Political Parties

1
Political Parties

• Historical Development of the Parties

2
Historical Development

• Historically, the two-party system has been
  characterized by long periods of dominance by one
  party followed by a long period of dominance by
  the other

3
Historical Development

• The eras begin end with shifts in the voting
  population called realignments
• (1) Issues change
• (2) New divisions form between groups

4
Early Years

• First two political parties to emerge during
  Washingtons term of office were the Federalists
  Anti-Federalists

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Early Years

• Major issue in the beginning was the ratification
  of the Constitution
• Federalists supporting it
• Anti-Federalists wanting guarantees individual
  freedoms rights not included in the original
  document

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How was the issue resolved?
7
Early Years

• Issue was resolved with the addition of the Bill
  of Rights, but the parties did not disappear with
  the issue

8
Federalists

• Led by Alexander Hamilton (Secretary of Treasury)
• Represented urban, business-oriented men who
  favored elitism a strong central government

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Federalists

• Supported Hamiltons establishment of the Bank of
  U.S.
• Viewed it as forwarding their interests beliefs

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Anti-Federalists

• Came to be known as the Democratic-Republicans
• Led by Thomas Jefferson
• Favored strong state governments, rural
  interests, and a weaker central government

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Anti-Federalists

• Opposed the bank as an enemy of state control
  rural interests

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Era of Good Feeling

• With Hamiltons death John Adams unpopularity
  as president, Jefferson emerged as the most
  popular leader of the turn of the 19th century

13
Era of Good Feeling

• As president, he gradually became more accepting
  of stronger central government
• Two parties points of view seemed to merge most
  notably in the Era of Good Feeling presided
  over by James Monroe (one of Jeffersons protégés)

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Era of Good Feeling

• Democratic-Republicans emerged as the only party
• Dominance lasted until the mid-1800s, though
  under a new name, the Democrats

15
Jacksonian Democracy

• Two-party system re-emerged with the appearance
  of Andrew Jackson
• Represented to many the expanding country (newer
  states found much in common with the rural
  southern states but little with the established
  northeast)

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Jacksonian Democracy

• New party emergedthe Whigs
• Represented many of the interests of the old
  Federalist party

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Jacksonian Democracy

• Jacksons election in 1828 was accomplished with
  a coalition between South West, forming the new
  Democratic Party

18
Jacksonian Democracy

• Jacksons Democrats were a rawer sort than
  Jeffersons (primarily gentlemen farmers from the
  South Middle Atlantic states)

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Jacksonian Democracy

• During the Jacksonian erauniversal manhood
  suffrage was achieved (virtually all men could
  vote)
• Rural, anti-bank, small farmers from the South
  West formed the backbone of the Democratic Party

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Jacksonian Democracy

• Whigs were left with
• Old Federalist interests
• Wealthy, rural Southerners who had little in
  common with other Whigs

21
Jacksonian Democracy

• Party was not ideologically coherent
• Found some success by nominating electing war
  heroes (William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor)

22
North/South Tensions

• Economic social tensions developed between
  North South by the 1840s 50
• Whig party was threatened by splits between
  southern northern wings

23
North/South Tensions

• As the Whigs were falling apart, a new Republican
  Party emerged from the issue of expansion of
  slavery into new territories

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North/South Tensions

• Election of 1860 brought the first
  RepublicanAbraham Lincolninto office
• Setoff the secession of southern states with
  them many supporters of the Democratic Party

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North/South Tensions

• Civil War ended the dominance of the Democrats
  ushered in a new Republican era
• Voters realignedaccording to regional
  differences conflicting points of view
  regarding expansion of slavery states rights

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Republican Era 1861-1933

• With the exception of Grover Cleveland Woodrow
  Wilson, all presidents from Abraham Lincoln
  (1861-1895) through Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)
  were Republicans

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Republican Era 1861-1933

• During most of the time, Republicans dominated
  the legislature as well

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Republican Era 1861-1933

• By 1875 all of the southern states had been
  restored to the Union, but their power, as well
  as that of the Democratic Party, was much
  diminished

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Republican Era 1861-1933

• Republicans came to champion the new era of the
  Industrial Revolution
• Time when prominent businessmen, such as John
  Rockefeller Andrew Carnegie, dominated politics
  as well as business

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Republican Era 1861-1933

• Republican party came to represent laissez-faire
• Policy that advocated the free market few
  government regulations on business

31
Republican Era 1861-1933

• Republican philosophy of the late 1800s favored
  the new industrialists, not the small farmer of
  the earlier era

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Second Democratic Era 1933-1969

• Prosperous, business-oriented era survived
  several earlier recessions but not the Great
  Depression that gripped the country after the
  stock market crash of 1929

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Second Democratic Era 1933-1969

• Economic downturn of the economy caused major
  realignments of voters that swung the balance of
  power to the Democrats

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Second Democratic Era 1933-1969

• Republican president, Herbert Hoover, was
  rejected in the election of 1932 in favor of the
  Democrats Franklin Roosevelt
• FDRs victory was accomplished because of the
  Roosevelt Coalition of voters

