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Today: (1) Political Parties and Elections (continued) (2) The Founders’ Legacy (3) Westward Expansion and Democracy
Today:(1) Political Parties and Elections
(continued)
(2) The Founders’ Legacy
(3) Westward Expansion and Democracy
Structure and party politics
U.S. System Single representative
districts Plurality
“winner takes all”
Separate election for Pres. Requires “majority” of
electors
Elections at fixed intervals
Parliamentary system Proportional rep. of
parties
Legislature elects PM Often requires a coalition
Legislature calls elections
Small parties form and have significant influenceTwo parties dominate
PLURALITY:The largest block of votes cast.
MAJORITY:More than half of all votes cast.
AB
C
45%
25%
30%
Two Party System:A Dance to the Middle
Requires compromise of ideals
Fixation on “image” Fosters accusations of
extremism Excessively responsive to
polls/focus groups
Produces majoritarian outcomes
Extremely stable over time Organizes elec. activity
Produce/support candidates Inform/mobilize the electorate
Organizes gov’t activity Cong. leadership Legislative agendas
FARLEFT LEFT MIDDLE RIGHT
FARRIGHT
Radical: use almost any means to make revolutionary changes.
Liberal: use Gov’t to make significant changes to society.
Conservative: society achieve incremental change on its own.
Reactionary: aggressively turn back the clock.
Moderate
FARLEFT LEFT MIDDLE RIGHT
FARRIGHT
ideological½ & ½practical½ & ½ ideological
The American Party System:
D R
Independent
Constitutional Structure and Politics
Effective third party candidacies may affect elections if they draw votes from only one major party. 1912: T. Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party split
the Republican vote. 1992: Ross Perot may have pushed some
electoral votes to Clinton. 2000: Ralph Nader probably cost Gore the
Florida electoral votes.
Presidential Election of 1912
Candidate % of Popular Vote
Electoral Votes
Woodrow Wilson
42% 435
Theodore Roosevelt
27% 88
William Taft 23% 8
Eugene Debs 6% 0
Presidential Election of 1912
Elections in the American System
With two parties, straightforward strategy for winning: Position yourself in the middle and portray
your opponent as being extreme.Candidates who win the middle win the
election.
liberal conservative
Typical Presidential Election:Run to the middle of the party during the primaries.Then move to the middle of all voters in the election.
liberal conservative
Year Democrat Republican1960 John Kennedy
49.7% 305Richard Nixon49.6% 219
liberal conservative
Year Democrat Republican2000 Albert Gore
48.4% 266George Bush47.9% 271
liberal conservative
Year Democrat Republican2004 John Kerry
48.3% 251George Bush50.7% 286
Presidential Election of 2008
LandPopulation
Electoral Votes
From Michael Gastner, Cosma Shalizi, and Mark Newman, U. of Michigan
liberal conservative
Elections with 1 candidate perceived as extreme
Year Democrat Republican1964 Lyndon Johnson
61% 486Barry Goldwater 38% 52
liberal conservative
Elections with 1 candidate perceived as extreme
Year Democrat Republican1972 G. McGovern
38% 17R. Nixon61% 520
liberal conservative
Elections with 1 candidate perceived as extreme
Year Democrat Republican1984 Walter Mondale
41% 13Ronald Reagan59% 525
Elections in the American System
With both candidates trying to win the middle, issue differences tend to be small.
Campaigns end up being quite superficial, with emphasis on personalities and ads rather than real issues.
On moral issues, though, larger differences tend to remain. It’s harder to move toward the middle with these.
Elections in the American System
What happens after the election? Few major shifts in policy: winning the
middle means that policy tends stay in the middle.
Party discipline is weak compared to most other countries.
Party in power, especially the presidency, is punished if things go badly.
Why should we make an informed vote?
There is a small probability that your vote will decide an election.
Voting is an essential feature of popular government. By voting, we formally give consent. By not voting, we are indicating consent is not important.
Informed voting is an act of virtue. Accumulated acts of virtue can be very
powerful.
Some conclusions as we move on
What is the legacy of the Founding? The rule of law A structure to ensure good governance Enduring principles of separation of powers and
checks and balances A guarantee of fundamental rights Most significant step (by far) to that date in the
move towards people governing themselves And for us…a country with sufficient religious
liberty that we could become who we are as a people and you can sit where you sit today.
Apotheosis: Adams and JeffersonJuly 4, 1826
“Jefferson survives.” “Is it the Fourth?”
