Unit 1 - Political Parties - American✅

Question 1

DEMOCRATIC Taxes and Economy

Answer 1

The party is committed to helping all Americans deal with economic issues
- the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment provided an $831 billion stimulus to an economy is recession

Taxes :

• Extended Bush Tax Cuts for all except those earning over $400,000 per year
• increased tax on highest income earners by 4% in 2013

Question 2

DEMOCRATIC Government Size and regulation

Answer 2

Economic stimulus package of $787 bn to encourage growth after 2008 financial crash

• $50 billion bailout of GM and Chrysler
• President Obama signed the Dodds Frank Financial Regulation Act into law and it aimed to regulate the bank and prevent excesses which initially lead to the banking crisis

Question 3

DEMOCRATIC Health Care and Welfare

Answer 3

Party is committed to turning around struggling schools and to expanding public school options including teacher led schools and career advice
- families making less than $125,000 will get free tuition for in state students at public colleges

Healthcare : they are against privatisation and marketisation in health care and social security
- Obamacare was passed to extend healthcare to roughly 40 million Americans who did not have health insurance
(All democrats in Congress voted against the repeal of Obamacare proposed by the GOP’s in 2017

Question 4

DEMOCRATIC Social Issues

Answer 4

Abortion : they have strong support for Roe vs Wade
(He was described as supportive as he repealed the Mexico City Ban that stopped money from going to foreign groups that promote abortion

Civil Rights : defend civil rights repealed a law called the DONT ask don’t tell (2010)

In 2012 Obama and Joe Biden came out in favour of gay marriage.

Drugs policy: Obama used the power of pardon to grant clemency to many low lying non violent drug offenders.

Question 5

DEMOCRATS The environment

Answer 5

They are committed to affective environmental policy.

In 2014 he agreed to a deal with China to cap carbon emissions and increase the use of renewable energy.

He opposed the building of the Keystone XL pipeline.

In 2015 he signed the clear power plan which promised a 32% reduction in power plant carbon dioxide emissions.

Question 6

DEMOCRAT Others

Answer 6

Gun control: they recognise the right to bear arms but it should be subject to reasonable regulation.

In 2016 Obama announced executive actions including expansion of background checks before guns could be purchased.

Foreign policy: Obama restored diplomatic relations with Cuba and he helped bring the Iraq war to an end and killed Osama bin laden.

Immigration :
Support immigration reform
- 2012 Executive Order halted the deportation of illegal immigration under 30 (DREAM)
- 2014 EO have deportation relief to 5 million undocumented immigrants
- SC appointments

Question 7

Democratic Scale

Answer 7

Liberal

• support a strong role of the government in the economy for regulating business
• believe that the state should provide for those in need through social security and Medicare
• support the rights of trade unions and oppose from free trade deals - NAFTA
• believe in progressive taxation and the wealthy should support the poor
• support civil rights for gays and support women’s right to choose
• oppose the unilateral use of American force and largely anti war
• favour gun control legislation
• support illegal immigrants in granting a pathway to citizenship

Blue dog

• fiscally conservative - believe in balanced budgets and low taxes
• government should help those in need but should be as small as possible
• against trade union rights
• the well of should help those poorer than themselves but government should not encourage dependency culture
• against same sex marriage
• largely anti abortion
• believe in promoting free trade and deregulation of the economy
• pro gun rights
• more willing to use military force
• some opposition to blanket amnesty for illegal immigrants

Question 8

Who votes for the democrats and why ?

Answer 8

Gender
Female : 54% Democrat and 41% Republican

Race
66% of Latino and Hispanic voted Democrat

LGBTQ+
77% of LGBTQ who voted were Democrat

Income
Lower income voters were Democrat and of those who earned under $50,000- 53% were democratic and 41% were Republican
- $100,000 or more were relatively equal in %

Age 30-44
41% Democratic
Age 18-29
55% Democratic

Race
89% of black people voted democratic and 9% voted Republican

Question 9

REPUBLICAN Taxes

Answer 9

They largely voted against tax increases on higher earners which was passed by Obama and they
- wanted to reduce corporate tax to 15% and repeal all tax breaks for companies

Question 10

REPUBLICAN Government Size and Regulation

Answer 10

They believe in free market and that the government shouldn’t limit what business can do

• they want to reduce the size of the government
• get rid of bank and financial regulation

Question 11

REPUBLICAN Health Care an Welfare

Answer 11

Trump claimed that he was going to repeal Obamacare and replace it with a plan that would give states more control over Medicaid health plan for the poor and allows insurers to sell plans nationally

