Parties Flashcards
‘Third party candidates have no impact on politics’. Discuss.
YES
- Raise awareness of issues
- Oversight
- Spoilers
NO
- Campaign funding
- Campaign funding
- Limited success
✓ Raise awareness of issues
– National Labour Reform Party, founded in 1872, supported an 8-hour workday. By 1978, the 8
-hour workday was implemented
– Perot advocated for the balancing of the budget and reducing the deficit. After receiving 19% vote Bill Clinton submitted a plan to reduce the country’s deficit
– Equal Rights Party nominated the first woman presidential candidate garnering 4,149 votes at a point in time when women could not vote
– Populist Party was established in 1880s and called for shorter working hours, a graduated income tax, a secret ballot, the creation of an initiative, and a referendum, which were adopted by the Dems
– Today they’re behind the Interstate Commerce Act (regulated railroads) and Sherman Anti-Trust Act, (reduced power of monopolies)
– Workingmen’s Party was founded in 1828 and advocated for free public education
– Union Labour Party supported placing limits on the number of lands individuals and companies could purchase
– Anti-Masonic Party = 1st 3rd party, came up with holding conventions to nominate presidents
✓ Oversight
– Gary Johnson = “A 10-foot wall just requires an 11-foot ladder” (about Trump’s wall)
?
✓ Spoilers
- Accused of shaping elections and voting patterns through ‘spoiling’ elections - i.e. taking votes from swing states
– 2000 = Ralph Nader (green party cand. for President) was said to have handed the election to George W. Bush after he received 97,488 votes in the swing state of Florida (Baughman). Accused of taking votes away from Al Gore
– Third party candidate Gary Johnson was accused of swinging the election in Hillary Clinton’s favor when he received 9% of the popular vote in the state of New Mexico
✗ Campaign funding
– House incumbent Shontel Brown spent $4m (2021-2022)
– House incumbent Eric Swalwell spent $3m
– House incumbent French Hill spent $2m
– 2020 = incumbents won approximately 93% of House races and 82% of Senate races
– 2021-2022 = incumbents raised $830m (28 candidates)
– Challengers = $390m (183 candidates)
– House, 10 incumbents lost, 355 re-elected
✗ Requirements
Ballot Access
- Meeting the requirements to get on the ballot in all 50 states can be a significant hurdle for third-party candidates
- Each state has its own rules regarding petition signatures, filing fees, and deadlines
Voter Perceptions
- ‘Wasted vote’ mentality
Institutional Barriers
- Two major parties have entrenched themselves in the political system over decades, shaping election laws, debate rules, and other regulations to favour their own interests
– Major party candidates automatically qualify for presidential debate - must be at least 15% for 3rd party
✗ Limited success
– Last time a third-party candidate secured an electoral vote was when George Wallace won five states (1968)
– 1912: Eugene Debs, American Socialist Party only 6% pop. vote
– 1924: Robert La Follete, Progressive Party = 16% pop vote
– 1948: Strom Thurmond, Dixiecrat Party = only 39 electoral college votes + 2.4% pop vote
– 1992: Ross Perot, Independent = 19% (most since 1912)
– 2000: Ralph Nader, Green Party = 3m votes
– Only 8 have been able to earn more than 10% of the popular vote for a presidential race
Something about 2 party dominance
Something about division, unity, factions. Maybe __ is the most important reason for 2 party dominance?
