Parties at the Founding

1. Parties at the Founding • The Constitution contains no provision for political parties • The Framers did not consider them to be necessary • Washington warned against the rise of parties in his Farewell Address • Federalists 10 and 51 warn against “factions” • Why did they form and why do they persist today?  They are useful to candidates and to voters

2. Roles of Political Parties • Organize elections • Nominate candidates and compete for office • National, State and Local Committees • Provide Voting Cues • Help deflect information costs • Connect citizens to government • Help elected officials create packages of policy • Ex: Contract with America • Crucial to organization of the legislative branch

3. Evolution of Party System and Critical Elections • First Party System: Jeffersonian • 1796-1824 • Second Party System: Jacksonian Democracy • 1828-1856 • Third Party System: Civil War Period • 1860-1892 • Fourth Party System: Industrial Republican • 1896-1928 • Fifth Party System: New Deal • 1932-1964 • Sixth Party System: Divided Government • 1968-Present

4. Two Party System • Other nations: • Multi-member districts, proportional representation How Does the American electoral system reinforces two-party system? • Structure of elections: • Single-member, simple plurality system • “First past the post” elections • Other factors: • Media attention (or lack thereof) • Contributions and Federal Funding • Debates

5. Problems with Two Party System: • Almost all third parties are marginalized • Natural incentive for parties and candidates to be similar to each other • Divided Government and gridlock

6. Why Are Parties So Similar?

7. Spatial Model:Model of Political Competition • Median Voter Theorem • Median Party Position • “Race to the Middle” • Other uses of Spatial Model (elections, congressional votes)

8. Divided Government • What is divided government? • Trends of Divided Government • On national level, divided governments has existed for all but 6 years between 1969-2000 • How do we get divided government? • Split-ticket balloting (intentional divided gov’t) • Does Divided Government cause gridlock?

9. Traditional Constituencies:Democratic Party • Draws support disproportionately from: • Urban, big-city voters • Labor • Minorities voters • Ethnic voters • Catholics • Women • Low-income/ Poor • Highest and Lowest Education groups

10. Traditional Constituencies: Republican Party • Draws support disproportionately from: • Rural, small-town voters • Suburban voters • Protestants • Business people and professionals • Upper-class/ Wealthy • College educated

11. Constituencies for Parties in 2000 Election

12. Parties on State Level • At the state level, the importance of political parties varies greatly from one state to another • In one-party states, it is obvious that parties exercise little discipline over legislative voting (and little effect on policymaking) AL and LA • Factions within parties are more important in these states • In states like Connecticut and Michigan, both parties are active and cohesive  In these states, the parties have considerable influence