Political Parties

Overriding Questions

How has the decline of political parties influenced elections and campaigning?

How do political parties positively influence campaigns and elections and how do they negatively influence campaigns and elections?

How have campaigns and elections changed over time? How have they stayed the same?

How has money influenced elections and campaigns in a positive and negative manner?

What is a Party?•A political party is a group of people

who seek to control government by winning elections and holding office.•The two major parties in American

politics are the Republican and Democratic parties.

•Parties can be principle-oriented, issue-oriented, or election-oriented. The

American parties are election-oriented.

Questions to consider…

Who is the barber?

Why do the perceptions of the mom and dad differ?

Do these perceptions match today’s reality?

Why is there a two Party System?

The Historical Basis. The nation started out with two-parties: the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists.

The Force of Tradition. America has a two-party system because it always has had one. Minor parties, lacking wide political support, have never made a successful showing, so people are reluctant to support them.

Additional reasons for two Party System…

Ideological Consensus. Most Americans have a general agreement on fundamental matters. Conditions that would spark several strong rival parties do not exist in the United States.

Factors that influence Party Membership

Family Major events

Economic Status Religion

Occupation Age

Party Systems One-Party; totalitarian, undemocratic Bi-party; less choice, lots of stability Multi-party; more choice, less stability

Problem of coalition government US and England = Bi-party Italy and Israel = Multi-party

Economic Realignment1896

Realignment-lasting shift occurs in the popular coalition supporting one or both parties

Depression hit farmers in the Midwest and the South

Prices paid to farmers was declining Led to the development of the

Greenbackers and the Populists (Economic Protest Parties)

Party Realignment or Critical Elections

Alternation of one party dominance to the other party

Critical Elections-sharp, lasting shift occurs in the popular coalition supporting one of both parties

The issues that separate the parties change and so do the party supporters

5 critical realignments in history

1800-Jefferson elected, Democratic Republicans take over

1828-Jackson elected from Democratic party-DR splits into Dems and Whigs

1860-Lincoln elected-emergence of modern day Republicans

1896-McKinley wins-but gains support from labor unions and minorities as a Republican

1932-FDR wins and the Democratic party remerges

Critical realignment for the Republicans in ’94- won both House and Senate for first time since 1954

What is the current party situation?

Factionalize within selves-distribute power and lose elections

Initiative and Referendum take away power of party and bring more power to the people

Dems have become more liberal Repubs have become more conservative Primaries especially to secure the

“regulars” Aim toward the middle during the general

elections

Minor Parties in the United States

Splinter Party

Example: “Bull Moose” Progressive

Party-against patronage system

Economic Protest Parties

Example: The Greenback Party-

against gov’t regulation of $

Ideological Parties

Example: Libertarian

Party-rights of the individual

Types of Minor Parties

Single-issue Parties

Example: Free Soil Party-eliminate slavery

Why are Minor Parties important?

Minor parties play several important roles:“Spoiler Role”

CriticInnovator

The Decentralized Nature of the Parties

Both of the major parties are highly decentralized and fragmented.

Why?

Minor Parties in the United States

Reasons for Party Decline

Mistrust of Government Independents (Divided Government) Split Ticket Voting “Open” Primaries Technology End of Patronage All of the above leads to… Electoral Independence!!

GerrymanderDone EVERY ten yearsand controlled by State Legislatures…that are controlledby…You guessed it, a POLITICAL PARTY!• Check OUT Redistricting Game• Most Gerrymandered Districts

Reasons for Nonvoting:

Institutional Reasons (political): Barriers due to some aspect of the law.

Psychological Reasons (emotional): The feeling that voting does not matter.

Institutional Reasons The date and day The hours the polls are open The number of voting booths The length/style of ballot/voting

methods Registration (a “two-step

process”) Declaring a party choice (for

primaries only) Others???

Extending Suffrage

1. During the early 1800s, religious, property, and tax payment qualifications were gradually eliminated.

2. The 15th Amendment (1870) was intended to end race-based voting requirements.

3. In 1920, the 19th Amendment prohibited the denial of the right to vote because of sex.

4. The 1960s:

The 1960’s and 70’s • The Voting Rights Act of 1965 guaranteed the right to

vote for minorities.

• The 23rd Amendment (1961) granted citizens of the District of Columbia the right to vote for presidential electors.

• The 24th Amendment (1964) eliminated the poll tax.

The 26th Amendment (1971) lowered the voting age to 18.

Motor-Voter Law of 1993

National Voter Registration Act Signed by President Bill Clinton

Required uniform registration process Accessible at DMV’s, schools, libraries, disability

centers Mail-in registration

Nominating and Electing a Candidate

The Direct Primary

Nonpartisan Primary

Candidates are not identified by

party labels

Runoff Primary

If a required majority is not met, the two

people with the most votes run

again

Closed Primary

Only declared party

members can vote for a

specific party

Open Primary

Any Qualified voter can

take part-still can only vote for one party

Types of Direct Primaries

The Process

Primaries-Starts January (Iowa Caucus Jan. 3rd ) of Election year

National Party Convention-Summer of election year

Campaign Season-August to November General Election-first Tuesday after first

Monday in November Electoral College-meets in December to

officially and constitutionally elect Jan. 6th- President of Senate officially counts

electoral votes Jan. 20th- President is inaugurated

The Electoral College

While state laws determine how electors are chosen, they are generally selected by the political party committees within the states.

Voters actually vote for electors who then select the president.

There are currently 538 electors and the votes of a majority of them -- 270 votes -- are required to be elected.

States with larger populations get more Electoral College votes.

Regulating Campaign Financing Early campaign regulations were created in 1907, but feebly

enforced. The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) of 1971 was passed

to replaced the former, ineffective legislation. The FECA Amendments of 1974 were passed in response to the

Watergate scandal. The 1974 amendment also set up the Federal Election

Commission and established public funding of presidential elections. Two additional amendments (1976, 1979) were aimed at regulating PACs and boosting the level of party participation.

http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/mapApp.do http://opensecrets.org/overview/topcontribs.asp?cycle=2008

Coining the term Swiftboating

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4Zk9YmED48

527 Groups Show 527 clip

Current Campaign Finance Limits 2012

http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/contriblimits.shtml

More on the Future…

For candidates: Structural changes have increased conflict

and disorganization within parties Changes in the technology of

campaigning, especially the use of television and the Internet, have made candidates more independent of the party organization

The growth of single-issue organizations provides candidates with another source of financial support

To summarize the info we learned today…

Create a one sentence summary using the following prompt….

A___________is a kind of______________

that__________________.

___________happens because________________.