GOVT 2301

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GOVT 2301

• Political Parties

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This week we come to terms with political
parties, their design, evolution and impact on
government.
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Last week we discussed elections, how they are
designed in the American governing system and the
various purposes they serve.
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We mentioned that elections are mentioned in the
U.S. Constitution and play a role in establishing
the relationship between each governing
institution and the people.
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We also mentioned that the Constitution says
nothing about political parties. Nevertheless
they have evolved into dominant features of
government.
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They exist because they are very good at winning
elections.Independent candidates rarely win
elections on the national and state levels.
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Political parties are perhaps the dominant
feature of the American political system.
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Blog TagsParties.Parties in Congress.Parties
in the Texas Legislature.Partisanship.Party
Activist.Party Base.Party Bosses.
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Blog TagsParty Coalitions.Party
Cohesion.Party Eras.Party Identification.Party
Leaders.Party Line Voting.Party Machines.Party
Polarization.
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A Definition of Political Party A group of
individuals organized around shared political
principles with the intent of winning elections
to governmental office and organizing governing
institutions once in power.
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Parties are similar to interest groups, but the
key distinction between them is that a political
party is organized to compete in and win
elections.
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The principle value of a political party is in
organizing and mobilizing like minded individuals
to impact policy
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This involves, as we will see below, a great deal
of internal compromise. Interest groups can hone
in on one issue and not compromise. Parties
always have to compromise on something.
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Due to the winner take all system, parties are
collections of factions that sometimes come into
fierce competition with each other to define what
the party stands for.
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Currently there are two dominant broad based
political parties in the United States and
TexasThe Democratic PartyThe Republican Party
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As we will see, its difficult often to determine
exactly what the terms refer to. Due to their
decentralized nature, parties can sometimes shift
their positions on issues.
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Parties are sometimes referred to in three
different waysParties as OrganizationsParties
in CongressParties in the Electorate
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Parties as Organizations Political parties have
complex organizational structures across each
level of government and among different actors.
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Parties in Congress Political parties are the
dominant organizational element in the U.S.
Congress and determine what these institutions in
fact do.
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Parties in the Electorate Political parties
provide information and voting cues to those that
identify with them.
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Ill use this three part breakdown to organize
this discussion
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Parties as Organizations
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While the U.S. has a two party system, many other
parties exist, at least on paper.Click here for
a list and description of many of them.
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None are competitive on an ongoing basis, though
on occasion a third party may earn enough
popularity to influence a specific
election.Heres a list
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1848 The Free Soil Party1856 Know Nothing
Party1860 Constitutional Union and Southern
Democrat1892 Populist1912 Progressive1924
Progressive1948 States Rights1968
American Independent1980 Independent (John
Anderson)1992 Independent (Ross Perot)1996
Reform Party2000 Green Party
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As we know from the previous lecture, the logic
introduced into the electoral process due to the
winner take all system makes third parties
uncompetitive in the long term.
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As we know from studying elections, the American
electoral systems winner take all rules tend to
support the development of two large parties and
discourages support for minor parties
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Recall that incentives exist against voting for
minor parties.
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A vote for a preferred minor party candidate can
take a vote away from a good enough major
party candidate.People are often encouraged to
not throw their votes away on a minor party or
uncompetitive candidates.
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Recent examples of third party candidatesRoss
Perot Reform PartyRalph Nader Green Party
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Republicans believe Perot pulled votes from
George HW Bush in 1992 and Democrats believed
Nader did the same to Gore in 2000.Neither
party or candidates did well the following
election.
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Recall this general rule from the previous
section Winner Take All ElectionsThe Two
Party System
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And thisProportional RepresentationMultipart
y Systems
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An Example Israel Knesset Its website shows
the list of people each party offers the
electorate and also the breakdown between votes
and seats in the legislature.
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People tend to cluster their votes around two top
competitors, and have so practically since the
first election in American history.A review of
American elections, especially presidential
results, demonstrates this point.
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For proof, looks through the election results on
the following website. Open up the elections on
the left hand column and notice the top vote
getters. Its a great tour through American
history.
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You will be able to see the two elections where
each of the current two dominant parties first
competed.
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For the Democrats it was the election of 1828,
when Andrew Jackson was elected due to the
support of the recently enfranchised non-property
owners.He was the first person elected
President that was not from a state that was one
of the original colonies.
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For Republicans it was the election of 1856, when
John Fremont ran against the expansion of slavery.
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Since then these two political parties have
dominated politics in the U.S.
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In the intervening 150 years, each party has
developed large sophisticated (if sometimes
unpredictable and unmanageable) organizations
that reach down to each precinct in the nation,
and include county and state organizations as
well.
