9 Political Parties 9 1 Political Parties A

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Political Parties A political party is a broad coalition of individuals who organize to win elections in order to enact a commonly supported set of public policies. • Political parties fill an essential need by shaping the choices that voters face in elections, which serve as the key mechanism by which voters hold their government accountable. Political Parties 9 -2

Party Platforms The ideological stances and policy preferences of political parties can be found in their Party Platforms. • The platform lays out a party’s core beliefs and policy proposals for each presidential election. ― Party platforms define the positions of the presidential and vice presidential candidates and serve as a general guide to the policy positions of all the candidates running under the party label. Political Parties 9 -3

What Do Parties Do? Party-in-the-Electorate describes the general patterns of voters’ party identification and their behavior on election day • Parties want to maximize party affiliation amongst voters. • Why do people develop party identification? ― Policy preferences ― Family ― Individuals can more formally associate with parties by declaring party preference when registering to vote or by joining a party at the town, county, state, and federal level. Political Parties 9 -4

What Do Parties Do (Cont’d)? Party in Government • Party in Government are members who share the same party affiliation and work together to accomplish the party’s electoral and policy goals. – Party members are organized into party caucuses that vote consistently for issues on the party platform. – The president is also increasingly expected to engage in political support for party candidates, from campaign appearances to party fundraisers. Political Parties 9 -5

Party Organization Party as an Organization • The modern political party structure is a multilevel organization with units at the federal, state, and local levels. – National Committees are at the top level of national political parties; they coordinate national presidential campaigns. – Each major political party has committees dedicated to raising money for incumbent House and Senate members. – State Central Committees are the top level of state political parties that help recruit and raise money for statewide candidates and draft state party policies. – Local Party Organizations are the first level of political parties, that recruit candidates for lower-level elected office, register voters, and ensure they get to the polls on election day. Political Parties 9 -6

Party Organization (Cont’d) Political Parties 9 -7

The Party Nominating Process Primary Elections are elections in which voters select the candidates who will run on the party label in the general election. – At open primaries voters do not have to affiliate with a party before voting. – At semi-closed primaries party affiliated voters cast votes and nonaffiliated voters can choose which party’s primary to vote in. – At closed primaries voters must affiliate with a party before casting a vote. – Because party organizations always want the candidate who is most likely to win the election to be nominated under the party banner, they try to exert control over primaries. Political Parties 9 -8

The Presidential Nomination Presidential nominees are selected via primaries and caucuses. • In a presidential primary, voters cast a vote for a particular candidate, but what they are really doing is choosing delegates who will support that nominee at the party’s national nominating convention. ― A delegate is an individual selected by party voters in a primary or caucus election who is committed to supporting a particular presidential nominee at the party’s national nominating convention. • In a presidential party caucus, which serves the same nominating purpose, the process is less formal and more personal in that party members meet together in town halls, schools, and even private homes to choose a nominee. Political Parties 9 -9

Democratic Party Reform Each state is awarded a number of delegates to the convention by the national party organization based largely on the number of Electoral College votes the state has but also on the size of party support in that state. • The Democratic Party and Republican Party allocate their delegates within the primaries and caucuses differently. ― In the 1960 s members of underrepresented groups objected to the use of the unit rule, or winner-take-all system. ― The Democrats formed the Mc. Govern-Fraser Commission, which recommended proportional representation. Political Parties 9 -10

Democratic Party Reform (Cont’d) Democrats also required that a certain percentage of each state’s delegates would be women, African Americans, and other underrepresented groups, based on their proportion in each state’s population. • States that don’t comply might not have their delegates seated at the National Convention. • Democrats also created superdelegates. − Superdelegates are democratic party delegates who have a vote at the national nominating convention on the basis of party status or position in government and are free to support the presidential nominee of their choice. Political Parties 9 -11

Republican Party Nomination Republicans traditionally have used the unit rule (winner take all) to award their delegates. • However, in August of 2010, the Republican National Committee approved a plan that would award some delegates on a proportional basis. • The shorter nomination process typically gave Republicans an advantage in the general election because their nominee could develop his strategy for the general election far sooner than the Democratic nominee. Political Parties 9 -12

The Timing of Primaries The timing of primaries has become an integral part of the presidential nomination strategy. • Candidates who win in the early primaries can solicit more campaign money and garner more endorsements from key constituent groups than those who lose. • Frontloading is the process of holding many simultaneous primaries early on. This results in more money being spent in states with early primaries and a disproportionate influence in generating publicity and momentum for the winners. – Iowa Caucuses – New Hampshire Primaries Political Parties 9 -13

