Chapter 9: Political Parties

1. Chapter 9: Political Parties

2. Parties - Here & Abroad • Political parties in other democratic nations are more effective at mobilizing voters than those here in the US. • Parties in the United States are relatively weak… • Laws and rules have taken away much of the political parties power • Also, many voters have lost their sense of commitment to party identification

3. Parties - Here & Abroad • Political Party – group that seeks to elect candidates to public office by supplying them with a label – a “party identification” • Party label is printed on ballot in US National Elections

4. Parties - Here & Abroad • Three political arenas within which parties may be found • Label • Organization – that recruits and campaigns for candidates • Set of leaders – try to organize and control the legislative and executive branches • AMERICAN PARTIES HAVE BECOME WEAKER IN ALL THREE ARENAS

5. Parties - Here & Abroad • What is a powerful Party? • One whose label has a strong appeal for voters • Whose organization can decide who will be candidates and how their campaigns will be managed • Whose leaders can dominate one or all branches of government

6. “In most states parties have very little control over who gets nominated to office. The causes and consequences of that change are the subject of this chapter”

7. Parties - Here & Abroad • IN EUROPE…. • Parties stronger because… • Almost only way to become a candidate for elective office is to be nominated by party leaders • Campaigns are run by party and not candidates

8. Parties - Here & Abroad • IN EUROPE… • NO PRIMARY ELECTIONS • Only way to become candidate for office is to persuade party leaders to put your name on the ballot • Majority party in Parliament in Europe chooses chief executive of government (Prime Minister) Great Britain

9. Parties - Here & Abroad • UNITED STATES DECENTRALIZED POLITICAL PARTIES…. • Important governmental decisions made on the state & local levels • Example: the Republican leader of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, could ignore decisions of the Republican national chairman • NOW…political authority in United States has become more CENTRALIZED – Federal Gov more involved in our lives

10. Parties - Here & Abroad • IN THE UNITED STATES…. • We chose candidates of party through Primary Elections, or Caucus • We Choose President not the party

11. Parties - Here & Abroad • POLITICAL CULTURE…. • In Europe large number of citizens will join a party, pay dues, and attend regular meetings • In the United States, political parties do not play an important part in the life of the average citizen • Do not join party except by voting for that party’s candidate • More people becoming Independent

12. THE RISE & DECLINE OF THE POLITICAL PARTY PAGES: 201-207

13. THE RISE & DECLINE OF THE POLITICAL PARTY • THE FOUNDING… • The Founders disliked parties, thinking of them as “factions” motivated by ambition and self-interest • George Washington – in his Farewell Address condemned parties

14. THE RISE & DECLINE OF THE POLITICAL PARTY • THE FOUNDING… • First organized political party began in the 1790s under Thomas Jefferson called the Republicans • The Jeffersonian Republicans are more akin to present-day Democrats • Jefferson’s rival party was called the Federalists

15. THE RISE & DECLINE OF THE POLITICAL PARTY • PARTY REALIGNMENTS… • Critical or realigning periods – major shifts occur in the popular coalition supporting one or both parties • Some years heavily Democrat and other years heavily Republican

16. THE RISE & DECLINE OF THE POLITICAL PARTY • TWO KINDS OF REALIGNMENTS • A MAJOR PARTY IS SO BADLY DEFEATED THAT IT DISAPPEARS AND A NEW PARTY EMERGES TO TAKE ITS PLACE • TWO EXISTING PARTIES CONTINUE BUT VOTERS SHIFT THEIR SUPPORT FROM ONE TO THE OTHER • In short, an electoral realignment occurs when a new issue of utmost importance to the voters cuts across existing party divisions and replaces old issues that were formerly the basis of party identification

17. THE RISE & DECLINE OF THE POLITICAL PARTY • PARTY DECLINE… • Split Ticket – voting for candidates of different parties for various offices in the same election – has increased • Creates divided government meaning Congress Democrat and Executive Branch Republican or vice versa

18. THE RISE & DECLINE OF THE POLITICAL PARTY • Straight Ticket Voting – voting for candidates who are of the same party. Example: vote Democrat for president and vote Democrat for Congressperson

19. THE RISE & DECLINE OF THE POLITICAL PARTY • Office-bloc (or Massachusetts) ballot: • A ballot listing all candidate of a given office under the name of that office – what we have today

20. THE RISE & DECLINE OF THE POLITICAL PARTY • Party-column (or Indiana) ballot: • Vote for Party not individual candidates

21. The National Party Structure Today Pages: 207-213

22. The National Party Structure Today • Even with the increase in split ticket voting our two-party system remains strong

23. The National Party Structure Today • Both Parties are quite similar…. • Both have national conventions – meet every 4 years to nominate president • Both have national committees which manage convention party affairs • Both have congressional campaign committee that helps members of Congress with elections • Both have a national chairman who manages the day-to-day work of the party

