Transcript Lecture_8-1_7-1_.ppt

Political Parties
Lecture 8-1
Vocab – “Linking Institution”
• Any institution that connects people with
the government
– Political Parties
– Special Interest Groups
– Media
– Elections
• Stalin’s “transmission belts”
What is a Political Party?
• A political party is an organization that seeks
to influence public policy by putting its own
members into positions of governmental
authority
• It is in this way that parties differ from large
interest groups (special interest groups SIGs)
• In any two party system, parties are coalitions
of special interests
Political Party Functions
• Electoral
• Governmental
• Socialization
What do parties do? Electoral
Functions include
• Groups of like-minded people tend to
pull together around candidates whose
positions on issues coincide with their
own political needs
• The set of alternatives voters can pick
from is simplified
What do parties do? Electoral
functions include
• The parties complement the legally
established process for choosing public
officials
• Parties are a prime means of recruiting
and training political leaders
What do parties do?
Governmental functions include
• Parties give coherence to governmental
policy
• Parties help to make governmental
responsible to the people
What do parties do?
Socialization functions include
• Political Parties are agents of
socialization. They transmit political
values and culture from one generation
to the next.
How the American Party
System Developed
Party Systems
Issues,
Consequences
Party Systems
Party
Systems
Federalists and Antifederalists
(1789-1824)
• American history has been divided into
five major party systems, with the
possibility that America has recently
entered into a sixth
• Each party system has evolved from its
predecessor in a period called
realignment
Federalists and Jeffersonians
(Antifederalists) (1789-1824)
• The Antifederalists favored more
decentralization of power among the
states and less government involvement
in the economy.
• The Antifederalists soon came to be
called Democratic Republicans
(Jeffersonians)
Democrats and Whigs (1824 1860)
• The Democratic party evolved from the
Democratic Republican party under the
leadership of Andrew Jackson and spoke for
the “common people” against the economic
pressures they were facing
• The Whig party drew from the federalists the
vision of a nation modernized by governmentencouraged commerce.
Democrats and Whigs (18241860)
• The Whig party was the party of
successful people and “good, clean”
government.
• Slavery as an issue undid the WhigDemocratic alignment
Democrats and Republicans in
close competition (1860-1896
• The Republican party took a strong
antislavery stance and drew on the Federalist
and Whig legacies of government as a
promoter of commerce
• The Democrats after the Civil War competed
vigorously with the Republicans, with both
parties vying for the electoral support of
business
• The hallmark of this system was close
competition – not to mean divided
government
Republican ascendancy
(1896-1932)
• The Republican party dominated the
fourth party system
• In opposition were the populists, who
merged with the Democratic party, and
the Progressives
Democratic Ascendancy
(1932-1968)
• The Great Depression brought
Republican ascendancy to an end
• Democratic programs of social welfare
became established and persisted
through later administrations, including
Republican one.
A Sixth Party System? (19681990)
• By the late 1960's, the Rooseveltinspired Democratic coalition was
wakening
• Differences between the Democrats
and Republicans were not as great as
before since many Republican accepted
the social welfare programs instituted
during the 1930's
A Sixth Party System? (19682000)
• Each party now has diversity within it, with
“Neoliberals” in the Democratic party and the
“New Right” in the Republican party
• The main feature in the government of this
party system has been divided government
(president of one party, congresses of
another)
• Initially a series of Republican presidents and
Democratic congresses, with only minor
deviations from this pattern. In the end a
Democratic president with a Republican
Congress
A Seventh Party System?
• Republican Dominance or Democratic
Dominance
Types of Elections
•
•
•
•
•
•
Dealigning elections (critical elections)
Realigning elections (critical elections)
Deviating elections
Reinstating elections
Maintaining elections
What causes these? Shifts in party
coalitions
Democrats and Republican: Is
there a Difference?
• Neither party has the support of a
majority of voter, so they must garner
support from outside of their party
• To win a presidential election,
candidates usually appeal to the
ideological center, so both parties try to
sound “centrist”
Is there a difference?
Key Constituencies Republicans
• Business
• Conservatives
• Christian Fundamentalists
Key Constituencies Democrats
• Organized Labor
• Racial Minorities
• “Intellectuals”
Typical Party Members
• Democrats
• Republicans
Who’s Who – Which Party
Who’s Who – Which Party
Who’s Who – Which Party
Who’s Who – Which
Party
Who’s Who – Which
Party
Who’s Who – Which
Party
Who’s Who – Which
Party
Who’s Who – Which Party
Rating the Parties
Rating the Parties
Rating the Parties