Transcript Document

Tuesday 9/2
RAP
Is your nation going to be the best nation
created in this class? Why or why not?
Today:
1. Present each nation to class.
Each person must have a roll in presenting.
2. Work on your study guide for the test.
Wednesday 1/28
RAP
• How did you study for the test yesterday?
• Do you think that was the best way to prepare for the test? Explain.
Today:
CE presentations –Austin G and Grace
CNN student news
Ch. 5 terms and questions.
Monday 2/2
• RAP
• What did you think of the internet activity?
• Did the results come out as you expected? Explain.
• Today:
• Review political parties
• Begin Ch. 6 voting
Political Parties
Political parties help to ensure
that the government is aware
of the views of the people.
Definition:
A group of people with broad
common interests who organize
to win elections, control gov’t
and influence government
policies.
One-Party System
Usually found in nations
with authoritarian
governments.
Multi-Party System
Countries where voters have a
wide range of choices.
Two-Party System
Government in which two major parties
compete for power.
What is America?
Party Symbol: Republican
• During the mid term elections in 1874, Democrats tried to scare
voters into thinking President Ulysses S. Grant would seek to run
for an unprecedented third term. Thomas Nast, a cartoonist for
Harper's Weekly, depicted a Democratic donkey trying to scare a
Republican elephant - and both symbols stuck.
• For a long time, Republicans have been known as the 'G.O.P.' with
party faithful believing it meant the 'Grand Old Party.' But
apparently the original meaning (in 1875) was 'gallant old party.'
When automobiles were invented it also came to mean, 'get out
and push.' That's still a pretty good slogan for Republicans who
depend every campaign year on the hard work of hundreds of
thousands of everyday volunteers to get out and vote and push
people to support the causes of the Republican Party.
Party Symbol: Democrat
• The donkey first appeared as a symbol for the Democratic Party in the 1830s when the Democrat
Andrew Jackson was President. The donkey continued in American political commentary as a symbol
for the Democratic Party thereafter. Thomas Nast built upon this legacy and used his extraordinary skill
to amplify it. For a time, the rooster also served as the symbol of the Democratic Party, but gradually
the donkey replaced it in popular usage after the 1880s.
• Nast first used the donkey as a symbol for the Democratic Party in "A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion"
published January 15, 1870, in Harper's Weekly to comment on Northern Democrats (nicknamed
Copperheads) dealings with Edwin M. Stanton, Lincoln's Secretary of War."
Third Party
Any party other than the two major parties.
Also referred to as a minor party.
Types of Third Parties
Single-Issue
Focuses entirely on one major social,
economic or moral
issue.
Ex. The Right to Life party
Types of Third Parties
Ideological Party
Focuses on an overall change
in society rather than one issue.
Its views are generally extreme.
Ex. The Communist Party
Types of Third Parties
Splinter Party
Splits away from one of the major parties because of a
disagreement.
Ex. The Bull Moose Party of 1912 (The Progressive Party of 1912
was an American political party. It was formed by former President Theodore
Roosevelt, after a split in the Republican Party between himself and President
William Howard Taft. Roosevelt boasted "I'm fit as a bull moose," after being shot
in an assassination attempt prior to his 1912 campaign speech in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin.)
Amazing as it may seem
Most of the important minor parties in our
nations history have been splinter parties.
Third Party Impact
Third parties can draw votes away from the major
parties.
They promote ideas that were at first unpopular
or hotly debated. Minor parties take clear cut
stands on controversial issues
Third Party Obstacles
•Getting on the ballot
•Campaign finance
•Image
Ross Perot
• Ran for president 1992. He was a Texas industrialist and ran as an independent. He never served
as a public official. In certain polls, Perot led the three-way race with Republican nominee George
H. W. Bush , the incumbent President, and Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas, the Democratic
nominee. He dropped out in July 1992 amid controversy, but reentered in October, and surpassed
the 15% polling threshold to reach his goal of participating in all three presidential debates.
Despite an aggressive use of campaign infomercials on prime time network television, his polling
numbers never fully recovered from his initial exit. On Election Day, Perot appeared on every state
ballot as a result of the earlier draft efforts. He won several counties and finished in third place,
receiving close to 19 percent of the popular vote, the most won by a third-party presidential
candidate since Theodore Roosevelt in 1912.
Ross Perot 1992
Ralph Nader: Presidential campaign history
• 1972
• 1992
• 1996
• 2000: In the 2000
presidential election in Florida,
George W. Bush defeated Al Gore
by 537 votes. Nader received
97,421 votes, which led to claims
that he was responsible for
Gore's defeat. "In the year 2000,
exit polls reported that 25% of
my voters would have voted for
Bush, 38% would have voted for
Gore and the rest would not have
voted at all."
• 2004
• Political activist, as well as an
author, lecturer, and attorney.
Areas of particular concern to
Nader include consumer
protection, humanitarianism
environmentalism, and
democratic government.
The future for the Reform Party, the Green Party and other "third parties" in the
American system
• One or both of the two major parties is bound to "steal" their issues, incorporate
them into their platforms and absorb their supporters into their ranks.
• The declining success of the Reform Party is due in large part to the fact that both
the Republicans and Democrats have taken up the core issues championed by
Ross Perot in 1992--balancing the budget and reforming the federal government.
The Reform Party, consequently, no longer holds an obviously unique position on
the issues that attracted so many voters in 1992.
How to start a political party
• The rules differ depending on where you live, but
in general all you have to do to start a political
party is gather enough signatures.
• Once you've got your signatures, you just have to
number the pages, have a witness sign the
bottom of each one, and then bind the whole
package "by any means which will hold the pages
together in numerical order."
• Send the thing to the State Board of Elections,
and voilà!
• Of course, you'll need a name for your party.
• You'll also need a logo or emblem.
• If you send in your petition without a party name
and logo, the board may pick them on your
behalf.
• Let’s look through a list of US Political parties
Analyze cartoon
Lets read about the tea party movement. They are part of the
GOP
The tea party is a very powerful movement within the Republican
party.
The Tea Party, which came together in January and February 2009, has no one
founder.
Tea Party some facts
• Supporters of the Tea Party tend to be 45 years of age or older.
• Men make up more of the Tea Party than women.
• At least 78 percent of Tea Party supporters have never attended a
rally, donated to a Tea Party group or visited a Tea Party Web site.
• Fox News is the political and current events information source for 66
percent of Tea Party supporters.
• Although people from the South and West make up most of the Tea
Party, 28 percent are from the Midwest and 27 percent are from the
East, as reported in a USA Today poll.
Political Party functions
What they do 
Recruiting candidates
Educating the public
- publish platform (what the party stands for)
Operating the Government patronage (those people that support the
government)
Government “watchdog”
• Now lets look at some other national parties. When we are finished I
will have you check to see if you can identify different parties.
In your notes 
Choose the proper party designation for the
following parties.
• Major party
• Single issue
• Ideological
• Splinter
National Party Name
• Democratic National Committee
• major
• Grassroots Party
• Splinter (from green)
• Greens/Green Party
• ideological
National Party Name
• Libertarian Party
• Splinter (from republican)
• American Nazi party
• Ideological
• Pot Party
• Single Issue
National Party Name
• Prohibition Party
• Ideological; began as single issue
• Puritan Party
• ideological
• Republican National Committee
• major
National Party Name
• Socialist Party USA
• ideological
• Young Socialists
• Splinter/ideological
• Progressive Labor Party
• Single issue
Political parties in the USA
• Here is some of the political parties we have in the US today.