The History of Political Parties in America Madison and Hamilton predicted the rise of factions, groups of individuals who share a common political goal and ally with each other on a temporary basis to accomplish that goal. • Formed over ratification of the Constitution – – Federalists—Initially, those who supported the Constitution during the ratification period; later, the name of the political party established by supporters of Alexander Hamilton Anti-federalists—Those who opposed the new proposed Constitution during the ratification period Political Parties 9 -14

Emergence of the Democratic Party The Democratic-Republicans party was formed by Thomas Jefferson to oppose the strong central government policies of the Federalists. Internal divisions would split the party apart. • Andrew Jackson lost the 1824 election in the House. • By 1828, the nomination process had been taken over by party members in state legislatures who voted on their preferred nominee either in the legislature or at state party conventions rather than in Congress. • Jackson wanted states to open up the voting process to as many people as possible by eliminating barriers to voting such as property ownership requirements. He won the 1828 nomination. Political Parties 9 -15

Emergence of the Democratic Party (Cont’d) Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren changed the name of the party to Democrat to signal that they were building a new kind of political party organization. • The Jackson-led Democrats emerged as a large grassroots majority political party, and President Jackson used all the powers of the presidency to strengthen his political party around the country. Political Parties 9 -16

Anti-Jackson Parties The anti-Jackson wing of the old Democratic-Republicans had taken the name of the National Republicans. • The National Republicans nominated Henry Clay of Kentucky in 1832. ― Clay encouraged members of the National Republicans to join forces with others who opposed Jackson and to form the Whig Party. • From 1832 to 1856, these two parties, the Democrats and the Whigs, dominated American politics and presidential elections. Political Parties 9 -17

The Republican Party The abolitionist movement, although not a political party per se, pressured the Democrats and Whigs to take a formal position on slavery. • Both the Northern and Southern Democrats and Whigs became divided over the issue of slavery. • Third parties arose, especially those focusing on slavery. – Liberty Party – Free Soilers • The groups were also joined by some antislavery northern Democrats, and the modern Republican Party was born in 1854. Political Parties 9 -18

Party Loyalty and Patronage Just as Jackson worked to expand the electorate, he sought to expand the size of the federal government in order to increase the number of federally funded jobs his party could control. • Patronage is a political system in which government programs and benefits are awarded based on political loyalty to a party or politician. • As the government expanded, so did the party organization. At each level—federal, state, and local—there were parallel party committees. – At each level, party bosses controlled the distribution of public funds by rewarding supporters and withholding them from opponents. Political Parties 9 -19

Party Machines Machine politics described party organizations dominated by a “boss” who controlled the distribution of public jobs and commanded groups of voters to support his preferred candidates. • Boss Tweed Political Parties 9 -20

Party Reform Three developments in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries eroded the party organizations’ control over government jobs and elections. • The creation of a merit-based system of government employment (Civil Service). • The introduction of ballot reforms (Australian ballot). • Introduction of the primary to select party nominees. These developments were led by the progressives. • Progressives were reformers who sought to end corruption in government. Political Parties 9 -21

Party Reform (Cont’d) • • • The 1883 Pendleton Act created the civil service, which was a system of employment in the federal bureaucracy under which employees are chosen and promoted based on merit. Voting procedures were also reformed between 1888 and 1911 as states adopted the so-called Australian ballot system in which state governments run elections and provide voters the option of choosing candidates from multiple parties; also called the secret ballot. Progressives launched grassroots campaigns for direct primaries, run by the state, as a means of nominating party candidates. Political Parties 9 -22

Limited Choice in a Two-Party System The median voter theorem says that if voters select candidates on the basis of ideology and everyone participates equally, then in a two-party race, the party closer to the middle will win. • In this way moderates do have political influence in a two -party system. Political Parties 9 -23

How the Electoral System Encourages a Two-party System The American electoral system is a single-member plurality system, in which one legislative seat (on a city council, in a state assembly, in the House of Representatives) represents citizens who live in a geographically defined district. • To win that seat, a candidate usually needs only a plurality of votes, not a pure majority; that is, more votes than any other candidate but not necessarily 50 percent plus 1. • Because there is only one seat to be won in a district, voters have become accustomed to choosing between candidates from the two major parties. • Many other democracies use proportional representation. Political Parties 9 -24

The Role of Third Parties When the two parties together do not offer policy proposals that a significant number of voters want to see enacted, third parties form. • Significant third parties can compel major parties to act, often by incorporating the third party’s policy proposal into their platforms. • Third parties are an alternative but can also be a spoiler (which can alienate voters). – Ralph Nader and the Green Party Political Parties 9 -25