Empire of Liberty
Empire of Liberty
The Founders’ system for bringing the West into the US.
The democratization of politics. The West and the American character.
The Founders’ System for Bringing the West into the US.
The West question: Colonies or states? Two key legislative acts. Land Ordinance of 1785.Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
Crucial decision: Make western regions equal states.
Key Elements of Land Policy
Systematic survey of land with divisions down to one square mile (640 acres).
National government owned the land originally and quickly moved it into the hands of small farmers.
Consequences of cheap land and expensive labor
Geographic Mobility. Economic Mobility. West was a “safety valve”. A common democracy.
Democratization of Politics
The benefits of political parties
Provides a competition of ideas The competing leaders of party organizations define alternatives
in public policy. These alternatives are designed in a manner that allows the
public to participate in the decision-making process. The party system is responsible in the sense that these choices
are then made into public policy. Therefore, in a party system, the preferences of individuals can
be expressed to those in government.
The development of the first party system
Differences between Political Elites
Differences between members of Congress
Development of State Political Parties
Weaknesses of the first party system
Dependent upon elites at the national level. Sectional in character: it pitted individuals from
New England against individuals from the South.
Aristocratic in nature. Did not involve broader segments of society.
The development of the second party system
The elements of the party system we recognize today began in the age of Jackson.
Parties became more “democratic” and more dependent on the masses: Political power is brought closer to the people. Appeals to the masses during elections.
It is during the age of Jackson that the United States shifts perceptibly from a republic to a democratic republic.
This is the full flowering of Jefferson’s “Empire of Liberty.”
The Development of the Second Party System
Mass Participation at the state Level through local campaigns.
National Nominating Convention
Selection of Presidential Candidate
Clip on Andrew Jackson:
Jackson is a new kind of political leader. He comes from the people, not from some
eastern seaboard aristocracy.
Andrew Jackson
Appealed to the common man. Introduced spoils system.Asserted Federal supremacy.
Elements of the new party system
Public togetherness: An aspect of party politics in which groups of political party members would gather together in order to have more solidarity and support.
Party newspaper: A journal used by a political party for disseminating party information to and encouraging more active participation among the grass roots voters.
Elements of the new party system
Popular campaigning: Candidates and parties promote themselves as representing the common masses, rather than as elite gentlemen-politicians.
Conventions: Candidates came to be nominated in political conventions where party leaders would convene for the purpose of nominating a slate of candidates.
Elements of the new party system
Political machines came into being to round up votes by “get out the vote activities.” Urban political machines in the late 1800’s and
1900’s could be corrupt. Corrupt in the sense that leaders maintained their
power by their ability to provide material incentives to stay in power.
The founders accused the British of this form of corruption. Now it was in America.
Clip on Boss Tweed
Machines and party leaders reflect the reality of the new political system.
Bosses exist to deliver the vote through whatever means were necessary.
The effects of more democratization
All of these forces in American politics have been moving us towards more responsive public officials. A delegate is a type of representative who follows
the wishes of his or her constituency. A trustee is a representative who acts in accordance
with his or her own best judgment.
Trustee or Delegate?Edmund Burke believed that his constituents deserved his. . . unbiased opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened
conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set of men living. . . .Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion. . . .You choose a member, indeed; but when you have chosen him, he is not member of Bristol, but he is a member of Parliament.—Speech to the electors of Bristol
Tensions between the Constitution and the new system
Madison argues that the responsiveness of officials is important in a republic in order to hold public officials accountable.
However, a republic needs the right leaders to keep the people well-informed and alert.
Does the modern campaign system make accountability and good information possible? In the transition from a republic to a democratic
republic, more demands are made on citizens to make good choices.
Leaders can and do pander to the public.
New Campaign ads:
Do the ads make appeals to reason or do they make appeals to the emotions of the common person?
To the extent they appeal to the emotions of the common person, they are vestiges of Jacksoniandemocracy.
The Democratization of Politics
The common man and politics. Andrew Jackson: first President from the West.
Key changes in party politics. Pros and cons of the new politics.
Cons: Increasing incompetence, spoils system, political machines, slavish submission to public opinion.
Pros: common people injected strong moral sense into politics, expansion of consent.
An American Character?
Did westward expansion and the democratization of politics create an American character? Self Reliance. Individualistic pursuit of happiness.Upward Mobility.Democracy.Country with a mission.
