Midterm 10/10/23 Flashcards
What is a political party?
A group organized to nominate candidates, to win power through elections, and to promote public policies
Describe the three parts that comprise political parties
- Party organization: Party leaders and activities who work for the party’s causes and candidates (the people on the ground doing the work)
- Party in Government: Public officials and those who run for political office under the party label (the face of the party; trump, Biden, etc)
- Party in the electorate: Citizens who express an attachment to the party (the people who think of themselves as partisans)
What are the activities of political parties?
Elections: put forth political candidates
Electorate: Educate the public, provide voting cues
Government: organize government and provide an opposition
What factors shape American parties?
Voters: Each new group of voter makes the party readjust its ideas
States: Set the rules of the parties
Constitution: Federalism and Separation of powers
Political Culture
Media: social media has weakened party control over information
Describe early political groupings
Early political groupings were very unorganized and had low participation. They functioned more as congressional groupings than anything. These first political groupings were federalists and anti-federalists. The anti-federalists turn into the Democratic Republicans after a while, and the parties emerge as the federalists and DRs. By the end, almost all federalists are gone and instead are all DRs, but factions start to emerge within.
Why did the founders resist political parties?
They thought that factions (parties) would lead to disagreement and mass underrepresentation of people in America. Overruling the rights of minorities.
What were the early political parties?
Federalists and Democratic Republicans
What were the political activities of those early political parties?
Organizing the South and West and expanding the committees of correspondence
Did early political parties include the public? Were these parties heavily organized?
They included the public in voting, but this voting public was limited to white men with property and even then they were not very active in the political process
When did organized parties emerge and why?
Organized parties emerged in the 1820s. This is due to the end of property restrictions which extended the voting pool a bit, voters became involves in presidential elections, and the 1824 election
Discuss the 1824 Election
In the 1824 election the Democratic Republicans were factions off and put up 4 different presidential candidates. No one ended up winning the majority of the vote so the election went to the US House to be decided. Top three vote getters are decided upon, Clay was voted out and he threw his support behind John Quincy Adams. John Quincy Adams ends up winning, defeating Andrew Jackson
Discuss the response of Jackson’s supporters to his ‘loss’
Adams then chooses Clay as his Secretary of State and Andrew Jackson says it was corrupt and runs on that until he won against Adams in 1828. Jackson’s supporters are so large they create a separate faction called the Jacksonian Democrats which ultimately ends up turning into a fully fledged party.
Describe the golden age of parties
By 1870 party organizations exist in all states and localities, they run campaigns controlled government jobs and provided into to voters. These parties were highly organized in government, and elections.
What is a party machine?
The party machines were the party organizers that extended tangible incentives to voters. They played an important role in assimilating immigrants and provided their party supporters with basic need in exchange for votes. The party machine controlled everyday lives of Americans, what jobs they got, loans and mortgage rates, etc.
Why were party machines so effective at winning elections?
The party machines were so effective because they were able to recruit and incentivize people to vote. They took advantage of immigrants and helped them in exchange for votes for their party in the elections.
Discuss the Progressive reforms
The progressives implemented the direct primary, presidential primaries, the Australian (secret) ballot and registration requirements for voters. After the progressive reforms, the party organization was decimated.
What characterized mid-century parties?
Internal party politics were set aside due to global events (war, depression, etc). The Democratic Party grows out of the personal party for Andrew Jackson and the Republican Party grows from the anti-slavery sentiment. Parties focus on their attitudes towards these events
What led to the realignment of the parties?
The civil rights movement and the expansion of voting rights made the parties shift. Democrats started to lose their support among white southerners and Republicans lost their support of minorities.
What characterizes modern parties?
Modern parties are characterized by polarization specifically among elected officials. They are more homogenous internally, but different compared to each other. Democrats are less to the left than Republicans are to the right (asymmetric polarization)
How does polarization define the political parties?
The Democrat and Republican parties are characterized by polarization. They are characterize day being opposites of each other. Republicans are characterized by their extreme right rhetoric and Democrats are characterized by the left-centric policies.
What is a two-party system?
A two party system means that only two parties have a realistic chance of winning seats in the legislature. There can be other minor parties, but they have no real chance of winning seats in the legislature.
What is a multi-party system?
More than two parties have a realistic chance of winning seats in the legislature. This is the system almost everywhere else in the world.
Discuss why the US has a two party system
Electoral college, Plurality/Majority voting, Psychological fears (money, voters, party organizations), “federalism”, voting rules (who can be a political party? state laws)
What role does the electoral system play?
The electoral system incentives only two parties. All electoral college votes in a state are given to one party (winner takes all) so two major parties are incentivized. The plurality voting only allows for two parties to be competitive.
What is a majoritarian system?
A majoritarian system of voting is a system where the person who gets the majority or votes wins the election (first-past-the-post)
What is a proportional representation system?
A proportional representation system is where the percentage of the vote that a candidate gets, is the percentage of the seats in the legislature that they win
Describe Duverger’s Law
Duverger’s law says that under a majoritarian system, only two-party systems will emerge as competitive, whereas in a PR system, multiple parties will emerge and be competitive
What role does the presidential selection process play?
Electoral college requires a majority of votes to win
What role do the parties play?
