Tuesday 9/8

RAP

After reading most of Ch. 5:

Which party did you most self-identify with? Why?

Today:

Finish Ch. 5

Review if time permits

Wednesday 9/9

• On next page

• Today:– CE– Primary source

• Political polarization

– Ch. 5 review– Political party creation– Library –Thursday and Friday

Political Parties

Political parties help to ensure that the government is aware of the views of the people.

Definition:

A group of people with broadcommon interests who organizeto win elections, control gov’tand influence government policies.

One-Party System

Usually found in nations with authoritariangovernments.

Multi-Party System

Countries where voters have a wide range of choices.

Two-Party System

Government in which two major parties compete for power.

What is America?

Party Symbol: Republican• During the midterm elections in 1874, Democrats tried to scare

voters into thinking President Ulysses S. Grant would seek to run for an unprecedented third term. Thomas Nast, a cartoonist for Harper's Weekly, depicted a Democratic donkey trying to scare a Republican elephant - and both symbols stuck.

• For a long time, Republicans have been known as the 'G.O.P.' with party faithful believing it meant the 'Grand Old Party.' But apparently the original meaning (in 1875) was 'gallant old party.'

• When automobiles were invented it also came to mean, 'get out and push.' That's still a pretty good slogan for Republicans who depend every campaign year on the hard work of hundreds of thousands of everyday volunteers to get out and vote and push people to support the causes of the Republican Party.

Party Symbol: Democrat

• The donkey first appeared as a symbol for the Democratic Party in the 1830s when the Democrat Andrew Jackson was President.

• The donkey continued in American political commentary as a symbol for the Democratic Party thereafter. Thomas Nast built upon this legacy and used his extraordinary skill to amplify it. For a time, the rooster also served as the symbol of the Democratic Party, but gradually the donkey replaced it in popular usage after the 1880s.

• Nast first used the donkey as a symbol for the Democratic Party in "A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" published January 15, 1870, in Harper's Weekly to comment on Northern Democrats (nicknamed Copperheads) dealings with Edwin M. Stanton, Lincoln's Secretary of War."

Third Party

Any party other than the two major parties. Also referred to as a minor party.

Types of Third Parties

Single-Issue Focuses entirely on one major

social, economic or moral issue.Ex. The Right to Life party

Types of Third Parties

Ideological Party

Focuses on an overall change

in society rather than one issue.

Its views are generally extreme.

Ex. The Communist Party

Types of Third PartiesSplinter Party

Splits away from one of the major parties because of a disagreement.

Ex. The Bull Moose Party of 1912 (The Progressive Party of 1912 was an American political party. It was formed by former President Theodore Roosevelt, after a split in the Republican Party between himself and President William Howard Taft. Roosevelt boasted "I'm fit as a bull moose," after being shot in an assassination attempt prior to his 1912 campaign speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.)

Amazing as it may seem

Most of the important minor parties in our nation's history have been splinter parties.

Third Party Impact

1. Third parties can draw votes away from the major parties.

2. They promote ideas that were at first unpopular or hotly debated. Minor parties take clear cut stands on controversial issues

Third Party Obstacles

1. Getting on the ballot

2. Campaign finance

3. Image

Ross Perot• Ran for president 1992.

• He was a Texas industrialist and ran as an independent.

• He never served as a public official.

• In certain polls, Perot led the three-way race with Republican nominee George H. W. Bush , the incumbent President, and Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas, the Democratic nominee.

• He dropped out in July 1992 amid controversy, but reentered in October, and surpassed the 15% polling threshold to reach his goal of participating in all three presidential debates.

• Despite an aggressive use of campaign infomercials on prime time network television, his polling numbers never fully recovered from his initial exit.

• On Election Day, Perot appeared on every state ballot as a result of the earlier draft efforts.

• He won several counties and finished in third place, receiving close to 19 percent of the popular vote, the most won by a third-party presidential candidate since Theodore Roosevelt in 1912.

Ross Perot 1992

Thursday 9/10RAP: Analyze cartoon

Ralph Nader: Presidential campaign history

• 1972• 1992• 1996• 2000: In the 2000 presidential

election in Florida, George W. Bush defeated Al Gore by 537 votes.

• Nader received 97,421 votes, which led to claims that he was responsible for Gore's defeat.

• "In the year 2000, exit polls reported that 25% of my voters would have voted for Bush, 38% would have voted for Gore and the rest would not have voted at all."

• 2004• Political activist, as well as

an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism environmentalism, and democratic government.

The future for the Reform Party, the Green Party and other "third parties" in the American

system

• One or both of the two major parties is bound to "steal" their issues, incorporate them into their platforms and absorb their supporters into their ranks.

