Transcript Party Politics Today Lecture

Party Politics Today
Lecture
Parties similar on paper
-National convention has ultimate power; meets
every four years to nominate presidential
candidate
-National committee is composed of delegates
from the states; manage affairs between
conventions
-Congressional campaign committees support
the party’s congressional candidates
-National chair manages the daily work
Party Structure diverged in late 60’s and 70’s
-RNC moved to a bureaucratic structure- a well financed
party devoted to electing its candidates, especially to
Congress
-Democrats moved to factionalized structure and
redistributed power
-RNC used computerized mailings lists to raise money,
money used to provide services to candidates, a national
firm of political consultants
-DNC learned from the RNC and adopts the same
techniques
-DNC and RNC send money to state parties, to sidestep
federal spending limits (soft money)
National Conventions
-National committee sets time and place- issues
“call” setting the number of delegates for each
state and the rules for their selection
-Formulas are used to allocate delegates
*Democrats’ formula shifts delegates from the
South to the West and North
*Republicans’ formula shifts delegates from the
East to the South and Southwest
*Result- Reps. move right, Dems. move left
-Democrat formula rewards large states
-Republican formula rewards loyal states
Democrats Set New Rules
-In 1970’s, rules changed to weaken local party leaders and
increase the proportions of women, youth, blacks, and
Native Americans attending the convention
--Hunt Commission in 1981-”superdelegates” increased the
influence of elected officials and made the convention more
deliberative
Consequence of Reforms
-parties represent different sets of upper middle class voters
*Republicans represent the traditional middle class,
conservatives
*Democrats represent new class, more liberal
Democrats make more rule changes to
become more competitive:
-In 1988, the number of superdelegates was increased
while the status of some special interest caucuses was
decreased
-In 1992, three rules were set:
*Winner-reward system of delegate distribution banned,
this had previously given winners of primaries and
caucuses extra delegates
*Proportional representation implemented
*States that violated the rules were penalized with the
loss of convention delegates. (Michigan-2008)
*Conventions today only ratify choices made in
primary season- unless a tight race
State and Local Parties
State level structure:
-State central committee
-County committees
-Various local committees
Distribution of power varies withing the state, as different
incentives are at work
Party types:
-The machine
-Ideological parties
-Solidarity Groups
-Sponsored Parties
-Personal following
The Machine:
-a party organization that recruits members via tangible
incentives (money, jobs, political favors)
-high degree of leadership control
-abuses were extensive
-gradually controlled by reforms- voter registration, civil
service, Hatch Act (1939)(prohibits federal employees
from participating in partisan politics)
-machines continued until voter demographics and federal
programs changed, decreasing the need for parties’
resources
-machines were self-serving and public rewarding
-New machines are a blend of the old machine (campaign
finance) and today’s ideological party traits (issues)
Ideological Parties
- extreme opposite to machine
-Principle is more important than winning election
-Contentious and factionalized
-Usually an outside “third party”
-local reform clubs in the 1950’s and 1960’s
-reform clubs replaced by more focused social movements
which advance specific demands
-Political machine replaced by today’s social movements as
the “farm club” of the national party
*factionalism is more intense
*party leaders have less freedom
Solidarity Groups
-Members are motivated by solidarity incentives
(companionship)
-Advantage: neither corrupt nor inflexible
-Disadvantage: not very hard working- “Is it raining?”
Sponsored Parties
-created or sustained by another organization
Example: Detroit Democrats were developed and led by
the UAW union
-not very common in the U.S.
Personal Following
-appealing personality, name recognition, and money
Example: Kennedys, Romneys, Longs
The Two Party System
-A rarity among nations today
-Parties are balanced nationally, but not locally
Why has the two party system endured so
long?
-Electoral system- winner-take-all and plurality system limit
the number of parties
-Opinions of voters-two broad coalitons work (most of the
time- sometimes bitter dissent)
-State laws have made it difficult for third parties to get on
the ballot- petition drives, voter signatures etc.
Minor Parties- “third parties”
-Ideological Parties-radical view, most enduring, ex.
Socialist, Communist, Libertarian, Green
-One issue parties- address one concern, ex. Free
Soilers, Prohibition
-Economic Protest Parties- regional protest of economic
policies, ex. Populists
-Factional Parties, split from a major party, usually over
presidential candidate, ex. Bull Moose, Henry Wallace,
Ross Perot
Why not more minor parties?
-slim chance of success
-major parties accommodate movements with platform
Nominating a President
-Two contrary forces: party’s desire to win presidency
motivates it to seek an appealing candidate, but its desire to
keep dissidents within the party force it compromise on more
extreme views
Are the delegates representative of the voters?
-Democrat delegates much more liberal
-Republican delegates much more conservative
-Outcome cannot be attributed to quota rules for delegate
selection alone
-women, youth, minorities have greater diversity of opinions
than do the delegates
-those with extreme views are often the most motivated
Who Votes in Primaries
-little ideological difference between primary voters and
rank-and-file voters
-unlike caucuses who often choose most ideological
candidate
Who are the New Delegates?
-issue oriented activists
-Advantages: increased opportunities for activists within
the two major parties and decreased chance that
activists will bolt the party
-Disadvantages: delegates may nominate presidential
candidate unacceptable to voters or even the party’s
rank-and-file
Parties Versus Voters
-Rank-and-file Democrats and Republicans differ on many
political issues, but the differences are usually small
-delegates from the two major parties differ widely on the
same issues
-Candidates need to share views with average citizen or
campaign on issues where delegates and voters agree
*Problems arise when candidates must play to the
ideological extremes to win delegate support