Political Parties

1
Political Parties
2
Parties- Here Abroad

• Definition- a party is a group that seeks to
  elect candidates to public office by supplying
  them with a label by which they are known to the
  electorate.
• (AKA- party identification)
• Parties are not mentioned in the Constitution.

3
Functions of Political Parties

• To control the government via elections
• Serve as intermediaries between people and
  government
• Raise money
• Present positions on policy
• Get the candidate elected

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Vocabulary Terms

• Politcal party
• Nomination
• Political system
• Electoral college
• Caucuses
• National convention
• Party platform
• Critical election

• Electoral realignment
• Two-party system
• Electoral dealignment
• Minor parties 4 types
• Majority representation

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Vocabulary Terms

• Proportional representation
• Party identification
• National committee
• Party conference
• Congressional campaign committee
• Party machine

• Responsible party government
• Independent candidates
• Platform
• Soft money
• Split-ticket voting
• Divided government

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Vocabulary Terms

• Coalition
• Class action suits
• Influence peddling
• Federal Election Campaign Act
• Political action committees

• Doctrinal parties

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Supreme Court Case for Friday

• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

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Arenas of politics in which political parties
exist

• 1) Label, in the minds of the voters
• 2) Organization, recruiting and campaigning for
  candidates.
• 3) Set of leaders, organize and try to control
  the legislative and executive branches.
• US parties have become weaker in all three
  arenas.

9
Decentralization of party power in the United
States

• Federalism decentralizes power.
• National parties used to be a coalition of local
  parties.
• Now parties organize at all levels and do not
  communicate well.
• ALL politics are LOCAL
• Candidates are chosen through primaries not by
  party leaders.

10
The Unimportance of Parties

• Americans do not join or pay dues to parties.
• Parties rarely affect ones daily thoughts
• They remain separate from all other aspects of
  life.

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The Rise and Fall of Parties

• Founding fathers disliked parties, viewing them
  as factions (especially George Washington).
• For parties to gain acceptance, people had to be
  able to distinguish between policy disputes and
  challenges to the legitimacy of government.

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1st Battle

• Jefferson - Jeffersonian Republicans
• Hamilton- Federalists
• They were loose associations (caucuses) of
  political notables.
• Republicans dominated - Jefferson, Madison, and
  Monroe

13
Problems of Early Parties

• The largest issue was that they did not represent
  homogeneous economic interests.
• They were always heterogeneous coalitions
  designed to win elections.

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From Jackson to War

• Late 1820s- political participation became a mass
  phenomenon.
• 1832- presidential electors chosen by popular
  vote in most states
• Abandonment of presidential caucuses made up of
  congressman soon thereafter.
• Beginning of national convention leading to more
  local control.

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Civil War to 1930s

• A lot of sectionalism due to slavery.
• Most states were dominated by one party
• 1) factions emerge in each party.
• 2) Republicans had a factional party split from
  the base (also called a splinter party)- the
  Progressives.

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The Era of Reform

• 1930s until today
• Progressives pushed to curb the power of the
  political parties.
• 1) Favored primaries, replacing nominating
  conventions.
• 2) Non-partisan elections _at_ the local level.
• 3) Strict voter registration requirements to
  prevent fraud.
• 4) Civil service reform to eliminate patronage.
• 5) Introduction of referendums /initiatives

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Effects of the progressive movement

• 1) Eliminated the worst forms of political
  corruption.
• 2) Weakened all political parties- parties became
  less able to hold officeholders accountable or to
  coordinate across the branches of government.

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Todays Party Structure

• Parties are very similar on paper.
• National convention has ultimate power. Meets
  every 4 years to nominate the presidential
  candidate.
• National committee is composed of delegates from
  states they manage the affairs between
  conventions.
• Congressional campaign committees support the
  partys congressional candidates.
• National Chair manages daily work.

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Party Structure

• The structure of the two parties diverged in the
  late 1960s/early 70s.
• The RNC moved to a bureaucratic structure a
  well-financed party devoted to electing its
  candidates especially to Congress.
• Democrats moved to a factionalized structure and
  redistributed power.