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This guarantees them placement on the ballot in
almost all races (so long as they are partisan
some local races do not include party
affiliation). Minor parties often have to collect
large numbers of signatures to get on the ballot.
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A word or two on precincts These were briefly
covered in the previous section. They are the
lowest level of governing in the nation and
serve only to provide a place for people to vote
and for votes to be counted and sent up to the
county for further counting.
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Precincts tend to be run by precinct judges and
chairmen, which are generally elected by the
local Democratic or Republican Party, depending
on which partys candidates won the precinct
majority in the previous election.
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A guiding principle of political organization is
that a party organization ought to exist wherever
elections are held.
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Heres the point Over the previous 150 years,
the two parties have effectively controlled the
electoral process across the nation down to the
precinct level. This gives them a large degree
of autonomy.
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Some related readings - A Ten Minute Lesson.-
Is the Precinct Committeeman the most powerful
office in the nation?- The Precinct Projects
Blog.- Brazoria County Precinct Maps.
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Each party is built up from the precinct level.
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State and County Links Texas Democratic
PartyBrazoria County Democratic PartyTexas
Handbook Online Democratic PartyTexas
Republican PartyBrazoria County Democratic
Party Texas Handbook Online Republican Party
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The following links take you to the national
committees of each party.
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The Democratic PartyOfficial website of the
Democratic National Committee.Wikipedia entry.
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The Republican PartyOfficial website of the
Republican National Committee.Wikipedia entry.
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In addition to these organizations are a variety
of informal clubs that allow party identifiers
the opportunity to influence party matters.
Example The Harris County Democratic Party
lists several dozen Democratic clubs in the
county.
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This decentralization can lead to confusion over
just exactly what a party stands for.
Differences exist between different groups that
identify with each party. Regional differences
exist as well.
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Despite tension on certain issues, some
consistency exists on the positions taken in each
party. Here are brief descriptions of each.
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The Democratic Party tends to be more liberal to
moderate in its political positions. It supports
egalitarian principles, minority rights, labor
unions, the public sector, and is socially
liberal.
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The Republican Party tends to be more
conservative to moderate. It seeks to minimize
governmental involvement in the private sector,
is pro-business, and supports socially
conservative positions.
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Up until the late 1970s, the Democratic Party
dominated politics in Texas. The Republican Party
has largely dominated since then. This occurred
because conservatives shifted from the Democratic
to the Republican Parties.
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Party positions can vary depending on region and
state.The Massachusetts Republican Party is
generally more liberal than the Texas Democratic
Party.
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Internal disputes exist within each party due to
the fact that each party is composed of a number
of factions which do not necessary share the same
opinions on all policy matters.
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For example, as members of the Tea Party have
become more influential in the Republican Party
the positions the party has taken have become
more conservative than normal.
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To add to the confusion, there is a permanent
party organization and a temporary party
organization.
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A temporary party organization exists during
election season which includes the delegates
elected to vote in county, state and national
conventions.
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Since each state has its own party apparatus,
and is somewhat autonomous, do we have a two
party system or a 100 party system?
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Who is in charge of each party?Is there a clear
leadership for each party?
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For the party that controls the White House it is
the President.For the party that does not,
this is not clear.
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Who controls the Republican Party?The head of
the RNC?John Boehner?Mitch McConnell?Rush
Limbaugh?The Tea Party Caucus?
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Who determines what parties stand for?Office
holdersCandidatesParty Activists
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It is generally assumed that a partys positions
are articulated on their platforms.
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The Party PlatformWritten by activists to be
ignored by candidates.
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Activists may simply be motivated by issues,
candidates need to win elections. What if an
issue on the platform makes a candidate less
competitive?
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Party Coalitions
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As we know, electoral rules discourage the
competitiveness of minor parties. They also
force voter to compromise.
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The candidate of either party may not be the
preferred candidate for an individual, but they
compromise in order to get someone good enough.
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As a result, the major parties are coalitions of
likeminded factions
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Member of factions have a tendency to support one
party more than the other, but support is not
absolute
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Democratic FactionsSocial LiberalsUnion
Members Ethnic MinoritiesJews and
CatholicsEnvironmentalists
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From Politics1.com . . . prominent Democrats
run the wide gamut from the near Euro-style
democratic-socialist left (Barbara Lee, Dennis
Kucinich and the Congressional Progressive
Caucus) and traditional liberals (Barack Obama,
Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi) to the Dem
center-right (Harry Reid, Heath Shuler and the
NDN) to the GOP-style conservative right (Ben
Nelson and the Blue Dog Coalition) to the
pragmatic Democratic Leadership Council's
"centrist" moderate-to-liberal style (Mark
Warner, Harold Ford Jr, Rahm Emanuel).