Question 12

REPUBLICAN The environment

Answer 12

They commonly place business concerns over those of environmental concerns

• they supported and passed the building of the Keystone XL pipeline
• oppose caps on omissions given off by power plants which was introduced by China

Question 13

REPUBLICAN Social Issues

Answer 13

They believed that states should have the right to manage their own policies with regard to medical and recreational marijuana (after the election he reversed his opinion)

Trump also expressed the support of limits on legal immigration and a pause of green careful - meaning he would deport millions of undocumented immigrants

Question 14

REPUBLICAN Foreign Policy

Answer 14

Trump withdrew from the TPP and wanted to renegotiate the terms of NAFTA .
He claimed that climate change ‘was a hoax’ and withdrew from the Paris Climate Deal 2015 and also reduced the funding for the EPA

He cut down on on the planned parenthood programme

• wanted to ban trans people from serving in the military
• had opposition to any gun restrictions
• support public displays of religious symbols
• favour increased military spending and more inclined to use force abroad

Question 15

GOP scale

Answer 15

Moderate (RINO)
They are commonly quite conservative on tax and spend issues but they are more free on social issues …
- more likely to support abortion
- tend not to speak as much about their faith
- more likely to support a path to citizenship for illegal immigrant s
- may support some recognition for gay marriage

Also believe that the government should play some role in regulating businesses and the environment

Tea Party

• they oppose all forms of gay marriage and tend to speak a lot about their faith
• they are very conservative on tax and spend Issues
• in favour of no control over the sale of guns
• very strict in their attitude to illegal immigrants

Also believe rhat the government should play no role in regulating business and the environment

Question 16

Different types of GOP

Answer 16

Establishment Conservatives

Evangelical Conservative 
They have the conservative Christian Political factions that are characterised by their strong support of socially conservative policies 
- school prayer 
- embryonic stem cell research 
- homosexuality 
- contraception 
- pornography 

Tea Party : economic capitalisation / hostility towards government and immigration

The movement began following Obama’s first presidential inauguration- when administration announced that plans to give fundamental aid to bankrupt owners

• reducing government spending and lowering taxes
• movement also opposes universal healthcare and they want a smaller state

Moderate (RINO)
They share the same economic views with GOP’s - balanced budget , lower tax, free trade , deregulation and welfare reform
- some moderates may be less interventionist than neoconservatives
- legal access and funding for abortion , gun control laws, environmental regulation , fewer restrictions on legal immigration and relaxed enforcement on illegal immigration

Libertarians (classic liberal platform)
It is more culturally liberal than Democrats but more fiscally conservative than the GOP’s
- they promote civil liberties , non interventionism in capitalism and economy and abolition of welfare state - no religion
- supporting same sex marriage, supporting gun ownership rights
- they are non interventionist in foreign policy

THEY ARE THE THIRD LARGEST PARTY IN THE UNITED STATES

Question 17

Who votes for Republicans ?

Answer 17

11% more men voted for Republican than Democrat
- 52% Republican

White , non- college graduates voted 66% Republican (immigration is reducing their job opportunities)

60% people who have served in US military overwhelmingly voted Republicans

56% of Protestant , Catholic, Christian voted Republic

80% of Evangelical voted Republican

57% of white voted Republican and demographically , the white communities are wealthier

65+ , 52% voted Republican
45-64 , 52% voted Republican

Rural voters - 61% Republican

Question 18

Social issues - S & D

Answer 18

S

• Blue dogs more likely to agree with GOP
• 2013 Gun Control Bill had bi- partisan support
• Some moderate Senate Republicans support Obama’s plan for immigration reform

D
Differences on gun control, abortion and gay marriage

Question 19

The Environment S & D

Answer 19

S
- Blue Dogs are more likely to agree with Republican positions

D
- DEMOCRATS: believe the threat of climate change and aim to improve it
- REPUBLICANS : said that climate change is far from the nations most pressing issue
- oppose all forms of international accord including Paris Climate Agreement
Republicans favour widespread oil and gas exploration - reflected by the Keystone XL pipeline

Question 20

Other S & D

Answer 20

S
- both agree on continuing Medicare and Medicaid ; both agree on spending to ensure a strong military

D
- REPUBLICANS : believe that the government is the problem and it shouldn’t be as involved with the people

• DEMOCRATS : They believe that the government is a force of good

Question 21

Taxes S & D

Answer 21

S

• they are both against raising taxes on the middle class
• some moderate republicans voted in favour of Obama Tax increase in those earning over $400,000

D
DEMOCRATS : favour of higher corporate tax
DEMOCRATS : wanted to increase tax on the wealthiest
REPUBLICANS : propose an across - the - board cut in all income tax raises

