Parties are WEAK (they don’t even bench bro) compared to past periods
Why?
Electoral laws/rules
CANDIDATE-CENTERED: Campaign finance, state ballot, direct primaries
Voter commitment (lost faith in the system)
Booo Nixon
Federalism
Decentralizes party control

23. CANDIDATE-CENTERED
Politics that focuses on candidates, their particular issues, and character rather than party affiliation
Candidates appeal directly to voters, raise own $, set own agenda
As this RISES party strength FALLS

24. LOCAL/STATE DUTIES
STATE POWER – primaries: control who (voters) can participate and when held
Direct primaries
OPEN (accessible to all) or CLOSED (limited to party only)
Overall has WEAKENED parties b/c voters pick candidate

25. Parties are stronger at the STATE and LOCAL level
Run INDEPENDENTLY from national party system

26. GRASSROOTS MOBILIZATION
Influence the voters by mobilizing them to join in strategic actions
parties/candidates can reach the voters personally
EX – “get-out-the-vote”, registering, developing awareness, canvassing

27. PARTY MACHINES
A party organization that recruits members by dispensing patronage
Money, political jobs, opportunity to gain favor
VOTING = TANGIBLE REWARD
High degree of leadership control over members
Era of STRAIGHT-TICKET VOTING
A THING OF THE PAST…sort of
Illustrated that parties need organization