Political Parties Political Parties n Political Party organization

Political Parties

Political Parties n Political Party- organization of individuals with broad, common interest who organize to win elections, operate in government, and influence government policy n Two-party system- US party system with 2 main parties: Democrats and Republicans

Political Parties George Washington warned against political parties in his farewell address from office n First two political parties: Federalists and Democratic Republicans n Federalists- Alexander Hamilton and John Adams, wanted a strong federal government, party eventually faded out n DR’s- Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, thought the federal government was getting too much power, party split into Democrats and Whigs n

Democrats 1828 formed in support of Andrew Jackson n Stressed their ties to the common people n Whigs split to compete with Democrats n Democrats and Whigs remained the two major political parties until the 1850 s n

Republicans Formed in 1854 with Abraham Lincoln to oppose slavery n Also known as “Grand Ole Party” (GOP) n

Democrats and Republicans Around the turn of the 20 th century the ideals of both parties began to change n Presently Republicans and Democrats are opposite of how they started n

Third Parties- smaller minor parties n Influenced politics by promoting ideas that were at first unpopular n They have never won Presidency, but Democrats and Republicans adopted their ideas n

Third Parties cont. n Single Issue Parties- form to promote a social, economic, or moral issue (usually don’t last long) n Prohibitionists Party formed in 1872 to ban alcohol

Third Parties cont n Ideological Parties- form to support a particular philosophy or idea Socialists Labor Party and Communist Party USA believe that free enterprise should be replaced by one in which the government owns business n Libertarian Party want to cut the size of the federal government and increase personal freedoms n

Third Parties cont. n Independent Candidates- form around leaders with strong personalities (usually don’t last long) n H. Ross Perot ran for President in 1992 and 1996

Third Parties cont n Obstacles Third party candidates must obtain a large number of voter signatures to be placed on the ballot n Trouble raising n

Other Party Systems n Multiparty System- one party rarely wins enough support to completely control government n n Many countries have this: Germany has over 5 political parties, Israel has over 20 One-Party System- the party and government are the same n People’s Republic of China has 1 party: The

Political Party n Platform- series of statements expressing the parties principles, beliefs, and positions on issues n n Ex. Abortion, Death Penalty Plank- each individual part of the platform n Ex. Dem support Abortion, Rep support Death Penalty This communicates to voters what the party will do if elected n

Democrat vs. Republican Chart n Complete the Democrat vs Republican Chart and Card Activity

Political Parties

Democrats and Republicans n Basic difference between the Democrats and Republicans is their belief in how much the government should be involved in the lives of Americans Democrats- federal government should be more directly involved in citizen’s lives n Republicans- federal government should be less directly involved in citizen’s lives n n Both parties try to adopt moderate positions and avoid extreme radical positions in order to attract more voters