Political Parties

1. Political Parties And now, ladies and gentlemen, two highly intelligent experts on political parties will guide you through this chapter. And here they are!!!

2. Political Parties To start, I need a fellow nerd, er, uh, smart person to tell me what political parties are and what they do. Zzzzzzz, huh? Uh, oh, wow! OK, political parties are organizations that try to win control of government by electing people to office who carry the party label.

3. Political Parties In representative democracies parties recruit candidates for public office, run their candidates in competitive elections, and try to organize and coordinate the activities of government officials under party banners and programs.

4. Political Parties At this time, please form into informal groups. Go over the list of things that political parties can do to make popular sovereignty and political equality possible and come up with specific examples for each.

5. Political Parties To make popular sovereignty and political equality, parties try to: • Keep elected officials responsive • Stimulate political interest • Ensure accountability • Help people make sense of • complexity in issues But do they? • Make government work

6. Political Parties What a total fox!!! Miss Becky Nerd, I think you have a question for the class. He is such a hottie! That’s right! Who can tell us what the difference is between a one-party system and a two party system?

7. Political Parties Hey, Jay Leno here. I love this topic and I know the answer to your question! One party: a single political party controls the government and clearly dominates political activity, such as China today. And two party is a system, like in the US, dominated by two parties.

8. Political Parties I wish we looked as good together as that couple on the first slide. So what’s a multiparty system? Honey, it’sa political system in which several parties try to gain control of the government. Each party’s representation in the legislature usually is proportional—it depends on the percentage of votes the party receives in an election.

9. Political Parties That’s right, Monica, and sometimes the leading party gets a plurality--much less than 50% of the vote, but still the most votes--leading tocoalition governments—governments made up of several different parties. And as Israel, Italy and other multiparty countries have found, coalition governments are rarely successful.

10. Political Parties And in our two party system, we have elections that are organized on a winner-take-all, single-member-district basis. That’s why some political scientists use a horseracing analogy: first past the post to describe our elections.

11. Political Parties As the text notes, the two-party outcome of plurality elections in single member district voting systems is calledDuverger’s Law. In that type of election, failure to come in first leaves a party with no representation. Thus, it discourages minor-party efforts. Indeed, a vote for a candidate from a minor party is a wasted vote.

12. Political Parties And I’m former Senator James Jeffords, a former Republican, from Vermont who became an independent. As independents, we are not associated with any political party. Hello. I’m Senator Joe Lieberman, a former Democrat, now an Independent from Connecticut.

13. Political Parties Howdy, I’m H. Ross Perot from the great state of Texas. In 1992 I formed a 3d Party, the Reform Party. A third party—or minor party—is any political party, besides the two dominant ones, that seeks to directly participate in the government.

14. Political Parties Which one of y’all can tell me what restrictions there are on minor parties in the U. S. of A? • Considerable number of signatures • required to get on ballot • Requirements vary state-to-state • Numerous different election laws in each state • Must get 5% of the popular vote in a general • election to be eligible for public funding, which • is not provided until after the election.

15. Political Parties Your text discusses types of minor parties. Let’s now go over each. What’s a protest party? Mr. Leno, I am the late William Jennings Bryan, a member of a protest party, the Populist Party. We grew out of protests against railroads, banks, and government policies in the 1890s.

16. Political Parties I’m California Green Party leader, Peter Camejo. I represent an ideological party, the Green Party. What is an ideological party? I’d rather be fishing An ideological party is a party whose basic political views differ from those of the majority of the population.

17. Political Parties Single-Issue parties are essentially advocacy groups (Prohibition Party)

18. Political Parties Bully, I formed a splinter party. Who can tell me what that is? Mr. President, you formed the Progressive, or Bull Moose, Party, when you felt the RepublicanParty no longer addressed your concerns.

19. Political Parties Mustangs, I’m former Vice President Al Gore. Third parties can change the outcome of elections. For example, H. Ross Perot’s performance helped me be elected vice president in 1992, but Ralph Nader’s performance in Florida helped George Bush defeat me for president in 2000.

20. Political Parties U. S. Political History: The Six Party Systems • Federalists vs. Democratic-Republicans • Democrats vs. Whigs • Republicans vs. Democrats, 1861-1896* • Republican Dominance, 1894-1932* • New Deal & Democratic Dominance* • De-Alignment and Divided Government • Parties at war (hyperpartisanship) *Realignment period included

21. Political Parties Realignment—a process, or period, when one party replaces the other as dominant *1860-1868 *1894-1900 *1932-1936 Dealignment—a gradual reduction in the dominance of one party without another party supplanting it Divided government: one party—presidency; other party—one or both houses of Congress

22. Political Parties The Republican Party The Democratic Party The Reform Party, formerly led by H. Ross Perot The Peace and Freedom Party— very left wing (liberal)

23. Political Parties The Green Party The American Independent Party Let’s check them all The Libertarian Party

24. Let’s look at California

25. Political Parties I say, Mustang seniors, I am David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. American parties tend to be structured differently than those in the UK or other nations. How so? Jolly!

26. Political Parties Other countries: parties are hierarchically structured, led by full-time party professionals, and are traditionally committed to a set of ideological principles. They tend to have clearly defined membership requirements, centralized control over party nominations and electoral financing, and disciplinary authority over elected party members. Major U. S. parties: none of the above

27. Political Parties All right, now, let’s talk Republicans and Democrats. They tend to be loose collections of local and state parties, campaign committees, candidates and office holders. That is right, President Reagan. The Democrats and Republicans have both state and national organizations, but party leaders cannot issue orders.

