Political Parties Linkage Institutions Linkage Institutions Political Parties

Political Parties Linkage Institutions

Linkage Institutions Political Parties How do people organize around elections?

Linkages Linkage Institutions

Linkages Linkage Institutions What are they? Institutions that link the people to the government Linkage They are a middle step between people and the government Institutions People rely on them and value them – expect them to play a role

Linkages Linkage Institutions What are they? Are ways that people can communicate their wishes to the government They are a means of delivering information from the government to the people They are a means of delivering information to policy makers from the people They are in place to help the government serve the will of the people

Linkages What are they? Linkage Institutions Political Parties Interest Groups Mass Media Want to decide WHO runs the government Want to decide WHAT the government does Serves as a means of communication between the people and the government

Political Parties Linkage Institutions

{Political Parties Political Party Parties An alliance of people who work together to win elections and control the government They compete against other groups of people for political power They aim to control the government to put their policies into effect to demonstrate their effectiveness at governing They are factions of people who advocate for their own interests

{Political Parties Party in Power Party out of Power Opposition Party Parties In US politics, the party in power is the one that controls the presidency The party that does not control the presidency is seen as the party out of power – no matter how many other parts of the government they control

{Political Parties Components Party Organization These are the people that run the political party itself – day to day operations between elections Party in the Electorate These are the people that support the party by voting for them in elections Party in Government These are the party members who won their elections and control a government office

Functions of Political Parties Linkage Institutions

Political Parties Win Functions The main function of a political party is to win elections Everything else they do is a secondary goal Everything they do is a means to improve their chances in an election or in future elections

Political Parties Control Functions Political Parties want to control the government They want to control who is in control of government offices If they succeed in winning elections, they control offices in government. The more they win – the more control they have

Political Parties Organize Functions Political Parties have to mobilize voters They have to locate potential supporters and convince them to act They have to organize people at very local levels and coordinate all those groups at the national level

Political Parties Inform Functions Political Parties have to inform voters They used to have a near monopoly on political information They still play a role in informing voters about candidates and issues – although their role is diminished significantly They give voters cues on where to stand on certain issues.

Political Parties Raise Money Functions Political Parties have to fund raise They use this to fund campaigns for candidates They have to allocate these funds to races that they have the best chance of winning They raise money in strongholds (CA & NY) and spend it in competitive places

Political Parties Nominate Functions Political Parties pick the people that will run for offices They have to recruit candidates at local level for thousands of offices nationwide They use these officers as a “bench” from which they bring local candidates up to higher offices to run They control forms of nominations like primaries and caucuses

Political Parties Campaign Functions Political Parties run campaigns to help their nominees win They have to advertise for their nominees They advocate for their elections as individuals and advertise for them as groups They also attempt to damage the reputation of the opposing party

Political Parties Watchdog Functions The party out of power monitors the party in power They have to criticize the party in power and blame it for failures They do this with future elections in mind. Criticism of the party in power is an effective form of campaign advertisement Every criticism of the party now hurts that party in the next election

Bigly Ideas Beliefs & Behaviors

History Wrap Up Linkage Institutions Political Parties Components of the Party Functions Focus on these things: