U.S. Government - Chapter 5 & 6

political parties

• a group of persons who seek to control gov by winning elections and holding office; either issue, principle, or election oriented

• essential to democratic gov, shape way gov works in US, functions allow gov to function

• 2 major parties in US: Democratic and Republican

What are the 3 components of the party?

• party organization: run and control party machinery, leaders, and activists; ppl who give time and money to help run the party

• party in gov: 1000s of candidates and officeholders that hold executive/appointive offices in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the federal, state, and local govs

• party electorate: those who vote/always vote for party candidates

What do pol parties do?

• serve as link between ppl and gov by making ppl’s will known

• find a compromise and soften the impact of extremists on both ends of the pol spectrum

pol spectrum

LEFT CENTER RIGHT

• radical: favors extreme change to create an altered or entirely new system (communism)

• liberal: emphasizes individual rights and freedoms, social progress, and government intervention to address social and economic inequalities (Democrats)

• moderate: often blend liberal and conservative beliefs and favor compromise and pragmatism

• conservative: seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values (Republicans)

• reactionary: someone who strongly opposes social, political, and economic change and desires to restore a previous state of society they believe was superior (fascists like Hitler)

What are the functions of political parties?

• nominating function: select candidates, find and gather support

• informer-stimulator function: inform and stimulate interest in public affairs, stand on issues that will attract voters, criticize opponents, campaign

• “seal of approval” function: guarantee party candidate is worthy in character and qualification, insures good performance since failure hurts party, generic vs. brand name

• gov function: gov is structured by party and elected by party, Congress and state legislation act according to partisanship and influence work, Prez depends on party votes in Congress

• watchdog function": party out of power watches over the conduct of the ppl’s businesses, keep an eye on actions for a blunder to use in next election, the “loyal opposition”

Describe a multi-party system.

• system in which several major and minor parties exist, seriously compete for, and actually win, public offices (ex. European democracies)

• parties are based on particular interest, economic class, religious belief, and pol ideology

• pros: broader rep of ppl, more responsive to ppl’ will, voters have more choice

• cons: causes coalitions that leads to party dissolvement and instability in gov

Describe a one-party system.

• only in a dictatorship when only 1 pol party or ruler is allowed to exist (dictatorships like Russia), or if 1 party always wins (Rep S and Dem N)

Describe a two-party system.

• system where 2 major pol parties dominate the pol landscape

• in the US: Dems and Reps

Why?

• historical basis: start of 2 parties was with debate over ratification with Feds and Anti-Feds

• force of tradition bcuz minor parties lack support leading to reluctant voters

• electoral system: single-member district favors 2 parties

• ideological consensus: most Americans generally agree on fundamental matters

Describe party membership.

purely voluntary and composed of a cross section of the nation’s population

What were the US’s first pol parties?

• Feds: led by Hamilton, red’d wealthy and upper class interests, favored strong executive leadership and liberal (loose) interpretation of the Constitution

• Anti-Feds: led by Jefferson, rep’d the common man, favored Congress as the strongest arm of gov and a strict interpretation of the Constitution

Describe the 1st era of American parties.

Era of Democrats (1800-1860)

• began with Jefferson

• Era of Good Feelings

• mid 1820s, split into factions

• Dems dominated all but 1 Prez election

• Jackson’s admin expanded suffrage to all white men, increased the amount of roles in elected offices, and created a spoils system

• Whig Party founded in 1834 in opposition to Jacksonian democracy, but declined in 1850s due to Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), electing only 2 Prez

• issues of slavery splits Dems into N and S

• Rep Party founded in 1854

Describe the 2nd era of American parties.

Era of Republicans (1860-1932)

• during Civil War, held office for 75 years

• dominated all but 4 Prez elections

• war disables Dems for rest of 1800s, only remained cuz held “Solid South”

  • won in 1884 and 1892 with Cleveland

• Reps gained presidency with McKinley

Describe the 3rd era of American parties.

Return of Democrats (1932-1968)

• Great Depression period (1929-1939)

• Dems dominated all but 2 Prez elections

• FDR was elected 4 times, due to being an optimistic and confident leader during the Great Depression and World War II with New Deal programs that provided relief, recovery, and reform, and for advocating for social justice issues as well, like African American rights

• after FDR died in office, Truman stepped in and was elected in 1948

• Eisenhower a Rep won in 1952

• Dems came back w/ JFK, but his death led to LBJ taking the presidency

Describe the 4th era of American parties.

New Era/Era of Divided Gov (Present)

• since 1968, neither Reps or Dems dominated presidency

• Congress often controlled by opposing party

What is the future of the major parties?

• period of decline since late 1960s

• shard drop in number of voters willing to identify as party

• increase in split-ticket voting

• structural changes and reforms

• changes in technology of campaigning for office

• growth of single-issue organizations

What are the types of minor parties?

• ideological party: adhere to a set of beliefs (Libertarian Party promotes civil liberties and laissez-faire capitalism)

• single-issue party: center around one particular issue (Green Party promotes environmentalism and are against war and racism, Life Party promotes the pro-life stance of abortion, and Know Nothing Party promoted nativism and were anti-immigration and anti-Catholic, Free Soil Movement promoted the abolishment of slavery so white labor had no threat, especially in the industrial N)

• economic protest party: arise when the economy is doing terribly (Greenback Party were anti-monopoly and wanted to support agrarian interests by increasing the amount of paper money, Populist Party wanted to help farmers and laborers through governmental ownership of railroads and free coinage of silver)

• splinter party: split from major party and form around a personality that did not win major Prez nom (Theodore Roosevelt’s “Bull Moose” Progressive Party, led to split with Reps in 1912)

Why are minor parties important?

