Political Parties - P1 Flashcards
Which groups typically support the republican party?
- High-income business professionals
- White Southerners
- Rural voters
- Protestant Christians
- White Males
southern/rural/ christian = heavily interlinked as often those in ‘bible bound’ southern states fit into multiple categories.
Which group is the most important for republicans?
Why?
High income business professionals.
BECAUSE = can provide large donations that greatly benefit the campaigns of republican representatives
High- income business professionals (55%)
Why do they support the republican party?
- Republicans fiscal conservative views
- Most prominently consistent support for low taxation. E.g Grover Norquist’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge
- This means they get to keep and spend more of what they earn which is in their interests.
White Southerners
Why do they support the republican party?
HISTORIC = the historic breaking Democrat Solid South over black civil rights and the subsequent success of the Republican Southern Strategy, which targeted disaffected white southerners, has created a Republican stronghold in this area.
- still favour more conservative social policy today on issues such as immigration.
Rural voters (61%)
Why do they support the republican party?
- attracted to the limited government regulation as rural states are often antifederalist in nature
- favour Republicans general opposition to gun control because the use of firearms is more prominent in the culture and daily life of rural inhabitants.
Protestant Christians (57%)
Why do they support the republican party?
- support the traditional moral values espoused by socially conservative republicans
- agree with the overwhelming support for cutting of federal funding for abortion programs/ legislation limiting gay rights e.g DOMA
White Males (62%)
Why do they support the republican party?
- support the social policies
- opposed to the Democrat support for affirmative action and the relaxation of immigration laws
Which groups typically support the democrat party?
- Low income working class
- LGBT
- Latinos
- Unmarried women
- African Americans
African Americans and low income often overlap
Which group is the most important for democrats?
Ethnic minorities
BECAUSE = hispanic population is a growing demographic in the US
BECAUSE = african americans are the most loyal group of voters, with numbers voting Democrat rarely falling below 90%.
Low income, working class (63%)
Why do they support the Democrat party?
- many are unionised members who favour the more interventionist approach of the Democratic Party. e.g Obama’s auto bailout of car manufacturers
- democrats have shown commitment to this low-income group through policies such as the Fair Minimum Wage Act 2007
LGBT (76%)
Why do they support the Democrat party?
- favour more liberal stance on social policies
- general support for gay marriage - praised the Supreme Court Ruling on DOMA and Proposition 8
Latinos (71%)
Why do they support the Democrat party?
- attracted to less hostile views on immigration
- Obama has looked to offer some illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. This is contrasted by republican strict laws on immigration, fuelling latino fear of racial profiling.
Unmarried women (61%)
Why do they support the Democrat party?
- support general pro-choice stance of democrat party
African Americans (93%)
Why do they support the Democrat party?
- democrat support of civil rights
- 27.4% of African Americans live in poverty, so are one of the groups to benefit most from welfare programs.
Explain the values and policies of the Republican Party.
- economically liberal
- free market + removing barriers on trade and businesses. - Socially authoritarian
- Harsh punishment + strict social limits. Aim to preserve traditional values. - Limited Government
- Reject radical change and therefore are opposed to high government intervention, taxation and spending.
Explain the values and policies of the Democratic Party.
- Economically liberal
- Free market - Socially liberal
- Aim to preserve individual rights of every American citizen - Larger Government
- Aim to provide equality of opportunity. This often comes in the form of social welfare programs.
Describe the organisation of political parties.
- decentralised
- state-based
- state party organisation has a hierarchy system based on geographical area
What are the 3 main types of national organisations for parties?
- National Committees
- National Conventions
- Congressional Committees
What is a National Committee?
- committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office.
- Both parties have them
- Only meet in full session 2 times per year, but still have permanent offices in Washington DC
- Headed by a party chairman, who acts as a spokesperson (especially in the media) and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the party.
What is the National Convention?
- Held every 4 years in the year of the presidential election
- function 1 = selecting the Party’s nominee for president
- function 2 = creating a party platform = a statement of the party principles and goals
What are Congressional committees?
- Both parties have committees in congress to oversee policy making and campaigning.
- They help select which members of the party will go onto the committee.
e. g Senate Democratic Policy Committee
Give 1 way in which parties DO have leadership.
leaders in congress (speaker of House/ minority of majority leader)
Give 1 way in which parties DO NOT have leadership.
president does not represent party interests, rarely connects with national level apart from at the national convention
What is a Congressional Caucus (congressional group)?
groups that members of Congress can join to pursue common legislative goals.
How has ideological partisanship changed in recent years?
- increased partisanship
- parties = more ideologically cohesive
Give 4 arguments demonstrating that the republicans have become more conservative
- Contract with America (1994)
- United Opposition against Obamacare
- Election of Donald Trump
- Conservative views of influential party members
Give 3 examples of the Democrats becoming more liberal.
- Liberal Agenda through 100 hour plan
- High government intervention schemes
- More liberal social policy
What are the 6 functions of political parties in the USA ?
1 Choose President
2 Choose VP
3 Decide on a party platform
4 Establish party unity (especially after the infighting in the primaries)
5 Rally the party’s core supporters before the election
6 Encouraging interest from the public to go out and vote
Give 2 pieces of evidence that the USA is a two-party system.
- vote has exceeded 80% of the total votes cast.
- All 435 members of the House of Representatives are Republican or Democrat
What are the main reasons for the US having a two-party system?
- fast-past-the-post electoral system
2. the all-embracing nature of the two parties, which allos little room for third parties
Give 3 reasons for increasing partisanship.
- Increasing racial diversity
- Polarising Presidencies
- The end of the Cold War consensus on foreign policy.
Name the 5 obstacles barring third-party achievement
- First-past-the-post electoral system
- Ballot access rules
- Limited funding
- Co-optation
- Broad ideology base of two main parties
Limits on minor parties -
Explain First-past-the-post electoral system
- Winner takes all system means that support must be geographically concentrated to attain any influence.
- E.g 1992 – Ross Perot won 19% of the vote but no Electoral college votes
- This means many people view voting for 3rd parties as a wasted vote
- Significant because used in all elections, federal (presidential), state (congressional) and local
Limits on minor parties -
Explain ballot access rules
- The way third-party candidates qualify to get their names on the ballot paper in each state is significantly more difficult than for other parties.
- States require third party candidates to present a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters in the state.
- E.g In Montana, the figure is 5% of the electorate.
- This takes time and money, and reduces resources available for campaigning once in the race.
Limits on minor parties -
Explain limited funding
- Risky investment = Third parties are nearly always short of financial resources as their previous track-record of lack of success makes them seem like a risky investment. People are reluctant to give money to parities they think will lose.
- Campaign finance laws = in order to qualify for ‘matching funds’, third parties need to have won 5% of the popular vote. However, they can’t do this if they haven’t run an election before.
- E.g Ross Perot could not qualify for matching funds in the 1992 election because he had not run before.
- This is a crucial detail because in modern electioneering is very large. In order to get the exposure candidates need to gain votes, candidates must be able to fund TV adverts/ state visits e.t.c
Limits on minor parties -
Explain Co-optation
- If third parties’ policies show signs of gaining popular support, major party candidates are adept at subsuming them into their own programs.
- E.g both Bill Clinton and George Bush addressed the federal budget issue after Ross Perot got so much support by talking about it.