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Republican FactionsSocial ConservativeBusiness
Owners and ManagersAnglo Protestants and
EvangelicalsThe Military
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From Politics1.com Republicans can generally be
classified into several different sub-sets
traditional conservatives (John Boehner, Mitt
Romney, Eric Cantor, Tim Pawlenty, Paul Ryan, and
the Club for Growth), the Religious Right (Mike
Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Mike Pence, and the Family
Research Council), the rapidly dwindling old
Nixon/Rockefeller "centrist" or "moderate" wing
(Scott Brown, Olympia Snowe, and the Republican
Main Street Partnership), libertarians (Ron Paul,
Campaign for Liberty and the Republican Liberty
Caucus), and a "paleo-conservative" wing that
backs strict anti-immigration controls (Tom
Tancredo and Pat Buchanan). The influential "Tea
Party" movement -- split between several groups
who each claim the name (Tea Party Patriots, Tea
Party Express, Tea Party Nation, etc.) -- emerged
in 2009 and seem to straddle somewhere between
the libertarian and paleo-conservative wings of
the GOP.
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Democratic Factions have led the party to take
positions that are moderate to liberal.Tendency
towards egalitarianismSupport for policies not
universal among identifiers
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Democratic positionspro-choicepro-same
sexpoverty programsenvironmental
programsunilateralistpro-minimum
wagepro-collective bargaining
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But there are pro-life Democrats
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Current issueHealth Care Reformsingle
payerpublic optionlimits on market place
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Collective Bargaining
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Republican Factions have led the party to take
positions that are moderate to conservative.Tend
ency towards minimizing government but not the
military or Medicare.Support for policies not
universal among identifiers
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Pro-lifetraditionalismresistant to poverty
programssuspicious of environmentalismunilateral
istno government involvement in wage and worker
issues
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There are pro-same sex marriage and pro-choice
Republicans
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The strength of either political party depends on
whether they can hold their coalition together
and which can attract the support of independents
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Parties in the Government
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Parties dominate legislative institutions at the
national and state level, and strongly influence
executive and judicial institutions as well.
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Specific tasksRecruit candidatesManage
campaignsRaise fundsDevelop legislative
agendasSteer these through legislaturesPromote
them to the public
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Parties have grown to dominate Congress. All
decisions made in Congress are first made in
meetings of the membership of each party. The
majority party is generally in a position to
determine what happens in the institution.
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The organization are called caucuses and each
party has them in the house and in the Senate.
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Here links to each The House Democratic
CaucusThe House Republican ConferenceThe
Senate Democratic CaucusThe Senate Republican
Conference
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The current power of parties in Congress was not
predicted when the Constitution was written.
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Parties were not mentioned in the Constitution
and did not exist, as we understand them, until
at least the 1830s.
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A Party System had developed in Britain after the
Glorious Revolution and had featured the landed
Gentry (the Whigs) against the Court (the
Tories).
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Party divisions had also existed in colonial
AmericaPro-BritishPro-Independence
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The fight over the ratification of the
Constitution was also a party dispute.Nationali
sts - FederalistsStatists Anti-Federalists
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But concerns were expressed over the existence
of parties.Recall the concerns expressed about
factions in Federalist 10.
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Washington counseled against them. In his
Farewell Address he tried to disuade people from
supporting and joining them.
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I have already intimated to you the danger of
parties in the State, with particular reference
to the founding of them on geographical
discriminations. Let me now take a more
comprehensive view, and warn you in the most
solemn manner against the baneful effects of the
spirit of party generally. This spirit,
unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature,
having its root in the strongest passions of the
human mind. It exists under different shapes in
all governments, more or less stifled,
controlled, or repressed but, in those of the
popular form, it is seen in its greatest
rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.
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The alternate domination of one faction over
another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge,
natural to party dissension, which in different
ages and countries has perpetrated the most
horrid enormities, is itself a frightful
despotism. But this leads at length to a more
formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and
miseries which result gradually incline the minds
of men to seek security and repose in the
absolute power of an individual and sooner or
later the chief of some prevailing faction, more
able or more fortunate than his competitors,
turns this disposition to the purposes of his own
elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.
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Without looking forward to an extremity of this
kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely
out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs
of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it
the interest and duty of a wise people to
discourage and restrain it. It serves always to
distract the public councils and enfeeble the
public administration. It agitates the community
with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms,
kindles the animosity of one part against
another, foments occasionally riot and
insurrection.
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His key point Political parties add additional,
unnecessary contention in society. They interfere
with the proper workings of government.
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But parties proved to be an effective way to
organize Congress and to enable groups within
Congress to establish and pass a legislative
agenda.
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Political parties help solve collective action
problems by taking what would otherwise normally
be a disorganized group and providing structure
to it.
