ch. 4 Flashcards
Define “Political Party”
A group of citizens who organize to contest elections, win public office, and impact policy making
What 3 components make up a political party? Define them.
- Party in the electorate: voters who identify with a political party
- Party as an organization: the local, state, and national structure of a political party and its paid leaders
- Party in Government: local, state, and national elected or appointed officials who identify or belong to a political party
What are all 6 characteristics of political parties?
- Two-party system
- All-encompassing
- Negative public view of their existence and function
- Political parties categorized into mass and cadre parties
- Weak parties
- One party dominance
Define a two-party system
A political system in which only 2 parties have a realistic chance of winning political office
What is Duverger’s Law?
Theory that a single member district electoral system results in a 2 party system and proportional representation in a multi-party system
What is a single member district electoral law?
An electoral system in which the person who wins the most votes in a district is elected office (discriminates against 3rd/minor parties)
What is proportional representation?
An electoral system in which seats are allocated based on the proportion of the vote a party receives
Define “all-encompassing”
Attempting to appeal to everyone
Define a cadre party
Decentralized and part time political party whose major purpose is to win office
Define a mass party
Centralized and full time political party whose major purpose is to represent a certain ideological viewpoint
What percentage of all voters in America base their vote on party identification?
80%
What are the 8 functions of political parties?
- Facilitate the voting process for the average voters
- Provide political socialization
- Recruit and nominate candidates for political office
- Run candidate campaigns
- Mobilizing voters
- Provide voters with information (“party platforms”)
- Organize the policy making process at all governmental levels
- Interest aggregation
Define “party platform”
A document drawn up every 2 years at the state convention that outlines a party’s policies and principles
Define “Interest Aggregation”
The act of joining with like-minded citizens to acquire political power
Define “political power”
The ability to make people engage in political acts they would not engage in of their own free will
List the factors of the first party system (1836-1845)
- Called the era of the pre-party system
- Political figures disagreed about everything
- No real structure with 3 ideologies present: Conservative (slavery, religion), Classical form of Liberalism (religious freedom, individualism), Jacksonian Democrats (advocated for common people, fearful of large business like banks)
List the factors of the second party system (1845-1877)
- Dominated by the republican party post civil war because of military occupation, which disenfranchised white southerners
- Known for military occupation, unpopular policies, corruption
- Democrat party regained power post-reconstruction
- Held power for hundred years due to reconstruction policies
List the factors of the third party system (1877-1932)
- One party state controlled by democrats until the 1990s
- Vigorous party policies because everyone joins it to win office. The political party becomes all-encompassing
- Liberal Wing supported: regulation of railroads and banks, creation of unions, minority rights
List the factors of the fourth party system (1932-1998)
- New Deal coalition: forged by FDR in 1930s, consisted of the working class, catholics, white southerners, African Americans, Jewish, intellectuals (dominated until the 60s)
- FDRs death caused a fracture in the democratic party
- Traditionalist: conservative on economic and social issues and opposed integration
- Liberal Wing: believed in integration and new deal policies
- Conservative Wing: state’s rights
- Fracture was so bad that two state conventions were held
- Democrats supported Republicans at a national level but would remain loyal to Democrats at local and state levels. This is because 1. most Texans were socialized to be democrats (yellow dog democrats), and 2. direct primaries where republicans voted in democratic primaries because their own were not competitive and had no viable candidate
- Most Texans were more conservative than other states
- Because democrats became more liberal in the 1990s, it forced many conservative democrats to become republican
List the factors of the fifth party system (1998-present)
- With the realignment of the 1980s, Americans from the Midwest and Northeast began to move to Texas and caused a shift
- Urbanization is a factor. The middle class was prosperous in this period.
- Platforms designed on cutting taxes, reducing welfare spending, was tailored for them
- Conservative democrats began leaving during Reagan’s administration
- With Texans leaning right, they became the majority
- The change made the democrats more liberal
Define “realignment”
When a core group of supporters of a political party switch to the opposing party
Define “critical alignment”
A core group of political party’s supporters switching to the opposition. This switch also creates a new majority party. A switch of the conservative white vote in Texas constitutes a critical alignment at the state level
Define “dealignment”
A core group of supporters leaving a political party and refusing to join another
List the factors of the Precinct level of political parties
- The lowest level
- Every precinct elects a precinct chair (serve 2 year terms)
- In charge of: recruiting volunteers, coordinating campaign volunteers, mobilizing voters, getting them registered
- Serve on executive county committee in charge of planning and conducting local primaries and county conventions
- Precinct hold conventions to elect delegates for county level