Major parties control election rules in the states so they can impede the success of third parties
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a two-party system
Advantages: Extremists remain non-influential, Moderate policies to appease to the majority of voters, less fragmentation in the legislature as a whole, legitimacy because most of the country voted for a party gives the candidate more legitimacy, Electoral accountability (we know who to blame), Effective governance (the one party who has the majority should make it essentially easy to govern), Eases the burden on voters
Disadvantages: It is not natural due to the rules placed on the system, there is not a diversity of ideas, there is no role for underrepresented groups unless they are absorbed into the two-party system, people abstain from voting because they do not see their ideas represented, cannot ensure that the government represents the public
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a multi-party system
Advantages: More natural (without rules, multi-party systems would emerge), there is a diversity of ideas presented by multiple parties, there is a role for underrepresented groups (could be more women in legislatures and people from different racial/ethnic backgrounds), increases turnout because people see ideas and candidates that represent them, better represents the actual parties, there can still be a governing majority of coalition builders, Ensures the government represents the public
Disadvantages: Extremists have a platform and can win seats in the legislature, more extreme policies and lack of a moderate group, fragmentation in the legislature, there would not have to be majority support behind the candidates (prime minister only got 20% of the vote), Electoral accountability if voters don’t like how things are going they don’t necessarily know who to blame, if no party has the majority of the in the legislature there is no guarantee that it will be easy to govern
How does the public feel about the two-party system? Do these attitudes vary by individual characteristics?
Party: Almost a third of 30% of people would like to have more political parties to choose from, those who identify as independent are more likely to support the idea of more political parties, Republicans are less supportive of the idea of more parties than Democrats, there is a large middle ground of people who don’t know. Age: people age 18-49 are more likely to support multiple political parties than those 50-65+, there is still a large middle ground; Education: College grads are more supportive of political parties than people with high school or some college
Identify exceptions to two-party rule in the US
Non-partisan elections (removal of party labels from many local elections), One-Party monopoly (in many places only one party has a realistic chance of winning), Third parties, independent candidates (some in office)
What was the role of the Progressive movement in establishing non-partisan elections?
The progressive movement worked to remove party legalese from many local elections to make it difficult for parties to let voters know which candidates are affiliated with the party
Why do parties dislike non-partisan elections?
There is no way to signal to voters what party they are in. Most of the time voters use the party question to make a vote without knowing anything about the actual candidate, under a non-partisan election there is no way to signal this.
Identify some examples of one-party monopolies
Small rural areas in Missouri, places in California, In the south, regional loyalties and racial fears overrode socioeconomic divisions
Why is is difficult to eliminate one-party monopolies?
There are stubborn party loyalties and an inability to raise money and recruit good candidates
Have third parties or independent candidates been successful in winning elections in the US? Why not?
They have not been particularly good at winning elections in the U.S. Only 7 have carried a single state in a presidential election. ~35 of the more than 1,000 governors elected since 1875 were from third parties there are non currently.
Why are strong party organizations important?
The party organization provides stability whole politicians and voters change overtime. Provide ling-term electoral success, give candidates a way to identify themselves to voters, gives voters a way to choose among candidates
What is a strong party?
A strong party is a party that has all or most of the characteristics required for a strong party. Those are legal, institutionalized, government status, Autonomous, Degree of Organization, Centralization
What is legality?
Strong parties are legal and regulated (acknowledged by the government)
What is institutionalization?
A strong party exists as a concrete object to the public separate from its momentary leaders
What is government status?
A strong party wins elections (wins the presidency, controls Congress, competes nationwide, and/or receives strong electoral support)
What are autonomous organizations?
A strong party is independent from nonparty organization (in terms of membership, leadership, and funding)
What is degree of organization?
A strong party is governed by rules, traditions, and norms, and has sub-national units throughout the country meeting regularly
What is centralization?
A strong party concentrates decision-making power at the national level and rewards/punishes candidates to ensure conformity
Discuss whether the American political parties are strong
American parties are strong in some respects that make a strong party, however, they are lacking in centralization, this is due to the fact that the president of the party is seen as the figurehead instead of the leader of the DNC and RNC
What about the legal environment (American political parties)?
American political parties are considered ‘legal’ and the states regulate party organization (financing, voting laws, etc.)
What about institutionalization (American political parties)?
The Republican and Democratic parties serve as concrete organizations distinct from current leadership they are institutionalized
What about government status (American political parties)?
Republicans and Democrats have both controlled the presidency, Congress, state offices, and local offices
What about being autonomous organizations (American political parties)?
Republicans and Democrats do receive support from specific sectors in society, but they are not dependent on these sectors for members, funding, and leaders
What about the degree of organization and centralization?
- The national party?
- State parties?
- Local parties?
Degree of organization: American parties are strong and are comprised of the national, state, and local party units (strongest) which all have rules, traditions, and norms
Centralization: American party units do not operate hierarchically, but as a layered organization (each with different responsibilities) and little power to enforce conformity
Identify incentives for party activists and discuss whether those incentives are concerning
Material incentives, Solidary incentives, purposive incentives, and combinations of the incentives
Explain participation in party activities
Party activists will participate in party activities like door knocking, canvassing, social media posts, discussing politics with others, showing up in every elections, consistently voting in one way or the other, etc.
What are material incentives?
Material incentives are those in which tangible rewards are exchanged for activity (money, jobs, preferments, steppingstones to office, etc.)
What are solidary incentives?
Solidary (social) incentives are intangible rewards gained from associating with others. These can include networking, feeling part of a group
