Chapter 5:1: Political Parties

• Act_23:7 And when he had so

said, there arose a dissension

between the Pharisees and the

Sadducees: and the multitude

was divided.

Chapter 5:1: What Political Parties Do

o We will Identify a political party.

o We will describe the major

functions of political parties

o We will identify the reasons why

the U.S. has a two-party system.

What Is A Political Party?

o A political party is a group of

persons who seek to control the

government through the winning of

elections and holding of public

office.

What Is A Political Party?

o Another definition is a group of persons joined together on the basis of certain common principles, who seek to control government in order to secure adoption of certain public policy programs.

o In America, the two major political parties are not issue or philosophy based but election-oriented.

Make up of a political party?

1) The party organization, the element

of the party includes its leaders,

o Its other activists,

o and its many hanger-ons,

o And all those who give their time,

money, and skills to the party.

Make up of a political party:

(2) Party in Organization:

o This component includes the party’s candidates and officeholders, those thousands of persons who run for or hold elective or appointive offices in both the Federal and Local government.

Make up of a political party:

(3) The Party in Electorate:

o These are millions of people who

call themselves Democrats or

Republicans, who support the party

and its candidates through thick

and thin.

o They are the voters.

What Parties Do:

o They serve a link to the people and

the government where it is the

principal means by which the will of

the people is made known to

government and by which

government is held accountable to

the people.

What Parties Do:

o Parties serve the democratic ideal in

another significant way.

o They encourage compromise to help

unify rather than divide the American

people.

o They soften the stance of extremists

at both sides of the political spectrum,

the range of political views.

Nominating Candidates:

o The major function of a political party is to nominate a name, candidate for public office.

o That is, parties select candidates and present them to the voters.

o The nominating function is almost exclusively a party function in the U.S. and clearly sets political parties apart from all other groups.

Informing and Activating Supporters:

o Parties inform the people and

inspire and activate their interest

and their participation in public

affairs.

o Other groups also perform this

function, in particular, the news

media and interest groups.

Informing and Activating Supporters:

o Parties inspire and inform voters by campaigning for candidates, taking stands on current issues, and criticizing opposing candidates and the positions they adopt.

o They utilize media to their advantage and their purpose is to win the election.

Governing:

o Government in the U.S. is government by party.

o Public officeholders those, who govern are regularly chosen on the basis of party.

o Congress and the state legislatures are organized on party lines, and they conduct much of their business on the basis of partisanship, the strong support of their party and its policy stands.

Governing:

o Most appointments to executive offices at both the federal and state levels are made with an eye to party.

o America by tradition has always been a two party government ever since with the debates of the ratification of the Constitution between the Federalists and Democrat/Republicans.

o Although Washington and others were against political parties, and the Constitution was silent, it naturally developed.

The Electoral System:

o The electoral system itself helps a two

party system.

o The prevalence of single-member

districts is one of the most important

features.

o Nearly all elections held in this country,

from the presidential to local levels are

single member district elections.

The Electoral System:

o That is, they are contests in which only one candidate is elected to each office on the ballot.

o They are winner-take-all elections.

o The winning candidate is the one who receives a plurality or the largest number of votes cast for the office.

The Electoral System:

o The single-member district patterns works to discourage minor parties because only one winner can come out of each contest.

o Voters usually face only two viable choices: they can vote for the candidate of the party holding the office,

o Or they can vote for the candidate for the party with the best chance of replacing the current office holder.

The Electoral System:

o Another important aspect of the

electoral system works to the same

end.

o Much of American election law is

purposely written to discourage non-

major party candidates.

The Electoral System:

o The GOP and the Democrats regularly act in a bipartisan way in this matter.

o That is the two major parties find common ground here.

o They work together to shape election laws in such a way that minor party or independent candidates have a much harder time winning elective office.

The Electoral System:

o In modern party politics, Democrats

tend to favor government social

programs to help the poor, to have

greater involvement of the

government in the economy and

more regulations and law.

o They favor labor and advocate more

for minority rights.

The Electoral System:

o Republicans tend to favor less

government regulation, and lower

taxes.

o They want a robust economy that

favors companies and

corporations and also a strong

military.

• Gather in groups of four, and make a list of

five things you would like to see a political

party do in behalf of you as a young person.