Lesson 11 Flashcards
Political parties exists to…
1) endorse candidates for office
2) compete for victory in elections
Those who claim membership in the party
Party in the Electorate
Tose who run the party and make its rules
Party as Organization
Consists of elected officials who call themselves party members
Party in Government
Parties are___________
Linkage institutions
Linkage Institutions
Connect the people (voters) to the policymakers who represent them
Parties give cues to voters. This means….
The voters view the parties as brands that represent certain ideas and values
Down’s Model
-Democratic and Republican(our 2 big party brands) parties are similar
-they try very hard to differentiate themselves, but reality is they are not very different
EX: like coke and pepsi
What has been the strongest trend in party identification over the last few decades ?
Dealignment
Dealignment
- refers to the increase in affiliation with the Independent label
- those who remain loyal to Dem and Repub parties have become less loyal
What has dealignment produced?
More frequent ticket splitting–splitting the ticket means voting for some democrats and some republicans on the same ballot
What does it mean to say todays political parties are decentralized and fragmented?
- they are weak
- cannot control their members
- can control their candidates just a little
Political parties consist of…
Basically 50 state level parties thinly united under the auspices of a national office
At one point in time…
The party machine was the basis of political party organization in America
What did party machines dole out?
Patronage(in the form of jobs primarily, and often to immigrants) in exchange for political loyalty
Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall
Example of party machine/patronage system which died out during the progressive era
-replaced by civil service
National chairperson
Oversees day to day activities of the national party
National Committee
-keeps national party running between elections, which includes reps from the states
National Convention
Occurs every 4 years to write the party’s platform and nominate a candidate for president
If person is elected…
Members of a party try to translate campaign promises(often based on party’s core beliefs) into policy
Most of the world’s democracies have…
-more than 2 parties represented in their national legislatures
Party Eras
- The U.S. has always been a country with a two party monopoly
- one party has often enjoyed long periods of dominance
Party Eras begin and end……
EX
- with critical elections
- EX: in 1980, Reagan’s election brought an end to a long period of Dem. dominance of the national gov.
Party realignment
- occurs when voting blocs break up and reorganize
- these voting blocs are sometimes known as coalitions
Party Eras in American History (5)
1796-1824: Federalists v. Democratic-Republican
1828-1856: Jacksonian Democrats v. Whigs
1860-1928: The Republican Era
1932-1964: The New Deal Era(Democratic)
1968-present: Era of Divided Government
The New Deal Coalition
- unique
- consisted of union members , southerners, intellectuals , liberals, the poor, and blacks
Most prominent trend in party affiliation
-party dealignment
Party Dealignment
-refers to the trend away from allegiance
to the two major parties
-believed it is partly responsible for era of divided gov
3 types of 3rd parties
1) parties that promote a single cause(marijuana) or extreme ideological position on a set of issues(Green, Libertarian)
2) parties that splinter off from a major party(TR’s Progressive Party)
3) parties that are an extension of a popular individual (Ross Perot in 1992)
Even though a 3rd party candidate has never won a presidential election… they do 3 things
- Influence the outcomes of many elections over the years
- give voters more options beyond dem and repub
- help raise issues that would not otherwise be debated
Why does the United States have a system in which two major parties dominate?
Because we have Winner Take All System
Winner Take All System
- 25% of voters across the U.S. choose a green party candidate for Congress
- it is likely that no green party candidate will actually win a seat
- they will have nice showing for minority party and get pats on the back for trying hard, but get nothing in the legislature
If we had a proportional representation system…
- the Greens would get about 25% of the seats in Congress
- but bc we dont, many Green Parties end up voting for Democrats, so they dont waste their vote
In the American System, do people think the party in power should be the responsible party for all policy that do and don’t get implemented under its leadership?
-some people say yes, but many others argue that our system is too complicated to give full credit to or place full blame on the party in power for anything that happens under its leadership
Why does the party system in America tend to expand the scope of government ?
Citizens want government to do many things… which costs $$… which requires higher taxes…. which is politically unpopular… which leads to more borrowing and debt…which politicians need to address but do not bc once programs are created and funded, its is difficult to get rid of them
Because political parties are weak and bc of advances in media and technology….
It is possible for candidates to run for office today without the aid of political parties
Civil service
Professional government work force hired based on merit, skill
What did party machines do?
Handed out gov jobs to supporters
