Chapter 7: Political Parties Flashcards
Political parties
Organization that seek to achieve power by winning public office
Sudden, large, durable shifts in the
Electoral balance and the composition of the coalitions that support the major parties
Presidential elections
1) 1869: Abraham Lincoln, Republican
2) 1932: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Democrat
The Federalist Party (1788)
The country’s first political party to support John Adam’s presidential candidacy
The Democratic-Republican Party (1792)
The country’s second political party.
It was comprised of Thomas Jefferson and other Anti-Federalist support
Jefferson’s presidential candidacy
Each party lobbied the state legislature to select
Electors who promised in advance to either elect Adams or Jefferson depending on which candidate won the popular vote in their states
Significance of the Presidential Election of 1796
It was the first time two candidates campaigned as members of opposing parties
It was the beginning of the Electoral College’s transformation from
An independent check on the popular vote to a “rubberstamp” on the popular vote
Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party organized
Voters circulated literature and rallied the masses to their causes. Thomas Jefferson won the election.
The election of 1800 was the first time in American democracy that
The control of government passes peacefully from one party to another based on an election outcome
After the election of 1796, the Federalist Party
Never won another presidential election
By 1820, the Federalist Party
Ceased to exist
President Andrew Jackson (elected in 1828) transformed the
Democratic-Republican Party into the Democratic Party in 1829
Jackson’s opponent formed the
Whig Party (1836), and by 1840, the Whigs won the presidency
Factions began to form in the
Whig party over the issue of slavery
The Republican Party formed in
1854 to oppose slavery
In the election of 1860,
Abraham Lincoln was elected president
From 1860-1912 (except for 1885 & 1893),
Republican won the presidency
During the Great Depression, the Democratic Party’s nominee, Franklin D.Roosevelt was
Elected in a landslide and was the only president to be elected to four terms
The New Deal Coalition
Working classes and union members, especially in large cities, Catholics and Jews, African Americans, poor people, and Southern whites
By 1972, the Democratic Party became associated with
Anti-war protesters, civil rights advocates, feminists organizations, and liberal activists generally, all who were to the left of the electorate in general
The Reagan Coalition
Economic conservatives, social conservatives concerned about crime, illegal drugs, and racial conflict, and religious fundamentalists
Southern Whites were concerned about
Racial issues and affirmative action, anti-communists who wanted the U.S to maintain a strong military
Loyal Democratic Party members
1) African Americans and other minorities
2) Government employee
3) Union leader
4) Liberal intellectuals in the media and universities
5) Feminists organizations and environmentalists
6) Gays, lesbians, and bisexuals
The Democratic Leadership Council was formed in the 1980s to
Create a “new” Democratic Party closer to the center of the political spectrum
The chair of the committee was
Then governor Bill Clinton
The council’s concern was its traditional support for
Social justice and social welfare programs were overshadowing its commitment to economic prosperity
When Clinton became president, he reverted to
Liberal policy directions rather than pursue the moderate line he promoted as a “new” Democrat
In 1994, the Republican Party won
The majorities in the House and the Senate
In 2000, the Republican Party continued to won
The presidency
The party abandoned its principle of
Lower federal spending and shrinking the size of the federal government and failed to secure the country’s borders
In 2006, the party lost its
Majority in Congress
In a democracy, parties are supposed to
Organize majorities around broad principles of government in order to win public office and enact the principles into law
Political parties once nominated candidates for their party and played a major role in
Campaign organization and finance.
Campaigns are directed by
Professional campaign management firm or by the candidates’ personal organization not by parties
Most political candidates are
Self-recruited, not the party
The major political parties cannot control who their
Nominee the party’s entry in a general election rate will be
The party was once the
Medium through which candidates communicated with voters
Now, candidates communicate directly with voters through
The mass media
Parties have no way to bind their elected officials to the
Party platform or even to their campaign promises
Historically, nominations were made by
Caucus or party convention
The caucus was the
Earliest nominating process
Party leaders would meet
Several months before the election and decide who to nominate
Nominating convention
Large meetings of delegates sent by local party organizations to nominate their party’s candidate
The presidential nominee announces his/her choice of the
Vice presidential candidate
The president’s choice is determined by
Ticket balancing (someone who will balance the ticket based on Washington experience, ideology, or geography)
Primary elections
Registered voters select who will be their party’s nominee in the general election
Closed primaries
Only voters who are registered as Democrat or Republican can vote in their chosen party’s primary
Open primaries
Anyone regardless of party affiliation may choose to vote in either party’s primary election
General elections
Election to choose among candidates nominated by parties and/or independent candidates who gained access to the ballot by peitition
Members of the public who have registered with a party make up that
Party’s electorate
Party identification
Members of a party’s electorate have a psychological link to their party
Minor parties in the U.S are called
Third parties
Third parties are political parties that
Challenge the two major parties in an election
Winner-Takes-All Electoral System
Elections are usually determined in plurality winner-takes-all election whereby only one candidate, the one who wins the most popular votes wins the election
The Democratic Party is more likely to favor
Increasing the number of social programs, increasing regulations on business, and decreasing domestic oil production
The Republican Party is more likely to favor
Increasing spending on the military,, increasing domestic oil production and decreasing regulation on business
