Today

1
Todays Agenda

• Any Announcements?
• Any Questions?
• Let's Review our Bellwork....
• Now...
• Lets Begin Todays Lesson..

2
Party Organization

• Our Standards Today
• Standard 1.0 Culture
• 1.2 understand the impact of the political system
  on
• American culture.
• Standard 4.0 Governance and Civics
• 4.1 understand the role of politics and
  government in society.
• Standard 6.0 Individuals Groups Interactions
• 6.5 understand the impact and influence of
  participatory
• citizenship on government at all
  levels.

3
Our objectives today

• Our Performance Indicators Today
• TSW understand why the major parties have a
  decentralized structure. TSW describe the
  national party machinery and how parties are
  organized at the State and local level. TSW
  identify the three components of the parties. TSW
  examine the future of the major parties.
• Our Objectives
• TSW understand that both major parties are highly
  decentralized, fragmented organizations. In
  neither of them is there a chain of command
  running from the national to the State to the
  local level. The President's party usually is
  somewhat more cohesively organized than the party
  out of power.

4
Some Famous Quotes
"There are two subjects, indeed, which I shall
claim a right to further as long as I breathe
the public education, and the sub-division of
counties into wards. I consider the continuance
of republican government as absolutely hanging
on these two hooks." Thomas Jefferson to Joseph
C. Cabell, 1814. ME 1484 What is a Ward? The
tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so
dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy
of a citizen in a democracy. Charles de
Montesquieu The death of democracy is not
likely to be an assassination from ambush. It
will be a slow extinction from apathy,
indifference, and undernourishment. Robert M.
Hutchins Is it ignorance or apathy? Hey, I
don't know and I don't care. Jimmy Buffett
What is Apathy? How would that impact our
government?
5
Democrats at the Local Level
.
Welcome to the Rutherford County Democratic
Party Web Site Contact Us OfficeMurfreesboro 7
45 Church St. Suite 303 Murfreesboro, TN
37130 http//rcdp.org/wordpress
6
Republicans at Local Level
Contact Info Rutherford County Republican
Party 111 East Main St. Murfreesboro, TN
37130 http//www.rutherfordgop.org
7
The Party in the Presidency is Viewed as the one
in Power

• Both major parties main goal is to get their
  presidential candidate elected. They will
  utilize local party offices and each State's main
  office.
• Our State's Democratic Party http//www.tndp.org
• And Republican Party
• http//tngop.org

8
Federalism continues to Influence Politics

• The 10th Amendment of the Bill of Rights gave
  States the power to control elections. Each
  state has a state election commission
  http//www.tn.gov/sos/election
• And each county in a state has their election
  commission
• http//www.rutherfordcountytn.gov/election/
• So federalism caused government to have shared
  powers. Political parties have mirrored that
  structure.

9
Local Party Organization

• Turn to page 140 in our textbook. Look at the
  diagram on Local Party Organization. A State
  organization has congressional districts. A
  district is divided into wards. Wards are then
  divided into precints.

10
An example of Precincts in a primary.

• Lets see how I did in the 2000 GOP State Senate
  primary, by voting location or precinct.
• What is a precinct?

11
Parties Nominate their Candidates

• The 2012 Presidential Primaries
• http//www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2012/primaries.html

12
Each party holds a National Convention

• Here are two videos to show you what each
  convention looked like in 2012.
• What do you think is the main purpose of a
  convention?

13
A Party has Three Components

• The components are
• 1) The Party Organization. The party's leaders,
  activists, workers and contributors.
• 2) The Party Electorate. The party's supporters
  who vote for the party. These voters are referred
  to as straight-ticket voters.
• 3) The Party in Government. The party members
  who are in office. These can be elected or
  appointed positions.

14
What is our Parties' Future?

• Fewer and fewer voters are identifying themselves
  as Democratic or Republican. Why do YOU think
  this is the case?
• More and more voters are calling themselves
  Independent. What do YOU think they mean by
  that? Why you do think they are calling
  themselves that instead of identify with one
  party or the other?
• More and more voters are split-ticket voting.
  What do you think that term means? Why do you
  think more and more voters are voting that way?

15
Could the Independent Party become a real Third
Party?

• Turn to page 142. Check out the graph at the top
  of the page. Look at Interpreting Graphs.
  Read the caption.
• What is the answer to question (a)? Why do you
  think that happened?
• What is the answer to question (b)? Do you think
  that was true in 2012? Why do you think that?

16
Party Organization

• Our Standards Today
• Standard 1.0 Culture
• 1.2 understand the impact of the political system
  on
• American culture.
• Standard 4.0 Governance and Civics
• 4.1 understand the role of politics and
  government in society.
• Standard 6.0 Individuals Groups Interactions
• 6.5 understand the impact and influence of
  participatory
• citizenship on government at all
  levels.

17
Our objectives today

• Our Performance Indicators Today
• TSW understand why the major parties have a
  decentralized structure. TSW describe the
  national party machinery and how parties are
  organized at the State and local level. TSW
  identify the three components of the parties. TSW
  examine the future of the major parties.
• Our Objectives
• TSW understand that both major parties are highly
  decentralized, fragmented organizations. In
  neither of them is there a chain of command
  running from the national to the State to the
  local level. The President's party usually is
  somewhat more cohesively organized than the party
  out of power.

18
Exit Questions

• 1) Why do the major parties have a decentralized
  structure? What do we mean by decentralized.
  What are the benefits of this type of structure?
  
• 2) How are the major parties organized at the
  State and local level?
• 3) What are the three components of the parties.
  What purpose does each component serve? How
• do they help accomplish the goal of winning
  the next election?
• 4) What do you think the future of the major
  parties is? Do you see a third party ever become
  successful? Why or why not?