20
Party Structure

• RNC used computerized mailing lists to raise
  money. Money was used to provide services for
  candidates, effectively becoming a national firm
  of political consultants.
• DNC learned from RNC, but not as successful.
• Both sent to state parties, to sidestep
  federal spending limits (soft money).

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National Conventions

• National committee sets the time and place and
  tells each state its of delegates and the rules
  for their selection.
• Dems and Repubs have very different ways of
  awarding delegates.
• In the 1970s, rule changes increased the number
  of women, blacks, youths, and Native Americans
  attending the Dem convention.

22
Delegate Distribution

• Formulas are used by both parties to allocate
  their delegates to the national convention.
• The Republicans reward those states that
  consistently favor their candidates in
  presidential and congressional elections.
• Democrats reward larger states that consistently
  support their candidates.
• The result is that republicans give more
  delegates to states from the South and Southwest,
  whereas the democrats give to the North and West.

23
Todays convention

• Todays national convention is similar to a large
  pep rally for the nominee. It is used to ratify
  the choices made by the voters during the primary
  season.
• The party in power (executive branch) has their
  convention after the party seeking office holds
  their convention. Usually a week or two after.

24
State and Local Parties

• There is no hierarchal structure of political
  parties. Each level deals with its own issues.
  Ideas are not passed from national to state to
  local.
• The only thing that floes from one level to
  another is money.

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The Political Machine

• Definition- a party organization that recruits
  members via tangible incentives.
• Prevalent in the US until early 1900s.
• It has been curbed by civil service reform, voter
  registration, and social services being taken
  over by the federal and state government.

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Types of Political Parties

• Ideological- based on an agenda covering many
  topics. Very factionalized.
• Solidary groups- based on friendships. Not very
  hard working.
• Sponsored parties- craeted by an organization.
  Not very common in US.
• Personal following- name recognition, ,
  favorite son (ex. Kennedys (MA), Longs (LA),
  Perot (1992, 1996)

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The Two-Party System

• Rarity among nations today.
• Why does it exist in America?
• 1) Electoral system- winner-take-all system and
  plurality system limit the number of parties.
• 2) Opinions of voters- if one is failing we try
  the other for a little while
• 3) State laws make it very difficult for third
  parties to get on the ballot.

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Minor Parties (3rd parties)

• Ideological parties- comprehensive, radical
  views, most enduring
• Examples include Communist, Socialist,
  Libertarians
• One-issue parties- address one concern
• Examples Free Soil, Phohibition
• Economic Protest parties- regional
• Examples Greenback, Populist
• Factional parties- split from major party
• Examples Bull Moose, Christian Coalition

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3rd Parties

• Factional parties probably have the greatest
  influence on public policy.
• The BIG TWO may pay a heavy price if it fails to
  recognize the faction that has split from its
  party.

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Nominating a President

• Two forces acting together
• 1) Partys desire to win office motivates it to
  seek an appealing candidate
• 2) Partys desire to acquiesce dissidents within
  the party forces a compromise with more extreme
  views.

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Are the Delegates Representative of the voter?

• NO!!!!! Democratic delegates are much more
  liberal and Republican delegates are much more
  conservative than your rank and file voter.
• Yet, people that participate in caucuses and
  primaries are similar ideologically to those who
  participate in the general election.

32
Caucus v. Primary

• A caucus is a much more involved process than a
  primary.
• Due to this, only the most dedicated partisans
  attend.
• This leads to some of the most ideological
  candidates (more extreme) winning or doing very
  well in the caucus.

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Democrats v. Republicans

• Since 1968 Democrats have won more congressional
  elections than presidential elections.
• Candidates are out of step with the average voter
  on social and tax issues.
• Rank and file dems and repubs differ very little
  on political issues.
• The difficult thing for candidates is appealing
  to the average voter, while not losing the
  support of the more extreme delegates.