US Political parties Flashcards

Question

What are the 3 main factions in the Demcratic party?

Answer 1

1. Blue Dog Coalition - willing to compromise with Republicans, moderate Democrats, support ‘fiscal responsibility’ and are more neutral on social issues such as gun control and gay rights - Henry Cuellar 2. New Democrat Coalition - now the 2nd largest Dem caucus with 94 members 2024 - committed to economic growth, pro-innovation and fiscally responsible policies- members come from a wide range of states - centrist - Henry Cuellar 3. Congressional Progressive Caucus - now the largest faction with 104 members - Chair is Pramila Jayapal - Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is part of it - align with the PG Justice Democrats promoting economic justice for all and advancing environmental protection - represent blue districts

Answer 2

A progressive PAC In 2020 they endorsed 16 Democrat candidates in House races Successful candidates were Cortez and Omar They fight for the Green New Deal, Medicare for all, free college, ending mass incarceration and deportation, and rejecting all corporate PAC money

Answer 3

1. Tuesday Group - moderate/centrist Reps - pragmatic approach to government - similar to Dem Blue Dogs want to find bipartisan approaches to issues - 15 House members 2. Republican Study Committee - 147 conservative Reps is the largest caucus in the whole of the house comprising of 3/4 of House Reps - limited govt, high defence spending, preserving traditional values, defend 2nd amendment and balancing the federal budget 3. Freedom caucus - most right wing, despite being termed ‘freedom’ !! - 30 members - blends social conservatism on areas such as abortion and LGBTQ+ rights with a passion for small government and libertarianism - chair in 2019 Andy Biggs was one of the 2 Reps who voted AGAINST the $8.3 billion emergency COVID measure including funds for a vaccine - Rep districts

Answer 4

1. Geography 2. Ideology 3. Demographics 4. Cohesiveness

Answer 5

South went from Dem to Rep East and West Coast went from Rep to Dem

Answer 6

1976 and 2016

Answer 7

Rep now Dem

Answer 8

Dem but is now Rep

Answer 9

When LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act 1964 he said ‘We have lost the South for a generation’ Although the South didn’t immediately flip, Goldwater and Nixon targeted disillusioned Southerners

Answer 10

Driving out black Reps from state party leaderships, covert racist language, emphasis on states’ rights, tough line on law and order. Political commentators view it as dog whistle politics (messages that appear to mean one thing for the population and another for a particular group)

Answer 11

Storm Thurmond - who filibustered the CRA 1957

Answer 12

Moderate republicans

Answer 13

Senator Edward Brooke

Answer 14

1. Strong law and order platform 2. Fallout from desegregation continued - opposed ‘busing’ where schools were forced to become more racially diverse 3. Growth in liberal opposition led to conservative stances on abortion and LGBTQ+ rights

Answer 15

Reps - white evangelicals living in rural small-town America, also less likely to be educated to a degree level or above Dems - urban, diverse backgrounds including African Americans and Hispanic, also less likely to be religious and more likely to be degree educated

Answer 16

Dems portray them as racists, bigots and hostile to women’s rights Reps portray them as unpatriotic, subversive socialists, enemies of faith-based values and wish to take away the rights of gun owners

Answer 17

How united a party is when it comes to voting

Answer 18

bipartisanship - Obamacare and Trump tax cuts passed with very little support from the opposing party

Answer 19

LBJ relied on Reps to get the bill through The Act was even more popular with Reps in the Senate! 81% Reps vs 69% Democrats

Answer 20

Many key congressional votes reflect high levels of party unity (2018 Reps stuck with their party 91% of time vs 89% of time for Dems) Far fewer legislators break with their party compared to precious decades - Trump’s victory enhanced this divide In terms of policy, both parties are increasingly cohesive on controversial issues such as abortion and gun rights Many political commentators have referred to Trump’s effective takeover of the Republican party despite starting as an outsider - many were unwilling to criticise Trump There is a growing emphasis on a unified party platform - 2018 Democrats campaigned under the ‘Better Deal’ programme which focused on ‘better jobs, better wages and a better future’

Answer 21

Bipartisan votes and party rebellions still occur - March 2020 CARES Act was passed with bipartisan support, and 10 House Reps voted to impeach Trump in 2021, as well as 7 senators Senate party unity votes fell from 69% in 2017 to under 50% in 2018 There are policy areas, such as financial regulation of Wall Street and lowering prescription charges, where there is common ground - CJS Reps want to cut jail numbers to save money while Dems the same because they emphasise rehabilitation (parties are internally divided but united with the other main party) Some of Trump’s less conventional policies have led to unease in some Rep quarters - e.g. Trump wanting to cut ties with NATO and WHO There is no real compulsion for a party’s candidate to subscribe to the party’s entire platform - can be selective in their campaign pledges

Answer 22

When seeking their party’s nomination To prove to the people they can ‘govern and deliver’ During presidential election

Answer 23

End of the 2-year term - lame duck period Ending of pork barrelling (officially at least) has reduced some of the direct incentives for party loyalty

Answer 24

The argument that parties have become weak and enfeebled, with little real power or grip on US politics