American Political Parties, 1789– 2010 Political Parties 9 -26

Obstacles to Third Parties and Independents The Democrats and Republicans have controlled state legislatures and Congress for so long that they have successfully structured electoral laws to favor a two party. • State laws typically require thousands of signatures to get that independent or third-party candidate on the ballot. • Third parties have a harder time getting financial backing. • Third parties have less get-out-the-vote organization. • Third parties have less media coverage. • Even if elected, the legislative process is controlled by the major parties, excluding alternative policy proposals. Political Parties 9 -27

Interests Groups and Parties • The two major parties also face challenges from established interest groups and social movements. • They draw attention to the failings of parties to help ensure accountability. • As interest groups have become more aligned with particular parties, their role as a check has decreased. • Parties are most responsive to interest groups when they threaten to withdraw their support or start their own party organization. Political Parties 9 -28

Party Alignment Party alignment occurs when voters identify with a party in repeated elections. Shifts to alignment can occur during external shocks, when public attitudes change, and one party adapts to those changes quickly. • From 1896 to 1932, the basic geographic pattern of party alignment stayed the same. – During the election of 1932, voters were exposed to a new political ideology, or set of consistent political views, about the way that the federal government could work. Political Parties 9 -29

The New Deal and Ideology Franklin Roosevelt championed a vast array of new government programs, commonly referred to as the New Deal. • These programs were designed to help individuals who were jobless, homeless, or otherwise in financial need. • Roosevelt built a coalition of white southerners, workingclass ethnic northerners, liberal advocates for socialist policies, and northern African Americans who had previously been Republicans. • In supporting the New Deal, voters came to accept the ideological viewpoint that government involvement in the economic aspects of individuals’ lives was, on balance, a good thing. Political Parties 9 -30

Parties After 1932 In the aftermath of 1932, the two parties transformed; in fact, it was almost as if they had switched places. • The Democrats changed from a party that believed in state’s rights, low taxes, and little government intervention in individuals’ lives to the party that created a large social safety net that relied on the federal government to ensure personal economic stability. • The Republicans changed from a party that believed in a strong central federal government and in intervention in the economy when necessary to the party of a strictly limited federal government and fiscal responsibility. Political Parties 9 -31

Realignment/Dealignment Voters responded to these partisan and ideological changes by changing their own party allegiances over time, essentially producing a realignment of the electorate. • Realignment refers to a long-term shift in voter allegiance from one party to another. • A majority of voters today, however, indicate a reluctance to identify themselves conclusively with either party. Such a situation suggests an alternative to realignment, known as dealignment. – Some voters split their votes—termed split-ticket voting—between the two major parties in elections. Political Parties 9 -32

The Modern Partisan Landscape The results of the 2008 elections may be a sign that the party landscape is once again shifting. • Clearly the election of an African-American president is a significant turning point in race relations. • Barack Obama received 43 percent of the white vote in 2008; this was 2 percentage points higher than white candidate John Kerry received in 2004. • Obama won five states that had been considered solid Republican states in previous presidential elections. • When voters give one party control of the White House and Congress, they have high expectations for a strong governing track record (responsible parties). Also, leads to intense partisanship and little cooperation. Political Parties 9 -33

The Modern Partisan Landscape (Cont’d) Political Parties 9 -34

Political Parties and Public Policy Political parties lay out their platforms during the campaign season. Once elected, lawmakers try to address issues in the platform. • In the 2008 presidential election, the platforms of both parties addressed environmental protection and energy conservation. • Democratic Environmental Issues – Green Jobs, Renewable Energy, Reduce Greenhouse Gases • Republicans Environmental Issues – Clean, efficient and reliable energy sources; conservation; and tax credits for innovation Political Parties 9 -35

Political Parties and Public Policy (Cont’d) One of President Obama’s first environmental initiatives was to ask Congress to pass a bill to reduce carbon emissions. • Known as the “cap and trade bill, ” it establishes a system whereby the government establishes a maximum amount of carbon emissions for the entire country, with a goal of reducing these emissions 17 percent by 2020. • Many Republicans opposed the bill that was consistent with their platform of trying to use tax credits, which lower taxes, to decrease energy use rather than adopting tax increases or requiring the purchase of government permits. Political Parties 9 -36

Political Parties and Public Policy (Cont’d) • The vote on the climate change bill in the House of Representatives was not a straight party-line vote; members of both parties crossed the political aisle to vote against their party’s official position. • The vote suggests that House members considered local interests and views of constituents more than the party platform. • The Bill stalled in the Senate. Political Parties 9 -37

Focus Questions • • • How do political parties shape the choices voters face in local, state, and federal elections? In what ways do political parties allow voters to hold their elected officials accountable for the policies they produce? How do political parties respond to changes in public opinion on key issues? Do political parties enable all citizens to participate equally in self-government, or do they help give more power to some people and less to others? Explain. Are political parties a gate, or a gateway, to democracy? Political Parties 9 -38