Chapter 22: Political Parties on Our Democracy

1. Chapter 22: Political Parties on Our Democracy Social Science

2. Political Parties • A political party is an organization of citizens who wish to influence and control government by getting their members elected to office • Political parties nominate, or name, candidates to run for public office • Some public offices, especially at the local level, are nonpartisan, meaning that the candidates do no declare themselves to be members of political party • Each party has a platform, a statement of the party’s officials stand on major public issues, that are made up of planks, position statements on each specific issue in a party’s platform • Planks turn into government programs based on the party’s ideals • Parties provide leadership to citizens and to seats in government

3. How Parties help Citizens • Parties use persuasive tactics to make sure the public knows when a party in power is not doing its job • Parties help provide a way for citizens to be heard • Parties also provide citizens with information about news and programs that the party is organizing • Arrange meetings and canvass, or go door-to-door handing out information and asking people which candidates they support • Parties also provide ways in which citizens can get involved for their cause

4. The Two Party System • Political parties started during Washington’s presidency • Sparked from disputes between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, they created the Federalist and Democratic-Republican party • Our two party system developed in 1854, with the Republican Party developing from the Whig Party and the Democratic Party developing from the Democratic-Republican Party • Even though political elections have been dominated by two parties, a third party may arise to support a cause or to back a candidate • Can be difficult to form and run on a ballot, but if successful, can change the course of an election by taking votes away from other parties or by presenting new ideas

5. Characteristics of Political Parties • The Democratic Party supports taking responsibility for social programs, tax increases, and labor unions • The Republican Party supports reducing the power of the federal government and that the state and local government should take responsibility for social programs • Despite differences, political parties are similar because they generally have the same values and need to attract wide support from the public

6. Organization of Political Parties • Political parties are organized at the local level in the same way through precincts, or voting districts • Each precinct has fewer than 1,000 voters, and each party has a chairperson or captain that organizes volunteers to try and get as many members as possible • Precincts elect city and county committee leaders • Political parties are organized at the state level through party committees, who organized state conventions and nominate candidates for office • Each party holds a national convention every four years, where they nominate a candidate for President and Vice-President

7. Changes in Party Strength • Political parties have made their strengths in a combination of three elements: • Patronage-a system in which party leaders perform favors for loyal supporters of the party • Parties in Campaigns-nominees in campaigns can either depend in the party for support and funds or can create their own • Voter Loyalty-voters can either vote on a straight ticket, or a ballot cast for all the candidates of one party, or a split ticket, or voting for candidates of more than one party on the same ballot • One reason for declining loyalty is that some Americans choose their party membership and preferred candidates for different reasons • Some voters are independentvoters, or voters who do not support a particular party, so the key to gain their attention is through promotion

8. Choosing Candidates • The simplest way to become a candidate is through self-nomination, or declaring that you are running for office • Can declare themselves a candidate and pay a filing fee, become a write-in candidate, or asks voters to write their name on the ballot, or can file a nomination petition • Other ways of becoming a candidate is through nomination at a convention or through a caucus, or a meeting of party leaders to discuss issues or to choose candidates • Most candidates for state or federal offices are chosen through a direct primary, or an election in which members of a political party choose candidates to run for office in the name of the party • Use either a closed primary, or a primary in which a voter must be registered as a party member and may vote only in that party’s primary, or an open primary, or a primary in which voters do not need to declare a party before voting, but they may vote in only one party’s primary

9. Choosing Presidential Candidates • In presidential primaries, candidate raise money, mainly from individuals • Each individual can only give $2,000 to each candidate per election • Candidates can raise up to $31 million for their campaign • Delegates are chosen in either a presidential preference primary election or a statewide caucus or convention • In January and February of a presidential election year, the primary is held in New Hampshire and the caucus is held in Iowa • In a presidential year, each party holds a national convention, where they discuss the candidates, vote on which candidate will run for President, and approve the party platform which the candidate will run on