• spoiler rule: minor candidates can pull decisive votes away from one of the major candidates, esp if minor is a splinter party

• critic: esp single-issue parties, draws attention to controversial issues tended to be ignored by majors

• innovator: draws attention to issues and proposes solutions, if have support > solution integrated onto platform of majors

What is the decentralized nature of pol parties?

• both majors are highly decentralized and disorganized bcuz:

  • lack a strong leader (sometimes Prez)

  • federal system distributes powers widely

  • nomination process pits party members against one another since only 1 can be the Prez candidate

What makes up national party machinery?

• national convention: party’s national voice, meets in summer of election year to pick Prez and VP candidates, writes party’s platform and adopts party’s rules

• national committee: helps handle party’s affairs, composed of a committeeman and committeewoman from each state, stages the party’s national convention every election

• national chairperson: holds up and leads national committee, chosen for a 4-year term by Prez candidate and ratified by national committee, directs work of party’s HQ in WA, works to strengthen party and its fortunes

• congressional campaign committees: in each house to help reelect incumbents, save seats given up by retiring party members, and serve 2 years (term of Congress)

Describe state and local party machinery.

• states are divided into congressional districts

• congressional districts are divided in wards

• wards are divided into precincts

• smallest unit in a large city might be an apartment complex

What is the history of suffrage?

• framers of Constitution purposely left power to set suffrage qualifications to State

• initially, vote limited to WMPOs

• today, US electorate > 200 million and nearly all citizens 18+ can vote

Where/when can you register to vote?

• getting a license (Motor Voter Act in 1995)

• at events like rallies, school campuses, concerts, fairs

• locally, at county clerk’s office or with an officer called the registrar of elections

What was the process of extending suffrage?

• 1800s: religious qualifications, tax payment qualifications begin to be removed, almost all white males could vote

• 1870s: 15th Amendment in 1870 removed racial barriers, yet African Americans still remained disfranchised (other factors)

• 1920s: women’s suffrage fight, 19th Amendment in 1920, post WWI

• 1960s: Civil Rights Act of the ‘60s, Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned poll taxes, 23rd Amendment in 1961 gave Washington DC the vote, changed voter discrimination

• 1970s: 26th Amendment gives 18-year-olds suffrage, esp cuz old enough to get drafted in Vietnam War

What are voter qualifications among the states?

• citizenship: aliens generally not allowed to vote, not prohibited in Constitution so states can allow if they choose, Minnesota requires citizenship for 3 months

• residence: most states require some amount of time, Voting Rights Act in 1970 prohibited requirement of more than 30 days, most transients cannot vote in Prez elections

• age: set age of 18 to vote, but used to be 21, can vote at 17 in some primary elections if will be 18 before general elections

Other qualifications?

• registration: procedure of voter identification to prevent fradulent voting, give officials a list, and to find out preferences; 49 states require it except N Dakota; remain registered until move, die, convicted of serious crime, committed to mental institution, or fails to vote for a certain number of years or elections; other restrictions may include being dishonorably discharged, homeless, or polygamist

• literacy: person’s ability to read or write, no longer a condition with Voting Rights Act of 1970 (at the time, 18 states had requirement)

• tax payment: poll tax or property ownership in South; 24th Amendment in 1964 outlawed requirement in federal elections; outlawed in all elections in 1966

What was suffrage like for African Americans post-Civil War?

• 15th Amendment in 1870 declares right to vote cannot be denied to any U.S. citizen based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude

• Southern whites used threats, violence, social pressures, literacy tests, poll taxes, white primaries, and gerrymandering (drawing electoral district lines from which a candidate is selected to limit strength of party) to prevent black people from voting

How did Supreme Court help extend suffrage?

• Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960): outlawed gerrymandering used for purpose of racial discrimination

• Smith v. Allwright (1994): outlawed white primaries

Describe early civil rights legislation.

• Civil Rights Act of 1957: created US Civil Right Commission, investigated and reported voter discrimination, gave Attorney General power to require federal courts to issue orders to prevent voting interference

• Civil Rights Act of 1960: created federal voting referees to correct conditions to prevent voter discrimination

• Civil Rights Act of 1964: abolished use of voter registration or a literacy requirement to discriminate against any voter, banned discrimination in jobs and other areas, enforcement of act relied on judicial action and use of injunctions (court orders that force or restrain acts), mandated preclearance (no new election laws or changes to election without approval of Department of Justice)

• aftermath: violent response of civilians, police, and state troopers to a voter registration drive mounted by MLK in Selma, Alabama showed that the Civil Rights Act of 1957, 1960, and 1964 were not enough to ensure voter equality

Why do ppl not vote?

• physical or mental illness

• unexpected travel

• resident alien citizenship status

• political efficacy

• distrust of politics and candidates

• lack of interest or knowledge

• time-zone fallout, as polls close earlier in E/Central time zones than Mtn/Pacific (projection posted > pol efficacy)

Describe voter behavior.

• only about 50% of those qualified to vote actually do vote (even less turnout sometimes during off-year elections)

• voting behavior is the most studied out of all the ways of pol participation; can learn from elections, field of survey research, and studies of pol socialization

• factors that influence voters: personal characteristics (age, gender, race, religion, education, occupation, income), group affiliations (family, friends, co-workers, geography), psychological factors (voter’s perception of politics, loyalty to party, stance on certain issue, like or dislike of certain candidate)

  • lower income ppl vote Dem, higher income ppl vote Rep

  • Catholics/Jews vote Dem, African Americans/Latinos vote Dem, Protestants vote Rep

  • Dems strong in South and big cities of N, E, and Pacific Coast, Reps stronger in suburban and rural areas

  • women vote Dem, young ppl vote Dem, older people vote Rep