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Its a party !!

Its a party !!. Political Parties Chapter 5. Political Party = a group of persons, usually joined by common principles who attempt to control or influence public policy by winning elections and holding public office. What do political parties do? What is their function?.

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Its a party !!

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  1. Its a party !! Political Parties Chapter 5

  2. Political Party = a group of persons, usually joined by common principles who attempt to control or influence public policy by winning elections and holding public office

  3. What do political parties do?What is their function? • Informing and Activating Voters • giving voters a coherent public expression on public policy issues. • generating a community of like-minded people from a diverse community. • defining the public issues, creating a “public agenda” • Providing candidates • recruiting people to run for office • formally nominating them to the ballot • conducting election campaigns • providing info to voters about candidates and policy

  4. What do political parties do?What is their function? • Acting as a link between government and public. • Governing • provide a means of organizing government • formulate legislative programs • provide a system for legislators to advance their goals • provide members with “belonging & solidarity” • provide practical assistance to legislators • control the executive branch through the election of president and his appointment of staff partisanship: strong support of party and its “platform” (stand on issues)

  5. Types of Political Parties • “membership” parties • tightly organized • members may carry membership cards • ideological • possibly single-issue • may provide other social benefits • broad-based parties • loosely organized • representing basic political ideas to which highly diverse elements of society may be attracted Communist Party Democratic and Republican Parties

  6. Party Systems • 1-Party • Communist Party • not a democratic system • Multi-party or Parliamentary • strongly ideological • party “discipline” necessary for governance • 2 –Party or “Shared Powers” • strong, broad-based but loosely organized • party “discipline” not needed for governance

  7. Why do we have a 2 party system? • tradition Federalists vs. Anti-federalists • electoral system • ideological consensus surrounding basic ideals of government

  8. History of 2 Party System4 major eras • 1800-1860 Era of “Democrats” • ends with Civil War • 1860-1932 Era of Republicans • ends with Great Depression • 1932-1968 Era of Democrats • ends with Vietnam, social upheaval/”Big Government • 1968-Present Era of Divided Government

  9. 1800-1860 Era of “Democrats” • 1800-1825 “Era of Good Feelings” • no organized opposition • 1829-1837 Jacksonian Democrats • small farmers, debtors, frontiersmen, slaveholders • universal, white, male suffrage • “spoils system” • Opposition: “Whigs” (National Republican Party) • bankers, merchants, industrialists, plantation owners

  10. 1860-1932 Era of Republicans • Abraham Lincoln – 1st Republican President • Generally support the issues of the North • laissez-faire • limited government (rise of Big Business) • gold standard • anti-slavery but not pro-civil rights • unresponsive to labor issues, small farmers • Democratic Party fractured by the Civil War • Populist Party, Socialists

  11. Thomas Nast

  12. 1932-1968 Era of Democrats • FDR and the New Deal • government can solve problems • incorporates Progressivism • “social safety net” • coalition of minorities, the poor, labor, farmers • African-Americans switched parties • culminates with LBJ’s “Great Society”

  13. Republicans dominate the executive Nixon Ford Reagan Bush I Bush II Carter Clinton Obama Democrats have usually controlled Congress exception: 1996 - 2007 1968-Present: Era of Divided Governmentexecutive branch/legislative branch

  14. Minor Parties • A variety through history • ideological parties • Libertarian • Socialist/Communist • single-issue parties • Free Soil Party (anti-slavery) 1840s-1850s • “Know-Nothings” nativists 1840s-1850s • Prohibition Party • Right to Life Party • economic protest parties • Greenback Party • Populists • splinter Parties • “Bull Moose” Progressives • States’ Rights (Dixiecrats) • American Independent Party (Wallace 1968)

  15. Today 2004 3rd parties vied in 765 of the 5,795 state legislative elections. 8 won. • The Green Party • Libertarians • Reform Party (Ross Perot) • America First • 2 Socialist Parties • in California • Natural Law Party • Peace and Freedom

  16. extra credit* opportunity • Research one of the current 3rd parties • What is their platform? • Who are their major candidates? • What successes have they enjoyed? • Where are they most successful? • Who is their targeted constituency? • What type of people might vote for them? • 8x11 mini-poster • informative • visually appealing • carefully constructed/detailed

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