‘The Republican Party is united’. Discuss
YES
- Limited government
- Fiscal conservatism
- Conservative social values
NO
- Economic policy
- Social issues
- Foreign policy
Limited Government (+fiscal cons. then do strong national defence or smthng)
- Importance of limited government intervention in the economy and individual lives, favouring free markets and individual liberty
– Reagan (1981 to 1989) = reducing govt regulations + lowering taxes to stimulate economic growth = “Reaganomics”
– Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 2017
– Reagan = “Government is the problem”
– Don’t believe in govt intervention in healthcare:
– Bush vetoed the stem cell research bill
– Not a single Rep in Senate voted for Obama’s healthcare reform
Fiscal Conservatism
- Balanced budgets + reduced government spending. President
– Eisenhower (1953-1961) implemented fiscal restraint = reduced military spending after Korean War and maintaining a balanced budget throughout his presidency
Conservative Social Values
= opposing abortion and supporting traditional marriage
– George W. Bush (2001-2009) = advocated for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and expressed pro-life views
– Sup Court overturned Roe v Wade - Trump called it a “win”
– Ron DeSantis = “proud to be pro-life” + “proud” to sign the six-week ban
– Trump banned openly-transgender people from serving in military
– Ron DeSantis = “Don’t Say Gay” bill
– Senator Ted Cruz described transgender rights as “lunacy”
Economic Policy
Fiscal Conservatives:
- Limited government intervention in the economy, lower taxes + reduced govt spending
- Free-market principles and deregulation
– Ronald Reagan
– Tea Party
Moderate Republicans:
- More balanced approach = market forces + targeted govt intervention.
- More willing to compromise with Dems
– Senator Olympia Snowe - voted against Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (2003), backed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
– Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Social Issues
Social Conservatives:
- Traditional values + religious beliefs
- Abortion, same-sex marriage + religious freedom
– Former Governor Mike Huckabee
– Senator Ted Cruz (called transgender rights “lunacy”)
– George W. Bush (2001-2009) = advocated for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and expressed pro-life views
– Sup Court overturned Roe v Wade - Trump called it a “win”
– Ron DeSantis = “proud to be pro-life” + “proud” to sign the six-week ban
– Trump banned openly-transgender people from serving in military
– Ron DeSantis = “Don’t Say Gay” bill
Libertarian Republicans:
- Minimal government intervention in personal matters
- Support individual liberty
- More liberal stances on issues like drug legalization and privacy rights
– Senator Rand Paul - wants to relax some of the laws for people who possess and are smoking marijuana, and synthetic recreational drugs
– 14% Reps believe abortion should always be legal
Foreign Policy
Interventionists
- Robust foreign policy
– Neoconservatives = former Vice President Dick Cheney
– Senator John McCain
– George H.W. Bush (1989-1993) oversaw successful military operation known as the Gulf War
– War in Iraq
– Trump and North Korea
– ‘Neo-con’ era of Bush, where Reps promoted democracy through ‘regime change’ in selected dictatorships
Non-Interventionists:
- More restrained
- non-intervention
– Former Congressman Ron Paul = wrote a manifesto titled ‘A Foreign Policy of Freedom’
– Wrote “War, and the threat of war, are big government’s best friend”
– Senator Rand Paul = said didn’t want to put “boots on the ground and weapons in the hands of freedom fighters everywhere”
‘The Democrat Party is united’. Discuss
YES
- Civil rights
- Environment
- Diplomacy + international cooperation
NO
- Economic policy
- Social policy
- Foreign policy
Civil rights + social issues
– LBJ = Civil Rights Act (1964), Voting Rights Act (1965)
– Brown v Board of Education = Earl Warren = Eisenhower
– Obama issued an executive order to prevent North Carolina’s bathroom law
– Obamacare seeking to cover contraceptives
– Biden described Roe v. Wade as “a fundamental right” that had been “ripped away”
– Equality Act in the House of Representatives (2019)
Environment
– Bill Clinton protected natural resources and wildlife by designating several national monuments
– Obama = Clean Power Plan + Paris Agreement
– Biden (2022) = inflation Reduction Act = $369bn
Diplomacy + international cooperation
– Jimmy Carter = the Camp David Accords ( peace agreement between Israel and Egypt)
– Obama = Iran nuclear deal + restoration of diplomatic relations with Cuba
–LBJ didn’t want to fight Vietnam war, but did because it would “give a big fat reward to aggression.”
– 1972 nom.- George McGovern “Come Home America” speech - reduce military spending
‘The Republican Party is divided’. Discuss
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‘The Democrat Party is divided’. Discuss
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‘Factions pose the biggest threat to party unity’. Discuss.
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‘Parties are more similar than dissimilar’. Discuss
YES
✓ Bipartisanship
✓ Factions
✓ Two party dominance
NO
✗ Partisanship
✗ Economic policy
✗ Social policy
