Political parties

2. Political parties What is the Republican party? Who are the Republican party? What is the Democratic party? Who are the Democratic party? What issues do they compete over?

3. Political Parties • What do parties do? • 1) • 2) • 3)

4. Political Parties • What do parties do? • 1) Private organization • 2) Govern • 3) Brand label

5. What are Parties? • Organization dedicated to winning elections • Primary institution for organizing mass democracy • Democracy, representation impossible w/o parties

6. Elections and Party Systems • Party System = basis of party competition • not all systems the same... • different types of parties • different number of parties • different issues that parties compete over • What is basis of party competition in US?

7. Responsible party model Argument: two party system = One Controls Government One Acts as Opposition Elections a referendum on the Government Requires “discipline,” unified parties; but provides simplicity, accountability

8. Parties and Responsible Government Parties present clear choices to voters Cohesive platform Control nominations -- how?? MPs all vote their party’s line Number of choices limited Government Opposition Accountability

9. What makes a party system? • What unites groups / people under one party label • What divisions are reflected by major parties?

10. Lippset & Rokkan Model • A nation’s party systems function of: • Coalitions of social groups defied by historical cleavages • National Revolution (State building) • Industrial Revolution • Post - material Revolution

11. Lippset & Rokkan Model Thinking about party systems: How well does this model / logic explain the US party system? What about other countries?

12. Lippset and Rokkan: Old Coalitions Party Cleavages: Reflect historic patterns Land-based elites vs. liberals/merchants Church vs. State City vs. Country Owners vs. workers Dominant culture vs. distinct regions

13. Political Parties: Old Coalitions • National Revolutions • Cleavages: • Center v. periphery • US revolution, civil war; Quebec, Scotland

14. Political Parties: Old Coalitions • National Revolutions • Cleavages: • Federalists vs. Anti-federalists • Original Liberal Parties • vs. land owning class

15. Political Parties: Not so Old Coalitions Industrial Revolution Cleavages: Owners vs. workers Capital vs. Labor / workers Land-based interests vs. Capital

16. Political Parties: Not so Old Coalitions • Industrial Revolution • Cleavages: • UK Liberal Party (old version) • Labour vs. Conservatives (UK) • Social Democrats (SPD) vs Christian Dems (CDU), Germany • US Democrats 1930s

17. Political Parties: New Coalitions? • A third era of cleavages: • Post-material / post-industrial revolution (Inglehart, Dalton) • Societies move beyond ‘material’ economic concerns • Newer cleavages around ‘cultural’values • ‘Process’ oriented concerns

18. Party Coalitions • How do these ‘old’ cleavages define contemporary parties? • Religion (CDU in Germany, US Democrats pre‘68?) • Region (Scotland SNP, Germany CSU, Canada BQ, ) • Class (Torries v. Labour in UK; Socialists in FR, IT, SP; Dems v. GOP in US)

19. Post Materialism • Dalton: • “Most parties and party systems are still oriented primarily toward the traditional political alignments that L & R described” • New coalitions: Values based, environment, lifestyle, minority rights, social/moral issues

20. Post Materialism Post material Material national security economic growth law and order fight inflation • post scarcity • aesthetics • political rights, speech • participation • ideas count more than money

21. Post Materialism % post material % ‘mixed’ Germany 59% UK 64% Netherlands 64% France 53% Denmark 67% Ireland 60% • Germany 14% • UK 15% • Netherlands 22% • France 20% • Denmark 25% • Ireland 12%

22. Party Coalitions • How much do ‘old’ cleavages matter? • Does this model work in US (why? why not?) • Class? • Land-elite based parties (Conservatives vs..... Liberals) a dead cleavage? • Church v. State Cleavage (religious v. secularists)

23. Old Politics v New Politics? In US Old “New Deal” system: Dems = party of working class GOP = party of business Since then, ‘values’: Women’s movement, Civil Right Movement, Environmentalism, sexual-orientation concerns, changes in economy, family structure But: Rising income inequality

24. Old Politics v New Politics? New politics = decline of class voting = parties have less class basis = rise of values cleavages = greater mix of material / post mat. issues What is class?

25. Old Politics v New Politics? Most important issue 2004 election? 1992? 2008?

27. And the economy

28. Party Identification “Generally speaking, do you think of yourself as a Democrat, Republican, independent, or what?” Where do attachments to party come from?

29. New Politics, US? Party ID 1952 1968 1980 1996 2000 2008 Low income 64% 65% 60% 63% 62% 63% % Democratic High income 30% 41% 32% 41% 36% 28% % Democratic

30. Old vs. New Politics, US Party Vote 2012 Low income 60% % Democratic High income 44% % Democratic

31. Old vs. New Politics, US Party ID 1952 1968 1980 1996 2000 2008 Unskilled 71% 81% 56% 52% 50% n/a % Democratic Professional 52% 44% 47% 41% 46% n/a % Democratic

32. Old vs. New Politics, US Is there more / less “class” voting in the US? Dalton, Chpt. 8 p, 161 % “working class” = % middle class Class v. income Is there an upper class?

33. Old vs. New Politics • Why might class voting be decreasing? • Growth of the “new middle class” • “Workers” have income similar to middle class” • “Increased social mobility” • “Social modernization” • Parties have broadened their appeal to attract middle class voters • Even European socialists appeal to center • Obama, 2015 SOTU

34. Old vs. New Politics • Is class voting decreasing? • Change in political conflict • Parties less likely to make appeals on class-based issues • Or, all parties have abandoned working class, low income voters

35. Old Politics v New Politics: If not ‘class’, then what? • Traditionalists vs..... Non-traditionalists? • Small public sector vs..... larger public sector (old cleavage?) • Materialists vs..... Post materialists? • environment over economy vs.... • economy over environment

36. Review: Cleavages and Voters National revolution region, religion, center v. others Industrial revolution ‘middle/upper’ class vs. working class Postindustrial materialist / post material

37. Party Systems: Number of Parties • Types of parties & basis of competition in a nation (Dalton) • Number of parties • Two-party systems (US, UK..sort of) • Multi-party systems (FR, IT, Ger...sort of)

38. Why 2, 3, more parties? Institutional design (yesterday) Electoral system rules: PR vs FPTP Multi-member constituencies Number of cleavages

39. Comparing parties How do US parties compare to Europe? Does a two party system = less distinct parties? more distinctive parties? Does a multi-party system = more ideological diversity?

40. Party Identification “Generally speaking, do you think of yourself as a Democrat, Republican, independent, or what?” Where do attachments to party come from? Sociological determinism You have no free will? Funnel of Causality Early life-->PID----------------->vote