24. NATIONAL CONVENTIONS The exact formula for appointing delegates is extremely complex Delegates do not have to vote who they pledged to back – we vote for these delegates on the ballot Superdelegates are party leaders and elected officials who become delegates without running in primaries or caucuses The National Party Structure Today

25. State & Local Parties Pages: 213-216

26. State & Local Parties • Every state has a Democratic and Republican state party organized under state law

27. State & Local Parties • THE MACHINE (213-215) • Party machine is an organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives… • Money • Political jobs • Favors from government • Example, Tammany Hall in NYC • Value winning above everything else

28. State & Local Parties • Combating the Party Machine • Hatch Act – made it illegal for federal civil service employees to take an active part in political management or political campaigns by serving as party officers, soliciting campaign funds, etc. (214)

29. State & Local Parties • IDEOLOGICAL PARTIES (215) • Value principles above winning • Most firmly Ideological parties – are third parties such as Right-to-Life Party • They are issue orientated

30. State & Local Parties • SOLIDARY GROUPS (215-216) • A groups of people who enjoy politics rather than an interest in issues, as their reason for joining the party organization • Solidary incentives – the social rewards (sense of pleasure, status, or companionship) that lead people to join political organizations

31. State & Local Parties • SPONSORED PARTIES (216) • Occurs when another organization exists in the community that can create, or at least, sponsor, a local party structure • Example: Democratic Party in Detroit, has been developed, led, and to a degree financed by the political-action arm of the United Auto Workers Union

32. State & Local Parties • PERSONAL FOLLOWING 216-217) • The support provided to a candidate on the basis of personal popularity and networks • To form a personal following – a candidate must have an appealing personality, a lot of friends, or a big bank account

33. THE TWO-PARTY SYSTEM Pages: 217-220

34. THE TWO-PARTY SYSTEM • Two-Party System is rare throughout the world – only 15 nations have one • In most state governments one party tends to enjoy a substantial advantage

35. THE TWO-PARTY SYSTEM • TWO REASONS WHY TWO-PARTY SYSTEM PERSISTS • Has to do with the system of elections • With the distribution of public opinion

36. 1. HAS TO DO WITH SYSTEM OF ELECTIONS

37. THE TWO-PARTY SYSTEM • Plurality System – an electoral system in which the winner is the person who gets the most votes, even if he or she does not get 50 + 1 % • This is used in almost all elections • The plurality system hurts third parties

38. THE TWO-PARTY SYSTEM • Winner-Take-All • Electoral College – in every state except Maine and Nebraska, the candidate who wins the most popular votes in a state wins all of the state’s electoral votes • Hurts minority-parties

39. 2. FOUND IN THE OPINIONS OF THE VOTERS

40. THE TWO-PARTY SYSTEM • PERSISTENCE OF TWO-PARTY IN THE OPINIONS OF THE VOTERS • Most of the time most citizens have agreed enough to permit issues to come together into two broad coalitions • People just like it this way

41. MINOR PARTIES Pages: 220-223

42. MINOR PARTIES • Minor parties that survive, have been the ideological ones • Factional party – is a party that split from another party • Example: Libertarians may have split from the Republican party

43. MINOR PARTIES • Minor parties develop ideas that the major party later adopts. • Example: the Socialist Party called for major social and economic policies that the Democrats under President Franklin D. Roosevelt later adopted

44. MINOR PARTIES • Greatest impact of Minority Parties is… • Minority Parties give a threat of factional split which the two major parties make efforts to avoid • Most successful third party movement was by Ross Perot who led the Reform Party

45. NOMINATING A PRESIDENT Pages: 223-225

46. NOMINATING A PRESIDENT • Is much different today than in the past • Majority parties face two contrary forces when choosing a candidate • Nominate a candidate who can appeal to the majority of voters; who will have middle-of-the-road views • Keep people from leaving party (factionalists) – they will compromise with the extremists. Such factions as Gun Rights, Abortion, Environment

47. NOMINATING A PRESIDENT • Today, power of party leaders & elected officials within the power has diminished. • WHY…. • Because, most delegates are voted for in the primary elections • The delegates names appear on the ballot • Example: John Doe (McCain); Jane Doe (Obama)

48. NOMINATING A PRESIDENT • ARE THE DELEGATES REPRESENTATIVE TO THE VOTERS? • NO. The delegates have had views on a variety of important issues that were vastly different than those of the rank-and-file. • Democrat delegates = more liberal • Republican delegates = more conservative

49. NOMINATING A PRESIDENT • WHO VOTES IN PRIMARIES? • About half as many people vote in primaries as in general elections • More vote in Primary if there is a good fight. Example: Obama v. Hillary Clinton

50. NOMINATING A PRESIDENT • WHO VOTES IN CAUCUSES? • Caucus – is a meeting of party followers where the delegates are picked • Only the most dedicated partisans attend. For Democrats (liberals); for Republican (conservatives)