• The declining success of the Reform Party is due in large part to the fact that both the Republicans and Democrats have taken up the core issues championed by Ross Perot in 1992--balancing the budget and reforming the federal government.

• The Reform Party, consequently, no longer holds an obviously unique position on the issues that attracted so many voters in 1992.

• Now let's look at some other national parties. When we are finished I will have you check to see if you can identify different parties.

GOP-“Grand old Party” or “Gallant old party”•American Party (“Know-Nothings”) (1854 - 1858) •Constitutional Union Party (1860) •National Union Party, (1864 - 1868) •Liberal Republican Party (1872) •Greenback Party (1874 - 1884) •Anti-Monopoly Party (1884) •Populist Party (1892 - 1908) •National Democratic Party (1896 - 1900)

New Deal/Fifth Party System (1932–1964)

•American Workers Party (1933 - 1934)

•Workers Party of the United States (1934 - 1938)

•Union Party (1936)

•American Labor Party (1936 - 1956)

•America First Party (1944) (1944 - 1996)

•States' Rights Democratic Party (“Dixiecrats”) (1948)

•Progressive Party 1948 (1948 - 1955)

•Vegetarian Party (1948–1964)

•Constitution Party (United States 50s) (1952-1968 ?)

•Puerto Rican Socialist Party (1959 - 1993)

•Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (1964)

• 

Progressive Era/Fourth Party System (1896–1932)Social Democratic Party (1900 - 1901) •Home Rule Party of Hawaii (created to serve the native Hawaiian agenda in the state legislature and U.S. Congress) (1900 - 1912) •Socialist Party of America (1901 - 1973) •Progressive Party 1912 (“Bull Moose Party”) (1912 - 1914) •Non-Partisan League (Not a party in the technical sense) (1915 - 1956) •Farmer-Labor Party (1918 - 1944) •Progressive Party 1924 (1924) •Communist League of America (1928 - 1934)

Later 20th century•Communist Workers Party (1969 - 1985) People's Party (1971 - 1976) •U.S. Labor Party (1975-1979) •Citizens Party (1979–1984) •New Alliance Party (1979 - 1992) •Populist Party 1990's (1984 - 1994) •Looking Back Party (1984 - 1996) •Grassroots Party (1986-2004) •Independent Party of Utah (1988-1996) •Greens/Green Party USA (1991-2005) •Natural Law Party (1992 - 2004)

In your notes

Choose the proper party designation for the following parties.

• Major party• Single issue• Ideological• Splinter

National Party Name

• Democratic National Committee• major

• Grassroots Party• Splinter (from green)

• Greens/Green Party• ideological

National Party Name

• Libertarian Party• Splinter (from republican)

• American Nazi party• Ideological

• Pot Party• Single Issue

National Party Name

• Prohibition Party• Ideological; began as single issue

• Puritan Party• ideological

• Republican National Committee• major

National Party Name

• Socialist Party USA• ideological

• Young Socialists• Splinter/ideological

• Progressive Labor Party • Single issue

Political Party functionsWhat they do

1. Recruiting candidates

2. Educating the public

3. - publish platform (what the party stands for)

1. Planks –individual ideas

4. Operating the Government patronage (those people that support the government)

5. Government “watchdog”

Party Identification

How to start a political party

• The rules differ depending on where you live, but in general all you have to do to start a political party is 1. gather enough signatures.2. Once you've got your signatures, you just

have to number the pages, 3. have a witness sign the bottom of each one,4. and then bind the whole package "by any

means which will hold the pages together in numerical order."

5. Send the thing to the State Board of Elections, and voilà!

6. Of course, you'll need a name for your party.

7. You'll also need a logo or emblem.– If you send in your petition without a party name and

logo, the board may pick them on your behalf.

• Let’s look through a list of US Political parties

Political parties in the USA

• Here is some of the political parties we have in the US today.

• http://www.politics1.com/parties.htm

Creating your own political party

1. gather enough signatures. (30)2. Once you've got your signatures, you just

have to number the pages, 3. have a witness sign the bottom of each

one,4. and then bind the whole package "by any

means which will hold the pages together in numerical order."

5. Send the thing to the State Board of Elections, and voilà!

6. Of course, you'll need a name for your party.

7. You'll also need a logo or emblem.– If you send in your petition without a party name and

logo, the board may pick them on your behalf.

Now begin to…1. Recruiting candidates

2. Educating the public on your platform1. - publish platform (what the party stands for)

1. Planks –individual ideas

3. Operating the Government patronage (those people that support the government)

4. Government “watchdog”