Exhaustive Study Notes on Political Parties in the United States
Defining Political Parties and Their Functions
Definition of a Political Party: A group of political activists who organize specifically to achieve three primary goals:
Winning elections.
Operating the government.
Determining public policy.
Distinction from Interest Groups: While interest groups seek to influence public policy, they are distinguished from political parties because they are not interested in controlling the government directly.
Distinction from Factions: Factions are defined as smaller groups of individuals, often situated within a political party, who act together in pursuit of a specific special interest or position.
Requirements for Success: For a political party to be successful, it must unite diverse groups that hold varying policy orientations.
Core Functions of Political Parties in the U.S.:
Recruiting Candidates: Parties look for quality candidates to run for elective offices at all levels of government under the party label. Attracting high-quality candidates enhances the party's chance of winning and controlling the government.
Organizing and Running Elections: Technically a government responsibility, but parties are the primary entities mobilizing citizens to vote and participate.
Presenting Alternative Policies: This provides the electorate with an essential role in decision-making. By understanding a party's position on major issues, voters get an indication of where specific candidates stand.
Operating Government: This is crucial to the functioning of the political process at all levels.
Legislative: Parties organize Congress (specifically committee organization as seen in Chapter 11).
Executive: Parties affect how the president selects individuals for the executive branch (Chapters 12 and 13).
Judiciary: Parties influence how the president nominates federal judges (Chapter 14).
Providing Organized Opposition: For the party that does not control a branch of government, acting as the organized opposition is an essential role.
A History of Political Parties in the United States
Constitutional Origins: Political parties were not present during the drafting of the Constitution and are not mentioned in the document. However, the debate over the ratification of the Constitution gave rise to the first political organizations.
Historical Time Periods:
The Formative Years (Federalists and Anti-Federalists):
The two-party system originated in the debate between Federalists (supporters of the Constitution) and Anti-Federalists (advocates for state authority and a Bill of Rights).
The Federalist Party, under George Washington and John Adams, was the first to control the national government.
By 1796, Thomas Jefferson headed the "Republicans" (distinct from the later Party of Lincoln). This party was the heir to the pre-revolutionary republican movement and Anti-Federalists.
The Era of Good Feelings (1800–1820):
The Federalist Party eroded because it was fatally identified with aristocratic tendencies.
By 1820, the Federalists could not field a presidential candidate and became extinct.
The Republicans were the only party left to control the government. This is the only time the U.S. essentially did not have a two-party system, often called the "era of personal politics."
National Two-Party Rule (Democrats and Whigs):
The election of 1824 caused the Republican Party to split.
Democrats: Supporters of Andrew Jackson.
National Republicans: Supporters of John Quincy Adams, who soon renamed themselves the Whigs.
The Civil War Crisis:
The issue of slavery split the Whigs and then the Democrats along North/South lines.
Northern Whigs became the largest element of the new anti-slavery Republican Party.
The Post-Civil War Period:
The abolition of the "three-fifths" rule meant all former slaves were counted for House seats and electoral votes. This strengthened the reunited Democratic Party.
Cultural Divisions: Republicans included aggressive Evangelical Protestants hostile to Catholicism who favored moralistic initiatives like banning liquor sales. Democrats opposed a strong national government that could impose coercive moral measures in the North or protect "freedmen" in the South.
The Triumph of the Republicans (1896): During an economic depression, Democrats endorsed a pro-debtor populist platform that scared Eastern workers. Republicans won and, as the depression ended, sealed their reputation as the "party of prosperity."
The Progressive Interlude (1912–1920):
A split in Republican ranks allowed Democrat Woodrow Wilson to win. Under Wilson, Democrats began moving away from hostility toward government economic action.
The New Deal Era:
The Great Depression shattered belief in Republican economic competence. Franklin Roosevelt shifted Democrats into a party of active government.
A sympathetic professor characterized this as "Hamiltonian means, Jeffersonian ends."
