Political Parties
Political Parties
• What Are Political Parties?
• The Two-Party System in America
• The Function of Political Parties
• Parties and Elections
• The Role of Minor (Third) Parties
• Parties and Public Policy
• Parties and Democracy
Political Ideology (Belief System)
• A coherent set of beliefs about the role of government, politics, and public policy.
- How the government should operate and what it should do.
Political Parties: The Basics
• Group of people with a similar political ideology who join together to CONTROL the government– Similar ideas– Want their ideas to become public policy– Gain power by winning elections
– United States• Dominated by two parties• Coalition – large group with various interests
Functions of a Party
• Nominating• Government Business• Informer-Stimulator• Seal of Approval• Watchdog
Nominating Candidates Four Ways to Nominate
1.Caucuses- local meetings held to nominate candidates (19 states today- Iowa, Hawaii, Maine, Idaho, Colorado…)2.Nominating Conventions- official public meeting of a party to choose candidates3.Petition- a person announces their candidacy and files petitions (with signatures) to get onto a ballot4.Primary Elections- party members vote to select people to run in the general election (most common today)
Government Business
• Create public policy (make the laws)
Informer-Stimulator
• Informs the public about the issues and stimulates interest and discussion
Seal of Approval
• Approves candidates• Ensure candidates are
qualified
Watchdog
• Party out of power criticizes party in power
State of the Union 2016• President Obama provided his vision for the
coming year and the current “state” of our Union.
– Nikki Haley (Gov. (R) SC) – GOP response
The Two Party System
• Two Party System – A system in which two parties dominate the political system
• US has always had a two party system
-Federalists and Anti-Federalists
• Minor parties exist, but they have a difficult time winning in national elections; minor parties have had success at the local level
American Third Parties
• Third parties have played an important role in American politics.
• Spoiler role – (2000 Election Bush V Gore) Nader Green Party
• The ideas of the third party may be adopted by one of the major parties. (Green Party pushes for major parties to adapt “Green policies”.)
Minor Parties• Single issue – solving one problem
(Prohibition Party)
• Ideological – complete idea of solving all problems in society (Socialist Party)
• Economic Protest – hard economic times(Greenback Party 1876, Tea Party-Present)
• Splinter – splits off one of the major parties (Bull Moose Party- 1912, Libertarian Party- Present Day)
American Third (Minor) PartiesWhy do we have a Two-Party System
1.History and Tradition- we began as two-parties and remained that way.
2.Electoral System- Single-member districts; only one person wins, so a vote for a minor party candidate is seen as a wasted vote. (Winner-take-all system)
3.Consensus- Americans agree on most important matters. Minor parties that disagree with the consensus do not get support
Voting for a Third Party candidate, is seen as a wasted vote!
Political Parties
• One Party Systems– Usually found in authoritarian gov’ts.
– Power through force - Communist China. Theocracies are also usually a one party sys. Iran
• Multi Party Systems– Most common system in the world
– Represent widely different ideologies– One party rarely gets enough support for control– Often combine to form coalitions– These systems can be politically unstable
Political Parties
• Two Party Systems– About a dozen nations have two party systems– Two parties dominate– Minor parties exist
Two Party Systems
• Federalists vs. Anti Federalists (Democratic Republicans)
• Democrats vs. Whigs
• Democrats vs. *Republicans (1860 - 1932)
• 1932 – 1968 Democrats Dominated
• 1968 – Present - Divided Government
Movement Away From the Major Parties
• More independents
• More Spilt ticket voting- voting for different parties in the same election.
Example
Governor- (R) √
Senator- (D) √
Congressmen- (R) √
Sample Ballot