Parties Flashcards
What is an ideology?
A collectively held set of beliefs
What is generally the ideology of Democrats?
- have a progressive attitude on social and moral issues e.g. crime
- support greater government intervention in the national economy
- support government provision of social welfare
What is generally the ideology of republicans?
- have a conservative attitude on social and moral issues
- advocate more restricted governmental intervention in the national economy
- have a preference for personal responsibility
Give evidence for the increasing polarisation of parties in the USA
When asked ‘do you think there are any important differences in what republicans and democrats stand for?’ In 2012 81% said yes 18% said no - a significant drop from when it was asked in 1972 and 44% said no
When asked ‘is one party more conservative than the other?’ (2012) 73% said yes
What are the democrat factions within the party?
Liberals
Moderate
Conservatives
What do Liberal Democrats generally support?
- progressive
- seen as radical wing of the party
- push for social justice & greater welfare
- increased taxes on the wealthy
What do moderate democrats generally support?
- centrists (middle ground)
- willing to compromise with republicans
- willing to accept some limitations on social issues e.g. abortion, anti terror laws
- biggest group in terms of votes
Give an example of a moderate democrat
Joe Biden
What do Conservative democrats generally support?
- socially conservative on moral issues (religion, guns etc) while disagreeing on the republican party’s conservative views on trade and tax
Give evidence of conflict between moderate and liberal democrats
The 2020 presidential democratic primary saw conflict in terms of ideology between moderate Biden and the more liberal Warren and Sanders
In 2015 __ conservative democrats supported extra screening of Iraqi & Syrian refugees
47
What are the three republican factions?
Moderate
Social
Fiscal
What do moderate republicans generally support?
- traditional conservative economic policies e.g. low taxation, limited govt
- more socially liberal than social conservatives e.g. abortion support
- accept higher taxes & more govt programmes to support social harmony
Give an example of a moderate republican
George Bush - increased govt expenditure & pushed for more liberal immigration reform
What do social republicans generally support?
- conservative on social, moral & religious issues e.g. in 2016 only a few republicans voted for gays rights legislative was amended in support of the nuclear family
- tend to support official conservative republican platform on economy and foreign affairs
- have an increased dominance in the party
What do fiscal conservatives generally support?
- smaller govt - a laissez fair economy
- most support abolition of inheritance tax, reduction in other taxes & cuts in federal expenditure
What 5 categories is a party’s support split under?
- geographic region
- religion
- race
- gender
- class and education
What is the gender gap?
the gap between the support given to a candidate by women and the support given to them by men
Why do republicans have a trend of poor showing amongst women voters?
Due to policy difference between the two major parties i.e. the Democratic Party tends to take policy positions more favoured by women
What was Trump’s gender gap in the 2020 presidential election?
53% = male voters
42% = women voters
What was Biden’s gender gap in the 2020 presidential election?
57% = women voters
45% = male voters
Why is the Democratic Party generally more popular with women voters?
They tend to take policy positions more favoured by women e.g. support abortion rights & gun control etc
Which minority groups are the most significant in terms of the numbers who vote?
Black Americans
Hispanic/Latinx people
Who do minority groups tend to give their vote to?
The Democratic Party
What percentage of black American votes did Biden receive in the 2020 presidential election?
87%
What percentage of Hispanic/ Latinx votes did Biden receive in the 2020 presidential election?
32%
Which group of voters made up over one third of the 2016 electorate?
White, non college educated voters
What percentage of white, non college educated voters voted for Trump in 2016?
66%
Why did Trumps receive a surge of white, non college educated voters in 2016?
- they felt neglected by Washington politicians who had made promises to them during their campaign and failed to deliver
- after the 2008-9 economic crash they believed the government bailed out banks & big business whilst they were left unemployed & unsupported
- they felt that the USA in which they grew up was fast disappearing & so they were attracted by his ‘make America great again’ slogan
Who do Protestants vote predominantly for?
Republicans e.g. in 2020 62% of Protestants voted for the rep party
Although Jewish & Muslim voters make up a small share of the electorate which party do they tend to favour?
The Democratic Party
What percentage of Jewish and Muslim voters voted for Biden in the 2020 presidential election?
68% of Jewish voters
64% of Muslim voters
What do commentators call the nation’s divide?
‘Blue America’ v ‘Red America’
In which regions is the Democratic Party most popular?
The Northeast & the west
In which regions is the Republican Party most popular?
The south has become solidly republican in the last 3 decades
Swathe of states running from Idaho to Missouri are increasingly solid for republicans
What are the characteristics of typical voters in ‘Red America’ ?
- predominantly white
- rural, small town or suburban
- fiscally & socially conservative
- pro guns, life & traditional marriage (nuclear family)
- viewers of Fox News
What are the characteristics of typical voters in ‘Blue America’?
- a racial rainbow of white, black, asian, Hispanic/latinx etc
- urban
- socially liberal
- pro choice & LGBTQ+ rights
- viewers of CNN
Give evidence that the democratic are in a much weaker position than they were when Obama was first elected
- they lost the presidential election in 2016 even though their candidate won 3mil votes more than her opponent
- from 2008 to 2016 they lost 10 seats in the senate and 61 in the House losing control of both chambers
- from 2008 to 2016 the number of democrat governors fell from 29 to 16
Give evidence that the Republican Party is divided
The tea party movement (2009) -Members of the movement called for lower taxes, a reduction of the national debt & federal budget deficit via reduced government spending
The freedom caucus - its members were influential in ending the speakership of republican Boehner in 2015 / influential in numerous key house votes e.g. the repeal and replacement of Obamacare
The establishment v Trump debate showed itself in numerous issues e.g. immigration control - Trump’s controversial policy ‘build a wall’ & that he did not represent a single coherent ideology
What is a two party system?
A party system in which two major parties regularly win the vast majority of votes
Give evidence that the US is a two party system
- in all of the last 7 presidential elections the two major parties have won more than 80% of the popular vote
- After the 2020 election the two major parties controlled 533 of 535 seats in congress
- every president since 1853 has either been democratic or republican
- By 2017 49 of 50 state governors were either democrats or republicans - they control state governments
Give evidence that the US isn’t a two party system
- Third parties have played a significant role in some elections e.g. 2000
- some states are virtually one party states e.g. Massachusett’s for the democrats, Wyoming for the republicans (federalism prevents two party system)
- It is possible for minority parties to gain influence e.g. Tim Waltz is the Minnesota state governor & is a part of the democratic farmer Labour Party