Roosevelt’s "big tent" welcomed African Americans, which was an unprecedented development.
The Era of Divided Government (Post-1968):
Northern Democratic support for civil rights pushed Southern conservatives out of the party.
Unrest in the late 1960s (urban riots, anti-Vietnam War protests) alienated cultural conservatives.
These voters slowly became Republicans over decades.
Parties in Balance: Since 1968, the nation has been evenly divided. Patterns often showed a Republican president with a Democratic Congress (reversed under Clinton).
Red State, Blue State: The 2000 and 2004 elections highlighted cultural differences between Democratic "blue states" and Republican "red states." The geographic support pattern in these years is the reverse of the pattern in 1896.
The Two Major U.S. Parties Today
Core Constituents:
Democrats: Receive disproportionate support from those with the least education AND those with advanced degrees. Groups include Jewish people, African Americans, Hispanics, women (somewhat more than men), and city dwellers. Geographically: West Coast and Northeast.
Republicans: Supported by upper-income citizens, businesspersons, white evangelical Christians (regular churchgoers), and rural people. Geographically: The South, Rocky Mountain states, and Great Plains states.
Economic Beliefs:
Labor and minorities remain core Democratic constituents since the New Deal.
Republicans support the private marketplace, an ethic of self-reliance, and limited government.
Budgetary Realities: While both claim to favor limited government, budget deficits rose under Republicans Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush and declined under Democrat Bill Clinton.
Reputations: Democrats are seen as supporting the less-well-off; Republicans are seen as supporting the prosperous.
Cultural Politics:
Values have become a prominent reason for party support.
Socioeconomic Reversal: In cultural politics, upper classes tend to be more liberal and lower classes more conservative, which is the opposite of economic politics patterns.
Regional Reversal: Wealthy states/regions now favor Democrats, while less-well-off ones favor Republicans.
The 2008 Elections: Focused on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the economic recession. Voters blamed Republicans for these issues more than Democrats.
Structure and Organization: The Three Faces of a Party
The Party-in-the-Electorate: People who identify with or regularly vote for the party's candidates. This is essential for electoral success.
The Party Organization: Provides leadership and structure.
Confederal Structure: Though appearing as a pyramid, U.S. parties are actually confederal. Units have significant autonomy and are only loosely linked.
National Party Organization:
National Convention: Held every four years to nominate the presidential and vice-presidential candidates and approve the party platform. Delegates usually hold views further from the center than the general party electorate.
National Committee: The governing body between conventions.
National Chairperson: Picked/approved by the presidential candidate. If the candidate loses, the committee may choose a new one.
State Party Organization: Each state has a chairperson, a central committee, and a state convention. They draft platforms focused on state-level issues.
Local Party Machinery (The Grassroots):
Historical Machines: In the 1800s/early 1900s, city machines provided jobs and welfare (patronage) for votes. These no longer exist; services are now handled by nonpartisan bureaucracies.
Local Organizations Today: Their main function is the "get out the vote" effort. Strength varies greatly by region.
The Party-in-Government: Elected and appointed officials under the party label. They use their office to influence policy toward the party platform.
The Power of the Majority: The majority party dominates committees, executive appointments, and the political agenda.
Divided Government: Gaining a majority does not mean absolute power due to checks and balances and ticket splitting.
Limits to Party Unity: Candidate-centered elections mean House and Senate members often put their personal campaign organizations above the party.
Current Trends: Partisanship and cohesion have increased.
111th Congress: Democrats passed Obama's initiatives (health care, energy) with strict party-line votes.
Party Polarization: Safe seats for incumbents reduce the risk of general-election competition, allowing for more partisan behavior. Additionally, media stridency promotes polarization because "stridency sells."
Why the Two-Party System Endures
Historical Foundations: Major issues in U.S. history have frequently produced only two clear sides. This duality initiated and has maintained the two-party system to the present day.