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Without a party organization, it is unlikely that
a cohesive legislative agenda could not be
developed and passed.
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Parties can propose a legislative agenda and
implement it, which gives voters something to
vote for or against.
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Proponents of parties argue that there is no
democracy without political parties.Parties,
not government, were responsible for the
expansion of political particilation.
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Political parties that offer distinct platforms
that they then commit to implement offer clarity
to the voter. One has a better chance to
determine what they are voting for and what they
are voting against.
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Some also argue that parties are necessary in
order to overcome the limitations on government
established by the checks and balances.
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Recall that the checks and balances allow each
institution the opportunity to negate the actions
of the other two.
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This is far less likely to occur if the
individuals that control each institution are
committed to the same set of principles. Party
membership helps guarantee this.
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While Washington and other may have opposed
parties, they proved useful and soon became
features of the American political system.
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Ironically, parties actually developed in
Washingtons Administration. Conflict erupted
over the future direction of the country between
two key members of his administration.Alexander
Hamilton The FederalistsThomas Jefferson The
Democrat Republicans
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Alexander Hamilton, his Treasury Secretary,
promoted the development of a commercial republic.
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Thomas Jefferson, his Secretary of State, wanted
to retain an agrarian society.
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The simple question they asked, should America
have a commercial or agrarian future, was
presented to the public in the form of a set of
policies presented by the Federalist Party and a
set presented by the Democrat-Republicans?
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FederalistsPay off debtsNational bankInternal
improvementsTariffsLoose Reading of
Constitution to allow for additional national
power
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Democrat-RepublicansRather than debts, they
wanted to focus on the immediate economic needs
of farmers. Tariffs hurt their competitiveness.
They wanted economic decisions made at the state
and local level.
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The Federalists argued that the future of the
country would be best served by having a dynamic
economic system based in metropolitan areas.
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The Democrat Republicans believed there was
virtue on the farm. People were more likely to be
self sufficient on the farm. Cities were nests of
dependency.
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But a curious thing happened on the way to a two
party system.Oppositions parties were made
illegal. This was driven by John Adams concerns
about a rising organized opposition.
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The Alien and Sedition Acts1798 - These were a
deliberate attempt by the Federalists to outlaw
the emerging opposition party.
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What is Sedition? 1. incitement of discontent
or rebellion against a government. 2. any
action, esp. in speech or writing, promoting such
discontent or rebellion.
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Even while opposition parties and movement were
emerging in Britain and the colonies, the idea
that one could criticize those in power was not
generally accepted.
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Free Speech, especially among the general public,
took a while to develop.
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John Adams did not care for the number of people
who criticized him. He argued that seditious
attacks could weaken the government.
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The Sedition ActThe Virginia and Kentucky
Resolutions opposed the acts.
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The Democrat Republicans opposed the acts and
defeated the Federalists in the 1800 election.
The acts were allowed to expire.As a
consequence. the principle of the loyal
opposition emerged.
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Since then American elections have generally
pitted two major parties against each other.
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Over the course of American history the strength
of certain parties has come and gone.The term
Party Eras, or Party Systems, describes periods
of time when a particular relationship existed
the parties.
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Some analysts claim the United States gone
through six distinct party eras separated by a
critical election where a significant change
occurred. These changes happen in what are
called critical elections, of realigning
elections.
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For more on realignment, watch the following
The Concept of Realignment by Daniel J.
Palazzolo
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There have been at least six elections where a
significant change occurred in voting patterns
180018281860189619321968?
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Has there been a seventh? If so,
when?1980?1994?2004?2008?
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In between the each election, a relatively stable
relationship existed between the two parties
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Occasional minor parties emerge to disrupt the
system, or are themselves products of disruption
in the broader society.
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1848 The Free Soil Party1856 Know Nothing
Party1860 Constitutional Union and Southern
Democrat1892 Populist1912 Progressive1924
Progressive1948 States Rights1968
American Independent1980 Independent (John
Anderson)1992 Independent (Ross Perot)1996
Reform Party2000 Green Party
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Most recently we have seen the Tea Party, which
actually isnt a party, but a faction within the
Republican Party.
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To get an idea about how electoral patterns have
changed over American history, watch the
following two (not narrated unfortunately).
State-Level Popular Voting in Presidential
Elections, 1840-2008 Counties Won in Popular
Voting, 1840-2008
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The First Party Era1800 - 1828
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The Second Party Era1828 - 1860
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The Third Party Era1860 - 1896
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The Fourth Party Era1896 - 1932
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The Fifth Party Era1932 - 1968
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The Sixth Party Era1968 - ?
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Party Identification
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Recent Party Data Groups that voted for Obama
or McCain.Election Trends by Group.
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Click here for related story
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Do parties matter anymore?
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