Chapter ElevenPolitical Parties

Instructor: Kevin SextonCourse: U.S. Political SystemsSoutheast Missouri State University

What Is A Political Party

A group of individuals with common beliefs, values and opinionsthat band together to affect public policy by

attempting to get their members elected to public office.

Differences between INTEREST GROUPS & POLITICAL PARTIES

How they work:

• Political Parties attempt to effect public policy by getting their members elected to public office.• Interest Groups attempt to effect public policy without getting their members elected to public office.

Who their members are:

• Political Parties are INCLUSIVE• Interest Groups are EXCLUSIVE

The Parties In Different Contexts

Political Parties in the United States can actually be described as three differenttypes of organizations, depending on the CONTEXT of the party being discussed.

What I mean by CONTEXT is where is the party doing it’s work. There are threeParticular PLACES or CONTEXTS in which parties operate.

The three CONTEXTS or PLACES are:

1.The Party in the ELECTORATE2.The Party in the GOVERNMENT3.The Party as an ORGANIZATION

Roles of Political Parties(These are not in your textbook)

1. Recruit Candidates2. Nominate Candidates3. Mobilize Voters4. Contest Elections5. Form Governments6. Coordinate Policies across independent units of government7. Provide Accountability

Brief History of Political Parties in the United States

The history of political parties in the U.S. can be broken down into 6 eras.

To understand the concept of different eras we need to look at a series of terms and concepts.

1. Party Alignment2. Critical Election

3. Realignment

1st and 2nd Party Eras

1st Era (Jeffersonian)• Barely recognized as a party era.• Because not many people involved in the political process• Nomination of presidential and vice-presidential candidates controlled by a congressional caucus.

Critical Election: 18282nd Era (Jacksonian)• Introduced use of the National Nominating Conventions(1832).• First time a party was based on mass participation.• Democrats and Whigs were primary parties.• Economics and Territorial Expansion were basic issues of the day.• Democrats splintered as northern and southern members could not agree on a candidate.

• Both nominated a candidate (combined they got 60% of the pop. vote).• Abe Lincoln won the election with 40% of the pop. vote.

Critical Election: 1860

3rd and 4th Party Eras

3rd Era (Civil War and Reconstruction)

• Parties gained great levels of control over the political process.• “Party Machines” are the model of the day.

• i.e. Tammany Hall (NYC)• Candidates continued to be nominated by the party. • Only popular choice came after the party nominated the individuals.

Critical Elections: 1932 & 1936

Critical Election: 1896

4th Era (Industrial Republican)

• Progressive reforms weaken party control.• Australian Ballot• Direct Primary• Pendleton Act

5th and 6th Party Eras

5th Era (New Deal)

• Dominated by the Democrats.• Because they were able to bring together the “common” man.• Repeal of the Democrats 2/3rds rule allowed the Democratic Party to eventually nominate more “pro-civil rights” candidates for president.• Democrats become the new party of the blacks.

• Solid Democratic south became a Solid Republican South.

Critical Election: 1968

6th Era (Divided Government)

• Neither party has had dominant control during this period.• Republicans dominated the presidential races, but Democrats rarely lost control of the House or the Senate.• It has been suggested that parties have become so weak they cannot become powerful enough to force a realignment to create a new party era.

Two Party SystemIt is true that we have a TWO-PARTY system.

Why do we have a two-party system?

Is it required in the Constitution?

NO.

We have a TWO-SYSTEM because of the way we chose/elect the elected officials in this country.

Our elected officials are selected through a process that isknown as a:

Single-member, Simple Plurality (SMSP) System

SMSP Electoral System

Single-Member

• Each election that is held has ONE winner that is elected to represent the whole district.

• also known as “winner takes all.”

Simple Plurality

• The winner of the election is the candidate that receives a plurality of the votes cast.

• Majority is 50.1% of the votes cast.• Plurality is getting more votes than anyone else.

Proportional Electoral System

Many democracies select the members of the national legislature based on the following:

1. Multiple-Member Districts• More that one “winner” in each district.

2. “Winners” are based on the percent of the popular vote that each party receives.

Side by Side Comparison of theSMSP & Proportional Electoral Systems

SMSP

Party A ---- 31% of votes castParty B ---- 33% of votes castParty C ---- 36% of votes cast

One person will represent the district.

Candidate from Party C is the winner.

WHY?

That candidate won more votes than any other candidate.

Proportional

Party A ---- 30% of votes castParty B ---- 40% of votes castParty C ---- 10% of votes castParty D ---- 20% of votes cast

10 people will represent the district.

• 3 individuals from Party A “win.”• 4 individuals from Party B “win.”• 1 individual from Party C “win.”• 2 individuals from Party D “win.”

Which System discourages THIRD PARTIES?

WHY?

Third Parties• As the previous slide shows, Third Parties have very little

legitimate chance of winning elected office in this nation.• There are sporadic instances where a Third Party candidate

might win a local office. •But with the exception of Gov. Ventura, in Minnesota there have

not been many other Third Party candidates that have won a state or national office.

If this is the case, why do Third Parties exist?

Most Third Parties that provide any true impact are short lived.

This is because any Third Party that attracts “significant” popularsupport (votes) will have major parts of their platform “co-opted”

by one or both of the major political parties.

i.e. Ross Perot & Ralph Nader

Strength of Parties in the U.S.

Key events have reduced the power of political parties in the U.S.

1. Civil Service Reform2. Open Primary

3. Australian Ballot4. Increased Mobility of the Population

5. Technological Advances

From the mid-1980s the national party organizations have seenAn increase in their influence over campaigns, but not an increase

In their influence over candidates.

Elections have become more candidate-centered and less party-centered.

Candidate- Versus Party-CenteredPolitics

Voters have begun looking more closely at the individualcandidates in an election, and assessing the values and

abilities of the candidates.

Split Ticket Voting is more common today.

In past years individuals in the U.S. looked very closely atWhat party a candidate belonged to. If they belonged to

“their” party that is the person they voted for.

Straight Party Voting was common.

Parties have therefore become less powerfulAnd

We continue to see Divided Government