Comprehensive Study Guide to Political Parties and the American Electoral System

Functions and Structure of Political Parties

• Core Function of Political Parties: The primary and central role of a political party is to nominate candidates for public office. While parties also involve dividing the electorate or narrowing voter choice, their essential institutional purpose is the selection and promotion of candidates.

• The Party Platform: This is the official statement of a political party's policy goals and alternatives. It serves as a formal declaration of the party's positions on key issues and is typically published every four years during the national convention.

• National Conventions: The national convention is the formal venue where candidates for the Presidency and Vice Presidency are officially nominated by their respective political parties.

• Party Organization and Strategy:

  • The Responsible Party Model: Advocates of this model argue that parties should craft a clear platform. Candidates are expected to run based on that platform, and the majority party, once elected, should implement it.
  • Ticket Splitting: This occurs when a voter selects candidates from different parties for different offices on the same ballot. This behavior is most commonly associated with Independents rather than staunch partisans.
  • The "Party in the Electorate": This term refers to all citizens who claim to be members of a political party, as opposed to the party as an organization or the party in government.

Evolution of Party Systems and Realignment

• Critical Elections: Described as electoral "earthquakes," these are sessions where new issues emerge, new coalitions replace old ones, and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party. These elections signal major shifts in the political landscape.

• Party Realignment: This process occurs as a result of one or more critical elections and is frequently associated with a national crisis. It is characterized by a fundamental and long-term shift in the party loyalty of the electorate.

  • Historical Frequency: Realignment does not occur every $4$ years; it is a rare, generational event.
  • Last Recognized Realignment: The year $1968$ is identified as the last major party realignment.

• Historical Realignment Dates:

  • $1860$: Often associated with the rise of the Republican Party and the Civil War.
  • $1894$: A significant shift during the late $19th$ century.
  • $1932$: The realignment that established the New Deal coalition under the Democratic Party.
  • $1968$: The realignment associated with the end of the New Deal coalition and the rise of the Southern Strategy.

The Rational-Choice Model of Political Behavior

• Anthony Downs's Theory: A key component of the rational-choice model is the assumption that parties primarily want to win office.

• Voter Rationality: According to Downs, voters behave rationally by wanting to maximize the probability that their preferred policies will be adopted by the government. They weigh the costs and benefits of their vote to achieve their specific policy goals.

• Impact of Two-Party Systems: One consequence of a two-party government is the moderation of political conflict. Because parties must compete for a majority in a winner-take-all environment, they tend to move toward the center of the political spectrum to attract the median voter.

Historical Party Eras and Machine Politics

• The Federalist Party: This was the first major political party in the United States and holds the distinction of being the shortest-lived major party in U.S. history. The Founders, however, were generally wary of the existence of any political parties.

• The Republican Era ($1860$ - $1928$): This period was characterized by the dominance of the Republican Party in American politics.

• The New Deal Coalition: Forged by President Franklin Roosevelt during the $1932$ realignment, this coalition provided the Democratic Party with nearly four decades of political control.

  • Constituents: The coalition included urbanites, Catholics, Jews, and labor unions.
  • Collapse: The coalition began to fall apart in the $1960s$, marking the move of Southern conservatives from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.

• Party Machines: Prevalent in the late $19th$ and early $20th$ centuries, party machines operated primarily in urban areas.

  • Patronage: Machines provided patronage jobs to loyal supporters in exchange for votes. These jobs were used to buy political loyalty and enrich party bosses.
  • Demise: The demise of party machines was largely caused by progressive reforms that instituted a merit-based hiring system, effectively ending the patronage-based employment model.

The Political Spectrum and Ideological Classifications

• Ideological Graduation: The political spectrum is historically labeled from left to right as follows:
  • Radicals: Seeking extreme change toward the left.
  • Liberals: Favoring progressive policy and government intervention.
  • Moderates: Occupying the center ground between liberal and conservative ideologies.
  • Conservatives: Favoring traditional values and limited government.
  • Reactionaries: Seeking extreme change toward the right, often a return to a previous state of affairs.

Third Parties in the American System

• Role in Democracy: Third parties serve as "safety valves" for public anger and disappointment. They bring new voters into the electorate and often introduce issues that are later adopted by the major parties.

• Impact on Outcomes: Third parties can significantly affect election results. Ralph Nader's bid in the $2000$ presidential election serves as an example of a third party influencing the outcome by drawing votes away from a major party candidate.

• Notable Third-Party Candidates and Issues:

  • Ross Perot: Focused on the federal deficit during his runs.
  • George Wallace: Ran in $1968$; he was the last third-party candidate to win electoral votes ($46$ electoral votes).
  • Strom Thurmond: Ran as a "Dixiecrat" in $1948$, also winning electoral votes.
  • Theodore Roosevelt: Ran under the Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party in $1912$; his failure to make a comeback handed the presidency to Woodrow Wilson.

Regional Dynamics and the Southern Strategy

• The Solid South: Historically, the South was "solidly Democratic" until the Civil Rights era. Following the Civil War, it was a stronghold for the Democratic Party.

• The Southern Strategy: This strategy was first utilized by Presidential candidate Richard Nixon. It was a concerted effort to bring Southern conservatives into the Republican Party, effectively breaking the Democratic Party's hold on the region.

Comparative Systems: Two-Party vs. Multiparty/Coalitions

• Parliamentary Systems: Coalition governments are common in parliamentary systems because they often utilize multiparty structures where a single party may not win a clear majority of seats.

• Proportional Representation: In contrast to the American winner-take-all system, many parliamentary democracies use proportional representation, which encourages the existence of multiple parties and necessitates coalitions.

Primary Systems and Local Political Context

• Open Primaries: In an open primary, voters do not have to be registered with a party to vote in its primary. A potential danger of this system is "raiding," where members of the opposing party vote for the least viable candidate to weaken the opposition's chances in the general election.

  • Maryland: Maryland is noted as not having an open primary (it is False that Maryland has an open primary).

• Regional Statistics (Maryland/Harford County):

  • Harford County does not have more registered Democrats than Republicans; it is a Republican stronghold (False).
  • In the state of Maryland as a whole, there are more registered Democrats than Republicans (False that there are more Republicans).

Current Trends and Observations

• Dealignment: Many political scientists believe the U.S. is in a period of dealignment, where both major parties are losing their power and influence over the electorate.

• Youth Voting: Today's youngest voters are most likely to identify as Independents rather than as Democrats or Republicans.

• Party Loyalty in Office: Despite party platforms, members of Congress frequently vote according to the preferences of their specific district rather than strictly following the party line.

• Campaign Promises: Contrary to common cynical views, it is generally considered False by political scientists that parties and presidents break more promises than they keep; they often fulfill a significant portions of their platform.

• Congressional Composition: It is False that there are currently no independent members of the U.S. Congress; there are individuals who serve without formal party affiliation.