Its a party !!Political Parties

Chapter 5

What do you know about political parties?

• What are the two major political parties in the US?

• What are political parties and what do they do?

• Do other countries have political parties?

• Political Party = a group of persons, usually joined by common principles who attempt to control or influence public policy by winning elections and holding public office

What do political parties do?What is their function?

• Informing and Activating Voters– giving voters a coherent public expression on public

policy issues.– generating a community of like-minded people from a

diverse community.– defining the public issues, creating a “public agenda”

• Providing candidates– recruiting people to run for office– formally nominating them to the ballot– conducting election campaigns– providing info to voters about candidates and policy

What do political parties do?What is their function?

• Acting as a link between government and public.• Governing

– provide a means of organizing government– formulate legislative programsformulate legislative programs– provide a system for legislators to advance their goalsprovide a system for legislators to advance their goals– provide members with “belonging & solidarity”provide members with “belonging & solidarity”– provide practical assistance to legislators– control the executive branch through the election of

president and his appointment of staff

partisanshippartisanship: strong support of party and its “platform” (stand on issues)

Types of Political Parties

• “membership” parties– tightly organized– members may carry membership cards– ideological– possibly single-issue– may provide other social benefits

• broad-based parties– loosely organized– representing basic political ideas to which highly diverse

elements of society may be attracted

Communist Party

Democratic and Republican Parties

Party Systems

• 1-Party– Communist Party– not a democratic system

• Multi-party or Parliamentary – strongly ideological– party “discipline” necessary for governance– Usually proportional representation

• 2 –Party or “Shared Powers”– strong, broad-based but loosely organized– party “discipline” not needed for governance– Usually (in the US) single-member districts

requiring a plurality of votes for election

Why do we have a 2 party system?

• tradition Federalists vs. Anti-federalists

• electoral system

• ballot access restrictions

• ideological consensus surrounding basic ideals of government

Minor Parties

• A variety through history– ideological parties

– Libertarian– Socialist/Communist

– single-issue parties– Free Soil Party (anti-slavery) 1840s-1850s– “Know-Nothings” nativists 1840s-1850s– Prohibition Party– Right to Life Party

– economic protest parties• Greenback Party• Populists

– splinter Parties• “Bull Moose” Progressives• States’ Rights (Dixiecrats)• American Independent Party (Wallace 1968)

Today

• Green Party• Libertarians• Constitution Party• America First• Americans Elect• Democratic Socialists of America• in California

– Natural Law Party– Peace and Freedom

2004

3rd parties vied in 765 of the 5,795 state legislative elections.

8 won.

Tea Party

• Research your assigned party– What is their platform?– How is the party structured?– Who are their major candidates?– What successes have they enjoyed?

• Where are they most successful?

– Who is their targeted constituency? • What type of people might vote for them?

• 8x11 mini-poster– informative– visually appealing– carefully constructed/detailed

• Which sports teams have tended to dominate in the last decade?

• Historically, a particular political party has tended to dominate for 10-40 years before a major event brings about a change. What events in US history may have provoked a change?

Read 5.3 p.126-131 “The 2-party System in US History”

Create a timelineLabel it with the 4 eras and the event that

established the era.

1800 2010

Then complete #1-5, page 131.

History of 2 Party SystemHistory of 2 Party System4 major eras4 major eras

• 1800-1860 Era of “Democrats”1800-1860 Era of “Democrats”• ends with Civil Warends with Civil War

• 1860-1932 Era of Republicans1860-1932 Era of Republicans• ends with Great Depressionends with Great Depression

• 1932-1968 Era of Democrats1932-1968 Era of Democrats• ends with Vietnam, social upheaval/”Big Governmentends with Vietnam, social upheaval/”Big Government

• 1968-Present Era of Divided Government1968-Present Era of Divided Government

1800-1860 Era of “Democrats”

• 1800-1825 “Era of Good Feelings” » no organized opposition

• 1829-1837 Jacksonian Democrats • small farmers, debtors, frontiersmen, slaveholders• universal, white, male suffrage• “spoils system”

• Opposition: “Whigs” (National Republican Party)

– bankers, merchants, industrialists, plantation owners

1860-1932 Era of Republicans

• Abraham Lincoln – 1st Republican President

• Generally support the issues of the North– laissez-faire– limited government (rise of Big Business)– gold standard– anti-slavery but not pro-civil rights– unresponsive to labor issues, small farmers

• Democratic Party fractured by the Civil War• Populist Party, Socialists

Thomas Nast

1932-1968 Era of Democrats

• FDR and the New Deal– government can solve problems

• incorporates Progressivism

– “social safety net”– coalition of minorities, the poor, labor, farmers

• African-Americans switched parties

– culminates with LBJ’s “Great Society”

1968-Present: Era of Divided Government

executive branch/legislative branch• Republicans

dominate the executive– Nixon– Ford– Reagan– Bush I– Bush II– Carter– Clinton– Obama

• Democrats have usually controlled Congress– exception: 1996 – 2007

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