Parties v. factions

1. Parties v. factions • Parties • Group that seeks to elect candidates to public office by supplying them with a label by which they are known to the electorate • Factions • Groups trying to obtain power or benefits • Factions do not have a permanent organization, parties do.

2. A brief history of political parties • The Founding • Founders disliked parties, viewed them as factions • Jefferson v. Hamilton • The Jacksonians • Political participation became a mass phenomenon • Beginning of national party conventions • The Civil War • Sectionalism and slavery change the face of political parties • The Era of Reform • Progressives pushed to reduce the power and influence of parties • Reduced political corruption, but weakened all political parties

3. Party Realignments • Realigning Periods • Periods when a sharp, lasting shift occurs in the popular coalition supporting one or both parties • Five so far • 1800 • 1828 • 1860 • 1896 • 1932 • Two Kinds • Major party is defeated so badly that it disappears and a new party emerges • Two existing parties continue, but voters shift their loyalty from one to another

4. Party decline?