1. POLS 125: Political Parties & Elections

2. “On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics. We remain a young nation. But in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.”
—Barack Obama, inaugural address, January 2009

4. “It’s one of the few regrets of my presidency—that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better. I have no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I’ll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office.”
—Barack Obama, final State of the Union Address, January 2016

6. “The guide is intended to be equally useful for stiffening Democratic spines and weakening pro-Trump Republican resolve… We believe that the next four years depend on citizens across the country standing indivisible against the Trump agenda. We believe that buying into false promises or accepting partial concessions will only further empower Trump to victimize our fellow citizens.”

7. Today, Americans are increasingly likely to demonize their political opponents

9. And sometimes even members of their own party.

10. Did the Founding Fathers share this pessimistic view of political parties? Yes!
“Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the Spirit of Party...”

11. “[The spirit of party] serves always to distract the Public Councils and enfeeble the Public administration. It agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one party against another, foments occasional riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions.”
—George Washington

12. ”There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.”
— John Adams

13. “The rise of political parties is indubitably one of the principle distinguishing marks of modern government. The parties, in fact, have played a major role as makers of democratic government… Political parties created democracy, and… modern democracy is unthinkable save in terms of parties.”
—E.E. Schattschneider

14. “Throughout this report political parties as treated as indispensable instruments of government. That is to say, we proceed on the proposition that popular government in a nation of more than 150 million people requires political parties which provide the electorate with a proper range of choices between alternatives of action. The party system thus serves as the main device for bringing into continuing relationship those ideas about liberty, majority rule and leadership which Americans are largely taking for granted.”
—Toward a More Responsible Two-Party System, 1950

15. Two Opposing Views Parties are dangerous and divisive
Parties are absolutely indispensible

16. “Tripartite” view of American political parties
Party-in-government
Party-as-organization
Party-in-the- electorate

17. PARTIES-IN THE-ELECTORATE PARTIES AS ORGANIZATIONS
PARTIES-IN-GOVERNMENT
Provide a short-hand cue for voting
Recruit, train, and fund political candidates
Provide stable rules and procedures for handling conflict in Congress
Mobilize voter turnout
Run party primaries and caucuses to winnow down the list of potential candidates
Craft party platforms that help guide policy decisions
Provide common ground between different branches and levels of government

18. The Responsible Party Model
Notice that each of these questions presents a TESTABLE HYPOTHESIS. Does the “responsible party model” work in practice?
Parties have a clear platform of issue positions.
All candidates run for election on the basis of their party’s platform.
Voters cast ballots based on the issues presented in the platform.
Once elected, the majority party enacts their platform
Voters hold the majority party accountable for the outcome.

19. But… Do parties have clear issue positions?
Do voters accurately understand party differences?
Do campaigns focus on parties and issues, or candidates?
Do candidates run as party members, or as individuals?
Do voters hold elected officials accountable for outcomes?

20. https://www. theatlantic

21. Imagine a world without parties…
Is it more likely to be “democratic, responsible, and effective,” in the words of the APSA, “a system that is accountable to the public, respects and expresses differences of opinion, and is able to cope with the great problems of modern government”?

22. Would we be more likely to reach political agreement?
“Imagine a democratic political system in which no one is allowed to be a member of a political party. How would things be different? My hypothesis is that confirmation bias, or cognitive dissonance, or something of that nature, influences voters to irrationally agree with the platform of their own party no matter what the facts suggest. My hypothesis is easy enough to test. All you'd need to do is come up with a phony issue and present it to your test subjects as something to which their party agrees, or disagrees, and see if party affiliation influences opinions. I think the effect would be large.”

24. The rules of the game matter

26. The American Two-Party System
The institutional explanation
Duverger’s Law
The Electoral College
Ballot access restrictions
Campaign finance laws
Downs and the median voter model
Voter socialization
Historical and cultural explanations

27. Disadvantages of the Two-Party System
Slow to accept change.
Lower voter turnout, not all views are represented.
Electoral rules allow for a “spoiler” effect.
Virtual two-way elections encourage negative campaigns.
Forces voters to engage in tactical voting, not voting based on conscience.

28. Advantages of the Two-Party System
Winners usually get a majority of the vote, which creates the sense of legitimacy necessary for governing.
Tendency to incorporate but not empower radical ideas.
Drives outcomes towards the median voter (compromise, coalition-building)
Offers clarity of choice
Enhances electoral accountability