American GovernmentPolitical Parties

Political Parties & the Founders

• Political parties are complicated, important informal institutions of government that are difficult to evaluate in the American context

• A. Many of the Founders were profoundly uncomfortable with the notion of parties• 1. they wanted some type of government by consensus where

parties would play little in any role• 2. summarized by George Washington in his 1796 farewell

address: "Let me warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally."

• B. That general distaste for parties has echoed through American history• 1. many Americans equate parties with back room deals, smoke

filled rooms, corruption, etc.• 2. it is common to hear both Democrats and Republicans wail

against partisanship and to equate following the "party line" with voting against the best interest of the people

• 3. Tocqueville concurred: “Parties are an evil inherent in free governments”

Parties in Perspective: PoliSci

• C. Contrast that with the attitude of most political scientists, who believe that political parties are essential to democracy• 1. E. E. Schattschneider: "political parties created

democracy"• 2. His argument parties form a critical link

between the public and the institutions of government

• 3. Parties serve to educate, mobilize, crystallize, and organize public opinion, and

• 4. to discipline the officials who serve in government

• 5. Without parties, politics becomes chaos and democratic politics becomes impossible

Parties Defined

• A political party is an organization that seeks to attain political power within a government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns.

• Political parties organizations that seek to elect candidates to public office by supplying them with a label by which they are known to the public

• Political parties mechanism through which voter preferences can be translated into coherent public policy

• Notice:• 1. different from interest groups• 2. parties supply the labels; they contest the elections; they

structure the public debate — they aggregate

Characteristics of Political Parties: 1

Let's place American parties in perspective by considering SIX characteristics that distinguish them.

First, there are only two major parties• 1. primarily a function of moderate, unimodal electorate and

single member district electoral structure (also electoral college)

• 2. structure provides incentive for parties to be large, inclusive, and for composite groups to make deals under the party umbrella, before an election• -contrast with PR systems, where deals are made between parties

after an election• -results in coalition governments

• 3. one of the results is that "3rd parties" are small and relatively unimportant in U.S.

Types of Third Parties

Types of 3rd Parties:• -ideological — e.g., Socialists (last longest)• -single issue — e.g., Prohibition (fade with

their single issue)• -economic protest — e.g., Populists (fade as

economy improves)• -factional — Bull Moose, Dixiecrats (usually

single election phenomena)

• Generally, minor parties are subsumed by the two major parties, who adopt their ideas

Characteristics of Political Parties: 2

Second, parties are decentralized organizations

1. For most purposes, parties are organized at the state level

2. National party HQ provides little coordination

3. Principal purpose of national party is to nominate presidential and VP candidates — only every four years

4. Generally speaking GOP is more centrally organized than the Democrats

Characteristics of Political Parties: 3 & 4

Third, leadership is diffused1. power is split between organizational leaders and

public office holders2. incumbent president names national party leaders

Fourth, American parties are less ideological than parties in most other developed countries

1. Parties are more pragmatic than ideological — seek to win elections first and foremost

2. a function of our system — both parties seek to appeal to moderate voters in the middle

3. Less true of party out of powerSmaller parties tend to be more homogenous and hence more ideological parties

Prominent Theories of Party Competition

• One of the most important theories of party competition is the Median Voter Theorem (MVT).

• The theorem was first articulated in Duncan Black's 1948 article, "On the Rationale of Group Decision-making" and popularized by Anthony Downs's 1957 book, An Economic Theory of Democracy.

• Simply put, the MVT suggests that parties will gravitate towards the center of a unimodal electorate, because victory can only be found in the middle (where the median voter is located).

• Parties that locate elsewhere (say, at the extremes) will lose, as voters choose the party closest to them.

Parties Gravitate to the Center

One possible model; here, if parties A and B want to catch the median voters, they should move to the centre. The red and blue areas represent the voters that A and B expect they have already caught.

