Political Parties (11)

Political Party

An organized group that attempts to control the government by electing its members to office

Taxes

Abortion

Gun control

Education

Military spending

Social programs

National budget

Tariffs

Political preferences

Lower Taxes

Pro-life

Fewer fun restrictions

Education choice

High military spending

Focus on the home

Lower national debt

Pro-/anti- Tariffs

Republican Party preferences

Higher taxes

Pro-choice

More gun restrictions

Federal education support

Diplomacy

Pro social programs

Increase national spending for social programs

Pro/anti tariffs

Democratic Party preferences

Political parties provide an umbrella for people with similar-ish preferences to _______________________.

Win elections together

(True/False) Political parties are meant to perfectly represent you.

False

What do political parties do?

1. Recruiting candidates

2. Nominating candidates

3. Getting out the vote

4. Facilitating electoral choice

5. Influencing (national) government

(True/False) Parties have an influence on recruiting candidates.

True

Nomination

The process by which political parties select their candidates for election to public office

Nomination by Convention

Party delegates decide/choose who represents the party.

Nominated by Primary Election

Party members vote on who represents the party.

Closed primary

Only voters who have registered affiliation with the party can participate

Open primary

Voters can choose on election day which primary to participate in (can only vote in one primary)

Nomination by Caucus

Local meetings determine who represents at the convention

Primary Election/Caucus/Convention

Preliminary rounds to determine the one representative for the party

General election

The final round between the single representative from every party

Two paths to the General Election

1. Primary elections to General

2. Caucus meeting to Convention to General Election

(True/False) People love political parties.

False. Obviously false. Lol.

Split-ticket voting

When you vote for one party in the presidential race and another party in the House race. Or also House/Senate races.

Majoritarian Electoral System

Single member districts with plurality winners

Combined Electoral System

Sometimes one chamber majoritarian, one proportional

Proportional Electoral System

Based on percentages

Duverger’s Law

The simple-majority single-ballot system favors the two-party system.

(True/False) Third Party candidates make winning harder.

True

Why Duverger’s Law is true

Voters don’t want to waste their vote

Parties and candidates work hard to adapt and bring back dissenters.

(True/False) People rely on heuristics.

True

Political parties provide an umbrella for people with a “brand label” for voters to know…

who are the similar-ish candidates to themselves.

Governors

President

State legislators

Members of Congress

Legislative Leaders

Legislative Caucuses

Party-in-Government

Voters

Donors

Activists

“Party base”

“Grassroots”

Party-in-Electorate

National-, state-, and county-level party organizations that recruit candidates, formulate platforms, register and mobilize voters, fundraise, and promote party goals

Party-as-organization

Party in Congress

• Majority party picks the Speaker of the House

• Parties organize the committee system

Party and the Presidency

• President nominates heads of the executive branch, usually from his party

• President cannot introduce legislation and must work closely with his party in Congress to get his proposals on the floor

Party and the Judiciary

• Judges do not meet in a formal capacity in party meetings

• Presidents nominate federal judges and consider partisanship

Assisted appointment

• Judicial nominating commission gives list to governor

• Governor selects

• Senate approves

• Yes/no retention election

PartyID as a psychological attachment

• Socialization happens early on and then persists/is hard to change

• First few presidential elections can shape young voters

PartyID as an ideological attachment to policy positions

When certain ideological ideas are really important to you

PartyID as reaction to political experiences

How have events someone has gone through affected their political opinions?

Coalition

A group effort or a population of people coming together who believe strongly in their cause

Using race & ethnicity to build party coalitions

• Black voters more likely to be Democratic

• White & Asian voters more likely to be Republican

• More variation across Hispanic and Latino voters

Using gender to build party coalitions

Gender gap

Men more likely to be Republican

Women more likely to be Democratic

Gender gap

The distinctive pattern of voting behavior reflection differences in views between men and women

Using religion to build party coalitions

Protestants and LDS more likely to be Republican

Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, atheists, and agnostics more likely to be Democratic

Using income to build party coalitions

Upper-income more likely to be Republican

Lower-income more likely to be Democratic

Using age to build party coalitions

Older more likely to be Republican (based on with)

Group cohort political experiences

Party Committees

Organized groups of active party members at different levels of government to coordinate party activities

Raise funds

Claim voter territory

Enhance the party’s media image

Give candidates funding

Give candidates potential donor information

Provide names of experienced campaign officials

Roles of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Democratic National Committee (DNC) (and also similar organizations at state and local levels)

Party system

The coalition of groups that attach to each major political party

Realignment

When who is part of each political party drastically changes

The First Party System

Federalists & Democratic-Republicans

• Promoted commercial and manufacturing interests following the British economic model

• Wanted a strong central government—stronger even than provided for by the Constitution

The Hamilton Faction (Federalists)

• Wanted to see states rights protected and in the Constitution

• Wanted to protect the interests of farmers, tradesmen, and agrarian states in general, and supported diplomatic relations with France

Republicans (Democratic-Republicans)

War of 1812 (USA v Britain)

The Federalists were on the wrong side & there were charges of treason, which weakened their party