Political parties & linkage institutions notes

Political parties & linkage institutions notes

A group of people who seek to control government by winning elections What is a political party?

nominating function parties select candidates for office give assurances What parties do:

2. informer-stimulator function run TV, radio, newspaper ads about candidates specialinterests also do this

3. “seal of approval” function – both parties seek the best candidates

4. watchdog function – Monitors party candidates and representatives special interests also do this

historical basis – the two original parties were Federalists Anti-Federalists Why a two-party system?

2. force of tradition – it’s so because it’s so

3. most election laws discourage minor/third parties

4. American ideological consensus – general agreement among groups

several major and many lesser parties; present in most European democracies each based on a particular interest (class, religion, etc.) Multi-party systems

present most often in dictatorships (like North Korea) One party systems…

no, but parties still aggressively seek contributions Membership dues?

Protestants Catholics Jews African-Americans Hispanics professionals farmers union members young old middle-aged Each party has broad-based support including some of most of the major groups in the U.S.:

African-Americans Catholics Jewish union members lower income Democrats have historically attracted…

white males Protestants business community members upper income Republicans have historically attracted…

primary election – held for the purpose of nominating a party’s candidate; held the spring before the general election in November general election – held for the purpose of electing federal, state, and local office holders; usually held in November Some things to keep in mind…

political parties special interest groups (Sierra Club, AARP, NAACP, LULAC) elections news media – plays a major role in informing the public (TV, internet, newspapers, magazines, radio) Linkage institutions – link voters to government

private organizations that try to persuade public officials to respond to shared attitudes and narrow interests of its members Special interest groups

goal:to influence the making and content of public policy – sometimes criticized for influencing public policy out of proportion to their numbers

political arm of special interest groups – they collect and distribute funds to candidates PACS - political action committees

s. i. g.’s methods can sometimes be heavy-handed, including bribery or threats

s. i. g. are concerned with a narrow range of interests rather than the entire range of public affairs

play a major role in informing the public; they are a profit-making entity before TV, political parties did the get-out-the-vote promotion News media…

play the “spoiler” in elections draw attention to critical issues initiate new ideas, processes & policies (their ideas are often adopted by major parties) Minor political parties

ideological parties – based on a set of beliefs such as the Libertarian party Types of minor parties

2. single-issue partiessuch as the Right-to Life party – they address one/few concerns & then disappear

3. economic protest parties- usually emerge from economic discontent such as Greenback Party, Populist Party

splinter partiesbreak away from major parties such as Bull Moose party in 1912, States’ Rights party and Am. Independent party

sharp drop in number of people willing to label themselves Republican orDemocrat split-ticket voting 3. heavy use of TV – candidates are no longer dependent on party structure 4. decline of influence of parties on policymakers and policymaking Trends in U.S. political parties - parties have been in decline since 1960s… why?

Political parties & linkage institutions notes