Characteristics of Political Parties: 5

Fifth, American parties are less responsible than parties in most western democracies

• Responsible parties are parties whose elected officials are disciplined, vote a straight party line, and can collectively be held responsible by the public.

Not True of U.S.:• Party leaders cannot control who runs on their ticket (e.g.,

Duke in La., LaRouche in Ill.)• -rather, candidates are usually chosen in primaries

• Parties offer relatively little support for candidates — campaigns are candidate-centered; they raise $, organize staff, advertise, etc.• -rooted in 1st amendment• -contrast with Great Britain

• Government structure makes responsibility harder• -staggered elections• -possibility of split party control of government• -considerable power in hands of minority (filibuster in Senate)

• Public is not disciplined

Characteristics of Political Parties: 6

Sixth, Americans are not committed to party politics

• 1. Generally, politics is not as passionate as in other places (see Tocqueville: Americans would rather make money)

• 2. Specifically, not as committed to parties• a. social mobility undermines• b. we value independence• c. parties require nothing in exchange for

membership

What Parties Do

What do parties do?• Generally speaking, primary purpose is to

facilitate government• 1. party in power — staffs government, controls

policy• 2. party out of power — loyal opposition, offers an

alternative

• Fulfill this purpose at three levels• 1. party in the electorate• 2. party as organization • 3. party in government

Party in the Electorate

Party in the electorate performs three functions:• 1. provide an identification • 2. socializes the population

• a. educates voters about issues and candidates• b. motivates and mobilizes participants to turn out and vote

• 3. channels the political energies of the population• a. parties help guide and focus a messy, multi-faceted

political process• b. parties help people make sense of politics by

• -serving as an economizing device — vote on the basis of party ID, less need to collect other information (people are “cognitive misers”)

• -serving as a perceptual screen — they screen out some information, lower cognitive dissonance, makes action easier

• In sum, help the people articulate their core interests

Party as Organization

Party as organization helps with the nomination and election of candidates

• 1. recruit potential candidates• 2. serve as a cue giver to the public

• A label to rally around• A signal-giver on important issues of the

day

• 3. provide resources

Party in Government

Party in government performs two basic functions

• 1. Organize governmental machinery when in the majority• a. staff the leadership of Congress• b. fill posts in the executive branch• c. fill vacancies in the judicial branch

• 2. Serves as loyal opposition when in the minority• a. watches the majority to keep it honest• b. provides the public with an alternative ready to

take power

Parties in American History

The history of political progress in the U.S. is largely the history of partisan change

A. The "mainsprings" of political development are realignments

B. Loosely defined as events that result in the emergence of a new majority party, or in the reshuffling of coalitions with-in parties to change the nature of the majority party

C. There have been five in American historyD. Each has been associated with major

changes in policy

Realignments: What & Why

Party realignments • 1. Definition: sharp, lasting shift in the popular coalition

supporting one or both parties • 2. Occurrences: change in issues that distinguish the parties,

so supporting voters change• Often characterized by a “critical election” where majority

party looses a substantial number of seats and control of government

Types:• 1. Major party disappears and new party emerges (1800,1860) • 2. Voters shift from one party to another (1896, 1932)

Why?• Generational?• Exogenous Shocks?

First Party System: Realignment of 1800

A. Thomas Jefferson elected presidentB. Jeffersonian Democrats replace the Federalists as

the majority partyC. Policy change from preference for a strong national

government, centralized power, and government policies designed to benefit business to ...

