party final

yeah!

What are the three ways to distinguish political parties from interest groups?

1. Parties run campaigns under their own banner

2. Parties care more about diverse issues than IGs

3. Parties are subject to and have a relationship with states, localities, and their laws.

What are the three legs of the tripod analogy?

1. Party electorate (runners)

2. Party organization (leadership)

3. Party in government (officials)

What are the two things political parties seek to accomplish?

1. Win elections/control government

2. Spread ideology/legitimize opposition

What’s the distinction between Hamiltonian v. Jeffersonian perspectives on American government?

Hamiltonian - stronger nationalism

Jeffersonian - Stronger state/local government (diverse community)

What’s the difference between external and internal mobilization?

External - relies on resources, opportunities, or support that come from outside its immediate beneficiary group or formal organization.

Internal - resources and capabilities generated from within its own membership or immediate base of support.

Why do we have the Electoral College?

a compromise between electing the president by a straight popular vote and electing the president by a vote in Congress. Checks and Balances

How does the Electoral College work?

The Electoral College process is a system where the presidency is won by obtaining a majority of electoral votes, which is 270 out of a total of 538.

• voters choose the electors

• In 48 of the 50 states, the candidate who wins the statewide popular vote receives all of that state's electoral votes (excluding Maine and Nebraska)

What are arguments for/against the Electoral College?

For:

• protects federalism

• prevents a runoff/establishes clear majority

• promotes national unity

Against:

• Gives voters in small states disproportionately more weight than voters in large states.

• Causes candidates to ignore voters in states considered "safe" for one party. (swing states)

King-Making Caucus

• Gave a small, unrepresentative group of party insiders immense power, effectively making them "kings" who decided the next president.

Party Conventions

State and local party leaders would select delegates to attend a national convention. The delegates would then formally nominate the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, deliberate on the party platform, and unify the party.

Modern President Nomination

presidential primaries or caucuses where voters directly choose the delegates pledged to a specific candidate.

2/3 rule

From 1832 to 1936, the Democratic Party required a presidential candidate to win the support of two-thirds (66.7%) of the delegates at the National Convention to secure the nomination.

Unit rule

• required that if a majority of a state's delegation at the National Convention supported a specific candidate or position, all of that state's delegates had to cast their vote in line with that majority's decision.

• The entire state delegation had to vote as a "unit," even if a large minority of delegates within the state opposed the candidate.

What’s the difference between primaries (open and closed) and caucuses?

Primaries: state-run elections with secret ballots

Caucuses: voters directly choose the delegates pledged to a specific candidate.

McGovern-Fraser Commission

1. Openness and Transparency — Mandated Open Procedures: Required state parties to adopt written rules for delegate selection and barred secretive, last-minute decision-making.

2. Abolished Elite Control — Abolished Unit Rule & Proxy Voting: Ended the practices that allowed party bosses to dictate an entire delegation's vote or vote on behalf of absent delegates.

3. Representation— Affirmative Action Requirements: Required state delegations to take affirmative steps to encourage representation of women, minorities, and young people "in reasonable relationship" to their population in the state.

4. Impact on Process — Drove the Shift to Primaries: While not explicitly mandating primaries, the strict requirements for openness and voter participation made it easier and less complicated for states to adopt presidential primary elections rather than caucuses.

What role does the president plays in parties?

party leader

What are the four stages of party development in Congress?

1. factionalism

2. polarization

3. expansion

4. institutionalization

What’s the difference between partisan, bipartisan, and nonpartisan?

Partisan - loyalty to one party

Bipartisan - cooperation of two major parties

Non-Partisan - no affiliation with any party/nonbiased

What is the congressional caucus/convention? How does it work to organize leadership in Congress?

• the official organization of all members of a specific political party within a chamber of the U.S. Congress

• organizes and unifies the party's members within that chamber, especially at the start of a new Congress

Who created the Responsible Party Government Doctrine?

Committee on Political Parties of the American Political Science Association (APSA).

Why was the Responsible Party Government Doctrine created?

reforming the American party system to make it more accountable, effective, and democratic.

What does the Responsible Party Government Doctrine mean?

a normative model of how a democratic government should theoretically function, arguing that a strong, disciplined, and cohesive two-party system is necessary for voters to hold elected officials accountable

political behavior

An area of research that focuses on the attitudes, beliefs, and actions of those in the political process.

party identification

An individuals identity to a political party

sociological model

• Takes in account socioeconomic standing, religion, and place of residence

• demography matters most

sociological-psychological model

• how you vote has a strong psychological dimension

• influenced by parent’s party ID or social class

cognitive voter model

• built on socio-psychological model

• issues matter more than parties

rational choice model

voters establish goals and achieve them using cost-benefit calculations

• what do I want my government to do and why?

What is the Seven Point Ordinal Scale?

measures party ID by asking if you’re Rep, Dem, Independent + how closely connected you are to one party or the other

1. Strong Dem

2. Weak Dem

3. Ind. Dem

4. Independent

5. Ind. Rep

6. Weak Rep

7. Strong Rep

What are the two questions political scientists seek to answer on election night?

Who won/How accurate was the forecast?

How/Why did they win?

realignment

catastrophes happening during elections could lead to shifts in party loyalty

critical elections

• coined by V.O. Key

• often called a realigning election, is a concept in political science referring to a dramatic and enduring change in the political system, where a new party system or a fundamental shift in voter loyalties is established

third/minor parties

any political party other than the two dominant parties.

What are the institutional and cultural barriers to third parties?

1. Adherence to peaceful resolution of conflicts

   1. government is made to easily transition for the two-party system

2. Acceptance of compromise + incremental change

3. Strong gov’t structure + institutional

Why do third party candidates choose to run as a third party?

1. differing extremist views

2. party committment

3. can’t win primaries

4. form of protest

Mikulski Commission

1. Tightened Participation Rules — Restricted Participation to Democrats: Clarified that the party could constitutionally restrict the process of selecting delegates to publicly affiliated Democratic voters (aimed at closing "open" primaries to non-Democrats).

2. Codified Reforms — Solidified Affirmative Action: Reinforced the requirements for gender and racial representation in state delegations.

3. Reinstated Party Officials — Reintroduced Automatic Delegates: Reinstated a small number of automatic delegates (party officials) to provide stability and continuity, a mild reversal of the McGovern-Fraser purging of party leaders.

Winograd Commission

1. Compressed Primary Calendar — Shortened Window: Compressed the window for presidential primaries and caucuses to run between the first Tuesday in March and the second Tuesday in June.

2. Encouraged Early State Participation — Protected Iowa and New Hampshire: Explicitly protected the traditional early starting dates for the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire Primary.

3. Uniformity — Binding Delegates: Required all delegates to be publicly bound to their candidate through a primary or caucus, ensuring that the convention nominee reflected the primary results.

Hunt Commission

Creation of Superdelegates — Established Unpledged Delegates: Created the category of superdelegates (unpledged delegates) by giving automatic delegate status to elected officials (like Democratic governors, members of Congress) and key party leaders.

Purpose — Restored Party Influence: The goal was to inject professional political judgment into the nominating process and ensure the party nominated a candidate who was more electable in the general election.

McCaskill Commission

1. Reduced Superdelegate Power — Barred First-Ballot Superdelegate Votes: Prohibited superdelegates from voting on the first ballot of the National Convention unless the nomination is contested (i.e., no candidate has secured a majority of pledged delegates).

2. Restored Public Trust — Ensured Voter Primacy: This change guaranteed that the nominee would be chosen solely by the votes of delegates pledged through the state primaries and caucuses, making the outcome a reflection of the popular vote before any party insiders have a say.