Answer 25

The argument that parties remain central to US political life and have grown in importance and relevance in recent times

Answer 26

That the US party system meant very little in practice The parties are ‘Two bottles, each having a label denoting the type of liquor it contains, but each being empty’

Answer 27

44% (46% said yes) - however this could not be said now ! Yet this doesn’t mean the parties are necessarily alive and well

Answer 28

‘The Party’s over’ - it argued that the party system was not working and had contributed to a dysfunctionality in US politics Are US parties merely ‘badges without a meaning’? Parties had largely abdicated their role in formulating policy and had left much to ‘experts’ (the Walt Rostows and Henry Kissingers) Congressional leadership was too weak as leaders have little real power - leadership ought to be held to accountable for bringing legislation to the floor and provide opportunity for opposing party alternatives He also argued to end the Senate filibuster and Electoral College President has become too powerful with powers centralised in the White House Broder also argues for restrictions on campaign finance

Answer 29

more democracy; our parties are weak principally because we do not use them. To be strong and responsible, our parties must be representative. Millions more of us need to get into partisan political activity’

Answer 30

Growth in primaries at all levels of US politics has rendered the candidate selection role of parties largely redundant Most political campaigns are candidate rather than party focused (Trump as an example) Quality of the candidate is emphasised most Parties play a small role in political communication- aside from the national nominating convention, most rallies and ads are created by individual candidates - social media has accelerated this - parties are doing less and less and instead leaving it to the individual Many US voters have traditionally split their ticket suggesting that parties have less importance than individual candidates (New Hampshire in 2020 had an incumbent Dem senator and incumbent Rep governor) Voter turnout has decreased in recent times suggesting wider disenchantment with US politics and its party system US parties remain broad ‘big tent’ and often comprised of conflicting outlooks and policies - much division within parties (e.g. Democrat division to the ICE agency) as well as factions

Answer 31

Primaries reinforce the ‘party brand’s nearly all aspiring candidates choose to align themselves with one of the 2 main parties - when primaries end the party usually comes together around the winners Although campaigns are heavily focused on individuals, in nearly all cases their personal message reflects commonly held values and policies within their party The Hill committees and other associated groups run adverts, direct donor funding and seek to promote candidates - especially those seen as strong and fighting close races Split ticket voting has shown a marked decreased in recent years (in 2016 every state holding a senate election that year also voted for the presidential candidate from the same party) - in 2020 only Maine was the exception Voter turnout has not fallen consistently (2020 saw an increase to 66.1%) US parties have become increasingly narrow and homogenous in terms of both policy platform and support base - polarisation and hyper-partisanship in Congress and among the public now dominate the political scene

Answer 32

…but disparate structures’ - parties are clearly being renewed in terms of ideological depth and content, but not as centralised structures The party is FAR from over, it has just moved into several different venues

Answer 33

1. No party leader - National nominating conventions select candidates not leaders 2. Most campaigns focus on the individual rather than the party label 3. Power within parties is dispersed not concentrated (100 state parties, associated groups, chamber leaders, speaker, chairs to the DNC and RNC, as well as PGs) 4. The federal nature and size of the USA exacerbates this problem - state parties retain significant control (for example over primary elections) 5. Above all perhaps is the rise of direct primaries as opposed to old-style machine politics to select candidates- most elected politicians are independent political operators whose main concerns are to not upset wealthy donors, interest groups and their strong core ideological voters (however Trump was a paradox here) 6. Absence of effective sanctions especially over rebel legislators (departure of Steve King was down to voters in the primary rather than party leader Mitch McConnell)

Answer 34

Green party (Jill Stein) Libertarian party (Angela McArdle) American Independent Party (George Wallace)

Answer 35

Bernie Sanders (Vermont) Angus King (Maine) Kyrsten Sinema (Arizona) Sanders and King caucus with the Democrats

Answer 36

Ross Perot 19%

Answer 37

Paul Mitchell

Answer 38

1971 1980s

Answer 39

There is arguably 100 state parties

Answer 40

In certain close elections third parties/independents can influence the final outcome, often acting as ‘spoilers’ (Had Ralph Nader from the Green party not stood it would be accurate to assume most of his votes would have gone to Gore, who would have then became the president Congressional elections can occasionally be directly influenced by the presence of independents/third party candidates (true in 2018 for Maine’s 2nd district - Rep winner in the first round failed to win when independent votes were redistributed) When 3rd parties/independents have policies that prove attractive to voters, these are often co-opted by one of the 2 main parties (Ross Perot’s pledge for a balanced budget adopted by both parties, and the ‘Green New Deal’ by progressive Democrats)

Answer 41

In most presidential elections, third-party and independent candidates fail to make any impact on the final outcome Maine is the only state currently using anything other than FPTP for congressional elections - means many wasted votes Third party candidates and independents lack a high-profile media presence and are rarely able to participate in TV debates (Jill Stein was arrested trying to do so!) They are often labelled as extremist and/or irrelevant 2 independent senators caucus with the Democrats so are effectively Democrats

Answer 42

‘In this rigged two-party system third parties almost never win a national election. Our function is to push hitherto taboo issues onto the public stage and to keep the progressive agenda alive’