The History of American Political Parties You can

The History of American Political Parties “You can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all the people all of the time. ” A. Lincoln

Why a Two Party System? Started out with only two – kept the idea Framers saw parties as factions – split country Both parties tend to be similar moderate middle of the road go after same group of people

Party Membership Purely voluntary Cross section of the country Political Parties in Four Eras 1800 -1860 Democrats – 13 of 15 elections 1860 -1932 Republicans – 14 of 18 elections 1932 -1968 Democrats – 7 of 9 elections 1968 -present Republicans – 6 of 9 elections

Minor Political Parties Libertarianemphasizes individualism freedoms Single Issue Partiesdead when issues pass Economic Protest Partiesfarmers Greenback, Populist Splinter Partiesstrong personality who didn’t get nomination

Role of the Third Party Spoiler Clear cut stand on the issues Platform adopted by others

3 rd Party Influences Women’s Right to Vote 1920 passage of 19 th Amendment Child Labor Laws 1916 passage of minimum age and hours Reduction of Working Hours 1938 Fair labor Standards Act

Democrats lower to middle class less educated or intellectuals Catholic and Jews minorities groups in cities moderate to liberals younger to middle aged Southerners

Republicansmiddle to upper income higher degree of education White Anglo-Saxon Protestant moderate to conservative middle aged to elderly Midwest agricultural interest

What kept voters away? Literacy tests – ‘grandfather clause’ before 15 th Amendment “Idiots” – Greek term meaning non voters 205. 8 million registered voters 105. 4 million voted lower turnout in ‘off year election’ “ballot fatigue’

Those Who Didn’t Vote 100 million did not vote in the last election 10 million resident aliens 5 -6 million were too ill 2 -3 million traveling unexpectedly 2 million in jail 100, 000 for religious beliefs 500, 000 mental health care

Those Who Do Vote Educated, higher level of income, sense of party identity, involved in community life Those Who Didn’t Vote 35 and younger unmarried unskilled Southern rural

Money Spent on Elections Total of 1. 5 billion spent by both Parties Equivalent to $48. 39 per voter 30 second T. V. spot - $150, 000 Ross Perot in 1992 spent 65 million of his own money

Marking the Ballot Colonial days- called out- “manly” thing to do Paper ballot- 1800 s unofficial slips, voters brought their own paper Austrian Ballot- 1856 - lists names of all candidates, given out at the polls, marked n secret Office Group Ballot- names grouped by office Party Column Ballot- grouped by party then by office