American GovernmentUnit 6: Elections, Political Parties, and Special Interest

Groups

Mr. Chortanoff

Overview and Insights

Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

3 ConceptsPOLITICAL SYSTEMS and POLITICAL PARTIES

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS ELECTIONS

1. What is the political spectrum?

1. What functions do special interest groups serve in our democracy?

1. How are elections conducted in America?

2. What major functions do political parties serve in our government?

2. What are the major criticisms of special interest groups?

2. What factors influence voter behavior?

Unit Essential Question: How do political parties and special interest groups influence our American electoral system?

Political Spectrum:A way to determine and understand your political, economic, and social beliefs.

1. Economic Scale goes Left (communist) to Right (free market)

2. Social Scale goes Bottom (weak/no gov’t) to Top (strong gov’t/dictatorship)

http://www.politicalcompass.org/test

Use this hyperlink to

connect to an online version.

Political Parties are groups who seek to control government

• Govern• Want to win elections and

hold office• Inform and activate

supporters (get involved)• Represent people’s will• Power brokers (resolve

conflicts in gov’t/people)• Nominate candidates• Watchdogs of the other

party for abuses/mistakes

Two-Political Party System• Origin: Federalists v. Anti-

Federalists fight over Constitution in the 1780s.

• Not in Constitution• Tradition• Both Parties tend to be

moderate, but have extremists factions on the “edge”

• Electoral system– Winner take all in Single

Member Districts…not seated by percentage of votes received (like in a parliamentary gov’t)

Other Forms: Multiparty and Single Party

• Multi-party System

– Parties are based on single issues or interest

• Economic class, religious beliefs, political ideology)

– Have several major and many minor parties exist

• More diversified representation of the electorate

• Compete

• compromise / form coalitions or temporary alliances

– Tend to be unstable (“Gov’t falls due to a ‘vote of no confidence’ in Parliament for a PM and his cabinet”)

• Single Party

– Communist or Fascist Dictatorship

American Parties: Four Major Eras

Three Historical Eras of Party Influence

1. The Era of the Democrats, 1800—1860

– Democrats dominate all but two presidential elections.

– The Whig Party emerges in 1834, but declines by the 1850s, electing only two Presidents.

– The Republican Party is founded in 1854.

2. The Era of the Republicans, 1860—1932

– Republicans dominate all but four presidential elections.

– The Civil War disables the Democratic Party for the remainder of the 1800s.

3. The Return of the Democrats, 1932—1968

– Democrats dominate all but two presidential elections.

– Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected President four times.

4. 1968 to PresentThe Start of a New Era: The Era of Divided Government

Since 1968, neither Republicans nor Democrats have dominated the presidency and Congress has often been controlled by the opposing party.

1968–1976 Republicans hold the presidency Congress is controlled by Democrats

1976–1980 Democrats hold the presidencyCongress is controlled by Democrats

1980–1992 Republicans hold the presidency Senate controlled by Republicans 1980-1986, controlled by Democrats from 1986 to 1994

1992 – 2000 Democrats hold the presidency Congress controlled by Republicans, 1994 to present

2000 Republicans hold the presidencyCongress is controlled by Republicans

2008-?Democrats take presidencyCongress is controlled by Democrats

Minor Parties

• Ideological (socialist, communist)

• Single Issue (Green Party)

• Economic Protest (Greenbacks,

• Populists)• Splinter (Bull-Moose)• Importance

– Innovator: New ideas (raises awareness)

– Spoiler role (takes votes, i.e. Nader in 2000)

– Critic of Major Parties

Special Interest Groups

•Need them?

•Legal?

•Examples?

Special Interest Groups and Political Parties

INTEREST GROUPS

1.Do not nominate candidates for office2.Concentrate only on those issues that most directly affect the interests of their members3.Are private organizations

BOTH

1.Made up of people who unit for a political purpose2.Try to sway public policy with information on issues and topics relevant to them 3.Function at all levels of government4.Concerned with influencing the policies of government5.Interested in the issue of government6.Try to build a positive image of their ideas

POLITICAL PARTIES

1.Nominate candidates for public office2.Concerned with winning elections and controlling government 3.Interested in the candidates for government office4.Concerned with the whole range of public affairs: everything of concern to voters---not just ONE issue5.Accountable to the public

Types of Interest Groups Based on Economic Interests

Business Groups

Labor Unions Agriculture Groups Professional Groups

1. Common goal is to promote business interests

2. Hundreds of

specific groups

1. Organizations of workers who share the same type of job or work in the same industry

2. Call for gov’t policies that will benefit their members

3. Powerful force in American politics, though membership has declined

1. Though few people still live on farms, farmers’ influences on agricultural policies is enormous

2. Several powerful alliances, who sometimes have conflicting goals

1. Serve interests of professional in such areas as medicine, law, and teaching

2. Generally not as large, well-organized, well-financed, or effective as other interest groups

3. Try to bend public policy to help the welfare of the profession and its members

Campaign Funding: $$$$$• Public / Tax Payers• PACs

– “political action committees,” which are the political arms of special interest groups that seek to affect elections and public policy

• Candidates / Families• Donors:

– Wealthy Americans– Average Americans– Online Donations

• Political Party– Fundraisers: Dinners, Speeches, Donations

Elections• All levels:

– Federal– State– Local

• All are run by the states

• All are secret

• Methods: – Ballot / booth– Online– Vote by Mail (absentee)

• History: The number of AA office holders has dramatically increased from 1970 to 2008– EX: Mississippi

• 81 to 892• Other:

– Opinion Polls and Survey – EX: Gallup Polls– Media: TV, Newspapers, Talk

Radio, Magazines, Websites

• Primary vs. General Election• Open Primary vs. Closed

Primary

Voters Behavior• In American history, suffrage has

been extended to more and more people.

– Early 1800s, religious membership, property ownership, and tax payment requirements are dropped

– Post Civil War, 15th Amend’t gives AA men the vote

– Post WWI, 19th Amend’t gives women the right to vote

– Civil Rights Era, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 removed discrimination barriers for AAs

– 23rd Amend’t gave DC the vote

– 24th Amendment removed the poll tax

– 26th Amend’t set the minimum age for voting 18

Voters Both Nonvoters

1. High level of education, income, careers

2. Long-time residents who are active in gov’t

3. Strong sense of party loyalty

4. Live in areas with high voter turnout—and competition

American citizens with the right to vote

1. Often are resident aliens

2. Illness prevents them from voting

3. Out of their voting district on election day

4. Live in rural areas

5. Young6. Often

unskilled workers

7. Don’t think their vote counts