POLITICAL PARTIES: Outline No

POLITICAL PARTIES

Outline No. 9
Ben Franklin worried about the "infinite mutual abuse of parties, tearing to pieces the best of characters."

In his farewell address, George Washington warned against the "baneful effects of the spirit of party."

Thomas Jefferson said, "If I could not go to heaven but with a party I would not go there at all."

THE POWER OF ORGANIZATION: WHY THERE ARE POLITICAL PARTIES

Definition: Organizations which seek to control government by recruiting, nominating and electing their members to office.

Responsible Parties: parties that have ways of keeping members loyal to the party=s objectives and goals.

AMERICAN PARTIES: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

A thumbnail sketch. Dye does an excellent job of reviewing the history.

Before our American Parties: English forerunners of parties.

By 1796: Federalists vs. Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans had developed as the two major political parties.Starting in 1796 Jefferson worked to built base; they were originally called anti-federalists after their opposition to the Constitution, but adopted the name Republicans or Democratic Republicans.

After 1800, the Federalist party never regained prominence after the defeat of 1800

The 1820s saw the rise of Andrew Jackson=s Democratic Party and another opposition party, the Whigs.

In 1854, the Republican party was formed by those opposed to spread of slavery.

In the1890s, the Progressive Party rose, creating such devices as the referendum, recall, initiation, secret ballot, and direct primary.

In 1932, we saw the rise of the modern Democratic Party with the election of Franklin Roosevelt. .

HOW PARTIES SERVE THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS

Parties provide a way for people to organize with other people of similar views.
Parties nominate candidates for office.
They help to structure the voter's choices.
They offer a set of proposals for government to consider.
They help to organize government.
They act as the loyal opposition..

PARTIES AS ORGANIZERS OF ELECTIONS

U.S. parties are grass roots parties.
Every four years, parties hold separate conventions at which they nominate their presidential and vice presidential candidates, as well as approve a platform.
Parties organize both primaries and general elections.
Types of Primaries

Closed primaries

Open primaries.

Runoff primaries

Presidential preference primaries

General elections

WHERE=S THE PARTY?

Both Republicans and Democrats have significant numbers of identifiers in the electorate.
Political Party Organization: National Committees, National Chairman; State Party Organization; Chairman, committees, and staff are usually present, although state bodies vary considerably.

NATIONAL PARTY CONVENTIONS

At one time, conventions did undertake selection of the party=s presidential nominee. However, nowadays, delegates come to conventions already pledged to a particular candidate and voting is simply a way to formalize the candidacy.

Convention Delegates

Each party informs each state party how many delegates they may send to the national convention. In fact, state population is only one factor.

Approximately 80% of each convention=s delegates are pledged to a particular candidate.

Delegates tend to be ardent party supporters. They also tend to be the ideologically motivated. Democratic delegates are more liberal than most Democrats, while Republican delegates are more conservative than most Republicans.

Convention Responsibilities:

Make party rules: how delegates are selected, the legitimacy of unit rules, etc.

Write a party platform: states the party=s goals and positions.

Formalizing the selection of a presidential candidate and running mate.

Kickoff the campaign.

THE PARTY VOTERS: Party Identification refers to a voter's sense of psychological attachment to a party. VOTING IS A BEHAVIOR; IDENTIFICATION IS A STATE OF MIND.

Party identification

Party alignments show party dominance over time.

Groups do show various sorts of loyalty to one party or the other.

Democrats tend to be: lower income, lower education or very high education, union rather than management, Catholic or Jewish, African-American or other racial minority. Women are more likely to be Democratic party identifiers than men. Republicans tend to be: middle to upper income, Protestant, white, higher status and professional jobs. Men are more likely to identify with the Republican than the Democratic party.

THIRD-PARTY PROSPECTS: A long history of solid and not-so-solid third and minor parties

Lots of support for a third party.

Third parties often demonstrate such ideological stridency that the moderate voters in the center are alienated.

A Brief History of American Third Parties

Types of Third Parties

Some are breakaway parties (bolters) from the major parties.

Some parties are those which feel they are not getting their fair share

Some are single issue parties.

Some are ideological

Third Parties in Texas:

Distinguish between minor and third parties.

Purposes Served by Third Parties

Obstacles Faced by Third Parties:

Cultural Consensus that we should be a two-party society; people have an attachment to the existing major parties.

Ideological centrism: most Americans have moderate views, which makes narrow parties less comfortable for us.

Difficult to raise money.

Size of nation makes organization difficult

Electoral districts work against new parties.

People perceive votes for such parties as wasted.

Their ideas are routinely coopted.

WHY THE TWO PARTY SYSTEM PERSISTS

Habit and tradition tie us to the major parties.

Our electoral arrangement supports two parties.

Co-optation of ideas.

POLITICAL PARTIES IN TEXAS

Three parties exist in Texas

Dominant Group: Conservative Democrats

Republicans, especially since 1980

Liberal Democrats

Lack of competition in the State.

Weakening of Texas one party system:

Texas is a conservative state

TERMS/NAMES TO KNOW

political party--definition

interest group---definition

responsible parties

factions

Federalists, Anti-Federalists

Democratic-Republicans

Andrew Jackson, Jacksonian Democrats

Whigs

Republican Party

referendum

recall

initiative

secret ballot

primary

cooptation of ideas

ward, precinct, grassroots

primary---open, closed, runoff, presidential preference

party identifiers

National Committee, National Chairman

conventions, delegates

party platform

Third parties, minor parties

bolter parties, ideological parties, single issue parties

Texas: Conservative Democrats, Liberal Democrats, Republicans

majority, plurality

GOP

political party machines, political patronage

primary raiding

ticket-splitting

party alignment, dealignment

superdelegates

QUESTIONS TO REVIEW

Are our political parties responsible parties? How do our parties differ from those in France, Italy, or Great Britain?

How is a political party different from an interest group?

Over what issue were the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists started?

Who led each of those groups when they became parties?

What interesting thing affected the election of 1800? Why was Aaron Burr almost president instead of Thomas Jefferson?

What happened in the election of 1824 to alter political history?

How did Jackson nationalize and democratize the Democratic Party?

Why did Lincoln win the presidency in 1860?

Why was the Republican party created?

What new ideas did the Progressive party bring to politics?

Which party dominated the presidency from 1860-1932 and why?

Who created the coalition that comprised the Democratic party until recent years?

Be able to list and recognize the purposes served by political parties in our society.

What is a primary and why are primaries held?

Distinguish between open and closed primaries.

How have presidential preference primaries changed presidential politics?

Who tends to identify with the Democratic Party? With the Republican Party?

What tasks are taken care of at national party conventions?

Who are the superdelegates? How are regular delegates selected?

How do third parties differ from minor parties?

Why do third parties almost always fail?

Know the various types of third parties (bolter, single issue, etc.)

What are the three main party factions in Texas? Where are the members of each group usually found in the State?

Why has the Republican party gained strength in Texas in recent years?