POLITICAL PARTIES

  1. Definition – a group of political activists or an ongoing coalition of interests who:
    1. sponsor candidates for political office under the organizations name – label
    2. work to win elections for their party - organization
    3. seek to exert control the government according to their point of view – leaders
  2. Emergence of the party system –
    1. Political parties are not mentioned in the Constitution
    2. unique to an empirical form of government. The central belief of empiricism is that government must be flexible to meet challenges posed by new circumstances. The loyal opposition.
    3. Factions - Madison Federalist 10 – "Liberty is to factions as air is to fire."

Different factions (or parties) were seen as good because they promote freedom

    1. Washington by the time he left office warned against the baneful effect of parties

 

  1. Functions of political parties- think beyond the presidency to other offices
    1. Recruiting candidates for office
    2. Nominating Candidates - peer review
    3. Organizing and running elections
    4. Proposing alternative policies – organized opposition to the party in power
    5. Coordinating the actions of government

 

  1. History of political parties
    1. 1789- 1812: Federalists and Antifederalists (Republicans)
    2. 1816 – 1824: more focus in individual personalities, weak party structure
    3. 1828 – 1860: Whigs and Democrats
    4. - 1892 : Democratic South and Republican North
    5. 1896 – 1928: Emergence of Progressive and Socialist challenges to two main parties
    6. 1932 – present: Two party lock on power

 

  1. Three Faces of Political Parties
    1. The party organization
      1. Mobilizes the party in the electorate
      2. Recruits candidates and provides campaign resources to the party in government
    2. The party in the electorate
      1. Provides workers to the party organization
      2. Elects the party in government
    3. The Party in Government
      1. Passes laws and implements policies favored by the party and its members and works to strengthen party organization

 

  1. Explanation for the persistence of the two party system
    1. political socialization – we are socialized to choose between two parties. Media (a strong socializing agent) tends to focus on two parties
    2. single member districts elected by a simple plurality
      1. Members of the House of Representatives are elected by a simple plurality to represent their district. Since most voters are Republican or Democratic they tend to win these elections
      2. Other countries use proportional representation. The party gets seats in the legislature according to the percentage of the vote they received in the election.
    3. electoral college. winner take all. To get all the electoral votes of a state, a candidate has to get a simple plurality of the vote. Because that tends to be a Democrat or Republican, even those with strong support throughout the electorate, cannot win electoral votes. Ross Perot received 19% of the popular vote in 1992 but received no electoral votes because he didn’t win the popular vote in any one state.

 

  1. Decline of Political Parties –
    1. Political parties are much weaker
      1. 90% of people today say they vote for the person not the party
      2. Divided government is more common – Executive branch in one party Legislative in the other
    2. Reasons for the Decline
      1. Replacement of party patronage
      2. Post Watergate reforms
        1. Television - personalized campaign by candidates
      3. primaries - candidates win w/o national party help

 

  1. Third Parties - Influence parties but seldom win elections
    1. Types of third parties
      1. Splinter or bolter parties - Dixiecrats
      2. Ideological protest: Greens, Socialist
      3. Single issue - abolitionists- temperance
    2. Third parties occur when
      1. The nominees from the two parties are seen as unacceptable
      2. mismanaged economy or economic hard times
      3. important issues not being discussed by major parties

 

 

The Influence of Third Parties in U.S. Politics

1860

1912

Wilson

42%

Democrat

Roosevelt

27%

Progressive

Taft

23%

Republican

Debs

6%

Socialist

1948

Truman

49.6%

Democrat

Dewey

45%

Republican

Thurmond

2.4 %

Dixiecrat

Wallace

2.4%

Progressive

1968

Nixon

43.4%

Republican

Humphrey

42.7%

Democrat

Wallace

13.5 %

American Independent

1992

Clinton

43%

Democrat

Bush

38%

Republican

Wallace

19%

Reform