D. Policies predicated on a rural country, small farmers, less government, more equality

E. Federalists retreated to Supreme Court• Ceased being a viable electoral party altogether

F. This "party system" ends in early 1820s with virtual one party rule --- the "era of good feelings"

Second Party System:Realignment of 1828

A. this major realignment of parties coalesces around Andrew Jackson --- general, war hero, populist

B. followers of Jackson become Democrats; majority partyC. his opponents = Whigs (heirs of the old Federalists) - minorityD. Jackson draws the majority of his support from the South and

West• 1. populist in spirit -- mass participation• 2. believes in limited government, led by president• 3. battles Congress and Court

E. Whigs believe in more active government centered around Congress• 1. leaders included Henry Clay and Daniel Webster

F. This party system breaks down over slavery issue• 1. issue is a valence issue = cuts across party lines• 2. northern and southern branches of both parties develop over

extension of slavery into the territories

Third Party System:Realingment of 1860

A. A new party emerges out of the slavery issue = RepublicansB. GOP becomes the dominant party for 60 years; Democrats are

the minorityC. GOP is the party of the Union and of abolition

• 1. they are also the party of business, national expansion• 2. draw most support from northeast/midwest (tariff) and west

(land policies); some support in South from freed slavesD. Democrats are the minority party

• 1. base of power in South• 2. northern Democrats were more progressive

• -opposed to high tariffs• -favored womens suffrage, income tax, free silver

• 3. only presidential victories between 1860 and 1932 =• -Grover Cleveland (1885-1889, 1893-1897), and• -Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)• -occured during splits in GOP

E. From 1860 until 1896, Democrats and GOP roughly even

Fourth Party System:Realignment of 1896

A. Solidified Republican majority, but also contributed to splits within the party

B. Democrats move to the left, following the populist policies of William Jennings Bryant, a charismatic, fundamentalist, populist

C. Alienates many Democrats in the north and eastD. GOP becomes much larger, but also less

homogenous• 1. regulars (Old Guard) vs. mugwumps (Progressives)• 2. split in party in 1912 gives election to Wilson

E. Experience of 1912 loss, resolidifies party (TR passes from the scene) and during 1920s, GOP becomes strongly associated with conservative, pro-business policies

Fifth Party System:Realignment of 1932

A. Brought on by the Great DepressionB. GOP President Herbert Hoover very

unpopular• 1. conservative• 2. considered aloof• 3. believes in riding out the storm

C. Democrats rally around FDR• 1. promises at first to do something --

compassionate• 2. later adopts a liberal, activist agenda

D. Democrats sweep into power nationally in 1932 elections, filters down to state elections over next several decades

Fifth Party System Continued

E. Powerful majority coalition consisting of• 1. labor• 2. southern whites• 3. northern blacks• 4. ethnic groups (Catholic, Jews)

F. Led to development of social welfare state in U.S.• 1. Social Security, welfare, unemployment• 2. federal government becomes responsible for

economy in Employment Act of 1946

Coalition Crackup

Question --- is New Deal realignment still operative

A. Coalition undermined by defection of Solid South over racial matters• beginning in 1948, white southerners began to vote for

Republicans (or Independents) at presidential level

B. Labor and many northern poor have defected to GOP on occasion over economic and crime issues• -RMN, Reagan Democrats

C. Some Catholics have defected over abortionD. Obviously, coalition is not as strong as it once was

Realignment w/o Critical Election?

• Initially Republicans were unable to capitalize on the New Deal crackup• GOP victories largely personal -- RMN, RR• Democrats were the institutional party in Congress (except

for Senate 1980-1986; House post-1994)• Democrats controlled majority of state legislatures (30 both

houses, 14 one house) and governors' mansions (28) as of 1988.

• However, the Republicans have since gained control of both Houses as well as a majority of state governors & legislatures (although still fairly evenly split).

• This occurred over a long period: 1980 - 1994

Sixth Party System?

• Was there a realigning “critical” election in 1980? 1994?

• Are we currently within the midst of a Republican-dominated 6th party system?

• Or, have realignments ended?• 1. are we now in an era of dealignment --- less commitment

to parties, less discipline, more split ticket voting• 2. fates of different offices have been decoupled

• Note, if so: • makes responsible party government harder• weakens the "mainspring" of policy change is it possible to

have major changes without realignment?