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FDRs Coalition

• Consisted of a combination of many different
  groups of voters that wished to see Hoover
  defeated

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FDRs Coalition

• Composed of
• Eastern workers
• Recent immigrants
• Southern western farmers
• Blacks
• Ideologically liberal

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Roosevelts Democrats

• Established a government more actively involved
  in promoting social welfare

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FDRs Presidency

• Ironically, the formerly states rights oriented
  Democrats now advocated a strong central
  government, but one dedicated to promoting the
  interests of ordinary people

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FDRs Presidency

• Democrats dominated both legislative executive
  branches

40
FDRs Presidency

• Even the Supreme Court reined in its conservative
  leanings
• Although it did check FDRs power with the famous
  court packing threat

41
FDRs Court-Packing Threat

• In an effort to get more support for his New Deal
  programs form the Supreme Court, FDR encouraged
  Congress to increase the number of justices form
  9 to 15
• FDR eventually withdrew his plan

42
Second Democratic Era 1933-1969

• FDR was elected to unprecedented four terms was
  followed by another Democrat, Harry Truman
• Even though a Republican, Dwight Eisenhower, was
  elected president in 1952, Congress remained
  Democrat

43
Second Democratic Era 1933-1969

• Democrats regained the White House in 1960
  retained it throughout the presidencies of John
  F. Kennedy Lyndon Johnson

44
Era of Divided Government 1969-2000

• Richard Nixons election in 1968 did not usher in
  a new era of Republican dominated government
• Instead a new balance of power between the
  Democrats Republicans came into being

45
Era of Divided Government 1969-2000

• With few exceptions, control of the legislature
  the presidency has been divided between the two
  major parties since the late 1940s

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Era of Divided Government 1969-2000

• When one party holds the presidency, the other
  has dominated Congress, or at least the Senate

47
Era of Divided Government 1969-2000

• Division brings with it the problem of gridlock
  
• Tendency to paralyze decision making, with one
  branch advocating one policy the other another
  contradictory policy

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Era of Divided Government 1969-2000

• Scholars have various theories about the causes
  of the new division of power
• One cause might be the declining power of
  political parties in general

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Republican Hold on the Presidency

• From 1969 through 1993, and 2000-2008, the
  Republicans held the presidency except during
• Carter presidency 1977-1981
• Clinton presidency 1993-2001

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Republican Hold on the Presidency

• Starting in the 1960s, Republicans began to pay
  more attention to the power of electronic media
  to the importance of paid professional consultants

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Republican Hold on the Presidency

• Evolved into a well-financed, efficient
  organization
• Depended heavily on professionals to help locate
  promote the best candidate for office

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Republican Hold on the Presidency

• Some experts believe that these changes were
  largely responsible for Richard Nixons victory
  in 1968
• Nixon was carefully coached his campaign was
  carefully managed to take advantage of electronic
  media

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Republican Hold on the Presidency

• Campaign made extensive use of public opinion
  polls to determine strategy
• New emphasis also influenced partys choice of
  candidates in 1980 1984
• Former TV film actor Ronald Reagan was master
  of the media

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Republican Hold on the Presidency

• Party also took advantage of new technology
  generated computerized mailings to raise large
  sums of money for campaigns
• By the mid-1980s, Republicans were raising much
  more money than the Democrats were

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Republican Hold on the Presidency

• During the same period, Democrats were changing
  in many opposite ways than the Republicans

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Republican Hold on the Presidency

• Democrats became more concerned with grass roots,
  or common man representation

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Republican Hold on the Presidency

• Democrats were reacting at least partly to the
  break-up of the old Roosevelt Coalition, but also
  to the disastrous 1968 convention in Chicago that
  showed the party as highly factionalized
  lacking leadership

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Republican Hold on the Presidency

• As a result, they gained a reputation as being
• disorganized
• disunited

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Republican Hold on the Presidency

• In 1969, the Democratic party appointed a special
  McGovern-Fraser Commission to review the partys
  structure delegate selection procedures

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Republican Hold on the Presidency

• Commission determined that minorities, women,
  youth, and the poor were not adequately
  represented at the party convention

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Republican Hold on the Presidency

• Party adopted guidelines that increased the
  representation participation of these groups

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Republican Hold on the Presidency

• Number of super-delegates (governors, members
  Congress other party leaders) was reduced
  substantially

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Republican Hold on the Presidency

• 1972 convention selected as their candidate
  George McGovern
• Liberal who lost a landslide to Republican
  Richard Nixon

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Republican Hold on the Presidency

• Although Democrat Jimmy Carter won the presidency
  in 1976, he was defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980
• Republican Party held the presidency since, with
  the exception of the Clinton presidency
  (1992-2000)

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Republican Hold on the Presidency

• During the Reagan presidency, the Democrats began
  to adopt some of the Republican strategies
• Computerized mailing lists
• Opinion polls
• Paid consultants

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Republican Hold on the Presidency

• Using newly adopted Republican party strategies,
  the Democratic party managed to get their
  candidate, Bill Clinton to the White House in
  1993, a position that he held for two terms