Lone Star Politics: Political Parties

Key Terms and Concepts

Political Party:
- An organization influenced by political ideology. Aims to win control of government through elections and other political activities.
Party Platform:
- A formal set of principle goals which are supported by a political party or individual candidate, in order to appeal to the general public, for the ultimate purpose of garnering the general public's support and votes about complicated topics or issues.
- Serves as a guide for the party and its candidates.
Plank:
- An individual issue or position within the party platform.
- Represents a specific stance on a particular policy or issue.
Allocation:
- The act of distributing resources, such as funding or support, to various campaigns or party activities.
Electoral Competition Model:
- A model suggesting that parties will shift their platforms to appeal to the median voter. This often results in less distinct party platforms.
Responsible Party Model:
- A model where parties offer clear policy alternatives and hold their elected officials accountable for enacting those policies.
- Voters can then reward or punish the party based on their performance.
Straight-Ticket Voting:
- Voting for all candidates from the same party on a single ballot.
- Encourages party loyalty and simplifies the voting process for some.
Chronic Minority:
- A group that consistently lacks political power or representation within a political system.
Grassroots Organization:
- A political movement driven by the constituents of a community.
- Focuses on citizen participation and bottom-up activism.
Party Machines:
- Historically, political organizations that controlled local politics through patronage and corruption.
- Offered jobs and services in exchange for political support.
Patronage:
- The practice of rewarding political supporters with government jobs or contracts.
- Can lead to corruption and inefficiency.

Party Organization: Temporary vs. Permanent

Permanent Party Organizations:
- Ongoing structures responsible for the continuous functioning of a party.
- Include roles such as precinct chair, county chair, and state party chair.
Temporary Party Organizations:
- Formed for specific elections or events.
- Include precinct conventions, county or senatorial district conventions, and the state convention.
Precinct Chair:
- The local leader of a political party within a specific geographic area (precinct).
- Responsible for organizing party activities at the local level, such as voter registration drives and get-out-the-vote efforts.
County Chair:
- The leader of a political party at the county level.
- Responsible for coordinating party activities within the county, including fundraising, candidate recruitment, and campaign management.
Executive Committee:
- A group of party leaders who oversee the operations of the party.
State Party Chair:
- The leader of a political party at the state level.
- Responsible for overall strategy, fundraising, and candidate support within the state.

Conventions

Precinct Convention:
- A meeting held at the precinct level where party members gather to select delegates to the county or senatorial district convention and to propose resolutions for the party platform.
County or Senatorial District Convention:
- A meeting held at the county or senatorial district level where delegates are selected to the state convention and where resolutions for the party platform are debated and adopted.
Runoff Primary:
- A second primary election held when no candidate receives a majority of the votes in the initial primary. The top two vote-getters then compete in the runoff primary to determine the party's nominee.