Party Politics Today Lecture

1. Party Politics TodayLecture Parties similar on paper -National convention has ultimate power; meets every four years to nominate presidential candidate -National committee is composed of delegates from the states; manage affairs between conventions -Congressional campaign committees support the party’s congressional candidates -National chair manages the daily work

2. Party Structure diverged in late 60’s and 70’s -RNC moved to a bureaucratic structure- a well financed party devoted to electing its candidates, especially to Congress -Democrats moved to factionalized structure and redistributed power -RNC used computerized mailings lists to raise money, money used to provide services to candidates, a national firm of political consultants -DNC learned from the RNC and adopts the same techniques -DNC and RNC send money to state parties, to sidestep federal spending limits (soft money)

3. National Conventions -National committee sets time and place- issues “call” setting the number of delegates for each state and the rules for their selection -Formulas are used to allocate delegates *Democrats’ formula shifts delegates from the South to the West and North *Republicans’ formula shifts delegates from the East to the South and Southwest *Result- Reps. move right, Dems. move left -Democrat formula rewards large states -Republican formula rewards loyal states

4. Democrats Set New Rules • In 1970’s, rules changed to weaken local party leaders and increase the proportions of women, youth, blacks, and Native Americans attending the convention • -Hunt Commission in 1981-”superdelegates” increased the influence of elected officials and made the convention more deliberative • Consequence of Reforms • -parties represent different sets of upper middle class voters • *Republicans represent the traditional middle class, conservatives • *Democrats represent new class, more liberal

5. Democrats make more rule changes to become more competitive: -In 1988, the number of superdelegates was increased while the status of some special interest caucuses was decreased -In 1992, three rules were set: *Winner-reward system of delegate distribution banned, this had previously given winners of primaries and caucuses extra delegates *Proportional representation implemented *States that violated the rules were penalized with the loss of convention delegates. (Michigan-2008) *Conventions today only ratify choices made in primary season- unless a tight race

6. State and Local Parties • State level structure: • State central committee • County committees • Various local committees • Distribution of power varies withing the state, as different incentives are at work • Party types: • -The machine • -Ideological parties • -Solidarity Groups • -Sponsored Parties • -Personal following

7. The Machine: -a party organization that recruits members via tangible incentives (money, jobs, political favors) -high degree of leadership control -abuses were extensive -gradually controlled by reforms- voter registration, civil service, Hatch Act (1939)(prohibits federal employees from participating in partisan politics) -machines continued until voter demographics and federal programs changed, decreasing the need for parties’ resources -machines were self-serving and public rewarding -New machines are a blend of the old machine (campaign finance) and today’s ideological party traits (issues)

8. Ideological Parties - extreme opposite to machine -Principle is more important than winning election -Contentious and factionalized -Usually an outside “third party” -local reform clubs in the 1950’s and 1960’s -reform clubs replaced by more focused social movements which advance specific demands -Political machine replaced by today’s social movements as the “farm club” of the national party *factionalism is more intense *party leaders have less freedom

9. Solidarity Groups -Members are motivated by solidarity incentives (companionship) -Advantage: neither corrupt nor inflexible -Disadvantage: not very hard working- “Is it raining?” Sponsored Parties -created or sustained by another organization Example: Detroit Democrats were developed and led by the UAW union -not very common in the U.S. Personal Following -appealing personality, name recognition, and money Example: Kennedys, Romneys, Longs

10. The Two Party System -A rarity among nations today -Parties are balanced nationally, but not locally Why has the two party system endured so long? -Electoral system- winner-take-all and plurality system limit the number of parties -Opinions of voters-two broad coalitons work (most of the time- sometimes bitter dissent) -State laws have made it difficult for third parties to get on the ballot- petition drives, voter signatures etc.

11. Minor Parties- “third parties” -Ideological Parties-radical view, most enduring, ex. Socialist, Communist, Libertarian, Green -One issue parties- address one concern, ex. Free Soilers, Prohibition -Economic Protest Parties- regional protest of economic policies, ex. Populists -Factional Parties, split from a major party, usually over presidential candidate, ex. Bull Moose, Henry Wallace, Ross Perot Why not more minor parties? -slim chance of success -major parties accommodate movements with platform

12. Nominating a President -Two contrary forces: party’s desire to win presidency motivates it to seek an appealing candidate, but its desire to keep dissidents within the party force it compromise on more extreme views Are the delegates representative of the voters? -Democrat delegates much more liberal -Republican delegates much more conservative -Outcome cannot be attributed to quota rules for delegate selection alone -women, youth, minorities have greater diversity of opinions than do the delegates -those with extreme views are often the most motivated

13. Who Votes in Primaries -little ideological difference between primary voters and rank-and-file voters -unlike caucuses who often choose most ideological candidate Who are the New Delegates? -issue oriented activists -Advantages: increased opportunities for activists within the two major parties and decreased chance that activists will bolt the party -Disadvantages: delegates may nominate presidential candidate unacceptable to voters or even the party’s rank-and-file

14. Parties Versus Voters -Rank-and-file Democrats and Republicans differ on many political issues, but the differences are usually small -delegates from the two major parties differ widely on the same issues -Candidates need to share views with average citizen or campaign on issues where delegates and voters agree *Problems arise when candidates must play to the ideological extremes to win delegate support