Question 22

Government spending and social welfare programmes S & D

Answer 22

S
Both parties propose to continue government funding of Medicare, Medicaid and social security
- both parties share the goal of reducing the federal government deficit

D
REPUBLICANS : opposed Obama’s $800 billion stimulus package
REPUBLICANS : opposed Obamacare
REPUBLICANS : favour more privatisation and market competition of healthcare and social security

Question 23

Defence and foreign affairs S & D

Answer 23

S
Both parties showed support in war with Afghanistan and they full showed full support in going to war with the Islamic State

D
DEMOCRATS : support nuclear agreement between Iran and 6 world powers ( the country should not hesitate to take military action if Iran violates the agreement
DEMOCRATS : they call for congressional authorisation of military
- they can use military action to fight international terrorism
- HOWEVER - they rejected the vilification of Muslims

REPUBLICANS : staunchly oppose accord and rejected Iran Nuclear Deal
REPUBLICANS : support continued partnership with Iraqis to eradicate terrorist Groups from the region

Question 24

Evidence for third party politics

Answer 24

• Green Party and libertarian party are examples of permanent third parties
• Green Party is issue based
• libertarian party is ideological
• two independents in the US senate could in theory hold balance of power (52-48-2)
• Ross Perot has 19% of the vote in 1992 and also had a big impact on issues discussed during campaign such as greater focus on balanced budget
• on three occasions , 1968, 1992, 2000 argued fhat a third party decided the outcome ; 2000 Nadars 2.7% for the Green Party cost Al Gore his presidency

Question 25

Evidence for no third party impacts

Answer 25

• political coverage and conservation is dominated by two main parties
• 0% representation for third parties or independents in the House of Representatives and 98% of Senate is Republican or Democrat
• all presidents since 1900’s have either been Democrat or Republican
• in the 2008 election, all third party candidates only managed to poll 1.9 million votes of the 131 million cast- they are sectional, ideological, regional or promote a single issue

Question 26

Factors limiting influence of third parties in the US

Answer 26

Electoral system : FPTP which can make it difficult for third parties to solidify any influence

• in 1968 George Wallace won 45 ECV with 13% of vote
• in 1992, Ross Perot won no ECV with 19% of vote ; his votes were spread throughout the USA instead of concentrated within one state

Lack of resources : third parties and individuals cannot qualify for matching funds
- they must spend money on ballot access petitions rather than on real campaigning - people are reluctant to give money to third parties as they know they are not going to win
IT IS A CATCH 22 SITUATION

Co-optation : adoption of an independents key policies by one or both major parties
- 1972; Nixon launched Wallace’s southern strategy to woo the voters of Wallace

Lack of media coverage : they are not sufficiently newsworthy

• candidates are usually also barred from appearing in both state and national televised debates and in 2000 only Bush and Gore could appear in debate and not Nadar
• third parties can rarely afford the cost of making - let alone airing commercials

Matching funds : third parties are disadvantages by the way they qualify for matching funds as they have to get 5% of the popular vote in the previous election

• only 3 candidates achieved it , 1968 (Wallace), 1980 (Anderson), 1992 (Perot)
• they often only contest in one election because it is too much money

BALLOT ACCESS LAWS : laws in each state regulate how third party candidates can qualify - Tennessee requires 25 signatures on petition
CALIFORNIA : number of signatures required is equal to 1% electorate

Question 27

Arguments against party decline

Answer 27

• the party leadership in Congress have seen increasing control over members and higher levels of policy discipline than ever experienced before
• the two parties have become more ideologically coherent with more partisanship evidence in politics
• parties give money in donations to candidates and will back opposing candidates to enforce discipline with the party
• parties use the media effectively to communicate with the public and spend a lot of money doing this to ensure that public are given the best image possible

Question 28

Arguments for party decline

Answer 28

• elections have become much more candidate focused with individual candidates funding their own campaigns and crafting their own identity
  + less about party labels and more about what the candidate proposes
• the party leadership has found it difficult to enforce discipline on their members on a number of occasions
  + GOP cannot get 50 votes for a majority to win
  + In regards to attempting to repeal Obamacare , Collins voted against it which hindered the ability to get stuff done
• pressure groups have become more important in exerting influence over the positions taken by candidates
  + Americans for Prosperity have increasing influence and money
• the media has taken the role of parties as a communicator with the public - the ride of talk radio, cable news means that people are not having their opinions shaped by the actual party
• parties have lost control over the selection process of candidates ; public now chose candidates and can be further influenced by Groups such as Club for Growth
  + in 2016, Donald Trump was not wanted by majority of Republicans in Senate or House