28. Political Parties Thanks Presidents Reagan and Johnson. While the Democrats and Republicans have strong national party organizations, many Americans, although belonging to parties, do not strongly identify with those parties. Not that type of party, Tommy. Wow! Did someone say party???

29. In fact, as I told you once before, among the public, many people are swing voters—they change the party they vote for from election to election. In 1992 this situation was called the “soccer mom” vote—young to middle-age women who voted for Bill Clinton because he appealed to them as a person. Political Parties

30. Political Parties Right you are, Miss Becky; still each party has a set of core supporters—some call them the party base—which the party can count on for votes, campaign contributions, and activists.

31. Political Parties Republican supporters,like me, are strongest among white folks in the South and Rocky Mountain West. And, Chris, Democratic supporters, like me, are strongest among African Americans, Jews, non-Cuban Hispanics, people with secular beliefs, the intelligentsia, union households, and, of course, liberals. We tend to live in the Northeast and on the West Coast.

32. Political Parties Gotta love those hippie, liberal Democrats, especially the ones who can’t remember the 1960s! Go San Francisco and Haight-Ashbury!!!

33. Political Parties Chris, Thomas, and Miss Becky, increasingly in recent years, both major parties have tried to win elections by first mobilizing you core supporters—the process is called “rallying the base”. They focus on issues and symbolic gestures that bring core supporters to the polls. Then they try to win a majority among those voters not automatically predisposed to one party or the other in the general election.

34. Political Parties As such, Jay, we have learned that in primary elections, when candidates vie for their party’s nomination, Democrats must appeal to the more liberal members of their party and Republicans must appeal to the more conservative members of their party. That’s why I, Richard Nixon, used to tell people to run as far to the right as possible in the primaries and then run in the center during the campaign for the general election. The Nixon Maxim

35. Political Parties Thanks, President Nixon. Here are two good charts from our textbook that show the organization of political parties. How do these show that organizations are candidate-centered?

36. Political Parties • The various elements of both parties are • relatively independent from one another • Act based on shared interests, sentiment, • ideology, and the desire to win elections • Official party organizations do not control the • nomination of candidates running under a • party label, or the flow of money that funds • campaigns, or the behavior of officeholders

37. Political Parties Another thing parties do is hold party nominating conventions every 4 years to formally nominate candidates for president and vice president. The conventions also develop and present to the people party platforms—official statements of party policy.

38. Political Parties That’s true, Governor Schwarzenegger, but remember that party platforms are often huge and vague documents, and hardly anyone reads them. The reason why is because anything specific and short might give people a reason to vote AGAINST the party. And nominees do not have to adhere to the platforms—so really they are nothing but pro forma documents.

39. Political Parties Both American parties have mascots: Republicans use the elephant for their mascot and the Democrats use the donkey for their mascot. At the national level there are party chairpersons. I’m ReincePriebus, the Republicanchair, and that’s Debbie Wasserman Schulz, the Democratic chair.

40. Political Parties Reince, as party chairs, you and I, assisted by our staffs, really run the business of our respective national committees. But you have more power than I do, because the president, our party’s actual leader, is a Democrat.

41. Political Parties • The functions of • national party • organizations: • Nominate the national • ticket • Attempt to unify the • party’s diverse factions • Adopt the party platform • Showcase past and future party leaders • Attack the opposition party • Use the free television time to appeal for mass • support; do the same on the party’s website • Raise money for candidates

42. Political Parties Students, Congressman Jeff Denham, from California’s 19th District, here. Don’t forget that there are 4 congressional campaign committees: GOP House, Democratic House, GOP Senate, and Democratic Senate; they are highly organized and well funded. They do a lot to help congressional candidates and incumbents in their campaigns.

43. Political Parties Also, don’t forget that the parties, or candidates from those parties, align with certain interest and advocacy groups—sometimes called Super Pacs. The main effect of the rise of advocacy groups in recent years has been to push the parties and their candidates into more ideological and partisan directions.

44. Political Parties Back to us. So which one of you is going to define the term ideology? As governor I can say it is a coherently organized set of beliefs about the fundamental nature of good society and the role government ought to play in achieving it.

45. Political Parties Ok, I understand ideology. But why have our country’s two major parties tended to tone down matters of ideology over the years? Mr. Leno, sir, it’s because with the winner-take-all, single-member-district system, you have to tone down ideology and rhetoric to attract the large numbers of people in the political center—the Nixon maxim.

46. Political Parties Now, who out there in the class can tell me what each party traditionally stands for? I can’t wait for tonight’s date—we’re going to study chemistry, calculus and physics!! What fun!!! Hey Hottie!!! Let’s do some brainstorming with the students.

47. Political Parties Ohhh Kay!! Let’s list some of the ideas behind the Democratic Party. Democrats stress opportunity, responsibility, freedom, peace and community. They are committed to improving education, guaranteeing economic security for families, fighting crime and strengthening national security. Many are on the liberal side of the political spectrum, meaning they are pro-choice, and for environmental protection, big government, higher taxes & social programs.

48. Political Parties Let’s now list some of the ideas behind the Republican Party. Republicans tend to be on the right side of the political spectrum. Many are pro-life, against unlimited affirmative action, pro-business, against same gender marriages, and believe in smaller govern- ment, crime prevention through punishment, and having a strong military.

49. Political Parties Remember, Democrats, as a rule, are ideologically more diverse than Republicans. But both parties accommodate all kinds of people. There are conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans. There are rich Democrats and poor Republicans; African-Americans, Jews, Catholics, and Hispanics are represented in both parties.

50. Political Parties Also, and I’m a good example of this point, both the Democratic and Republican parties are really moderate in their policies and leadership. Conservative and liberal extremists tend to be in other splinter parties.