BELLWORK What is a political party? (Page 453). Homework Chapter 16 Assessment: Due Wednesday, March 18 th Pages 472-473, 1-11 & 13-15.

BELLWORK

What is a political party?

(Page 453)

Homework

Chapter 16 Assessment:Due Wednesday, March 18th

Pages 472-473, 1-11 & 13-15

TAKE NOTES OF ANYTHING IN:

BLACK

Development of Parties

CHAPTER 16, SECTION 1

Essential Question:How did the political parties

of today form?

Types of Party Systems•Political party: a group of people with broad common interests who organize to win elections, control government, and influence government polices.

•Authoritarian governments like the ones found in Cuba and China have one-party systems, in this system, that party faces no opposition. Some countries, like Iran, have one-party systems influenced by religion, a government run by religious officials is known as a theocracy.

•The majority of countries have multiparty systems, for example, France has 5 major parties, and Italy has more than 10. Voters in these countries have a wide political spectrum of ideologies to choose from on election day. Ideologies are basic beliefs about government. In multiparty systems, since there is no majority, multiple parties usually work together to form a coalition government, which is combining forces to obtain a majority.

•Only around 12 countries run government on a two-party system, the United States is one.

Early Party System of the U.S.

•Some of the Founders were weary of groups with differing political views, even President Washington, in his Farewell Address warned against the harmful effects that this could cause. Even so, two political parties had organized by 1796.

•The first two groups to form were the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans (aka the Anti-Federalists). After Federalist John Adams was elected president, the popularity of the Federalist party began to decline. The next president was Thomas Jefferson a Democratic-Republican• Federalists wanted a strong central government.• Democratic-Republicans wanted the states to have more power, causing a

weaker central government.

Early Party System of the U.S. (continued)

•By 1828, the Federalist party had come to an end and the Democratic-Republican party split in to two, the Democrats and the Whigs (aka the National Republicans).• The Democrats wanted a weak federal government.• The Whigs wanted a strong federal government.

•During the 1850’s, slavery was a hot issue and the Democratic party began to divide into North and South divisions. The Whig party dissolved into the newly found Republican Party. The first Republican president was Abraham Lincoln.

•Since this time, the two main parties of the U.S. have been the Democrats and Republicans (aka Grand Old Party).

Plickers•The United States is what type of party system?A.Multiple-Party SystemB.Single-Party SystemC. Two-Party SystemD.Want-Two-Party System

Plickers•Thomas Jefferson was part of which party?A.WhigsB.FederalistsC. National RepublicansD.Democratic-Republicans

Party Ideology•Since the Civil War, the ideology of the two main parties have changed greatly, multiple times, but currently:

Republicans DemocratsConservatism Liberalism

Free market capitalism Social and economic equality

Limited governmentSupports gov’t intervention and

regulation of economy, like universal health care.

Strong national defense Less money towards national defense

Opposing labor unions Supports labor unionsPro-life Pro-choice

Are there only two parties? Heck nah!

•American politics are dominated by two parties but there are many other parties. A third party is any party other than one of the two major parties.

•Some of the popular third parties in the past:• Anti-Mason, Liberty, American (Know-Nothing), Southern

Democrats, Prohibition, Greenback, Socialist Labor, Socialist, Communist, and many many many many many many others.

•Some current popular third parties:• Libertarian, Green, Constitution, Christian Liberty, America’s,

Modern Whig, Veterans, Socialist, Communist, Justice, Prohibition, Marijuana, and many many many many many many others.

Do minor parties impact government?

•There have been multiple cases of minor parties influencing the outcome of national presidential elections, for example in 1992, Ross Perot, an independent, received a significant amount of votes, this in turn helped Bill Clinton win more electoral votes over Bush.

•Two problems for third parties when it comes to elections:• Single-member district is an electoral district in which only one candidate is

elected to each office.• Proportional representation is a system in which several officials are elected to

represent the same area in proportion to the votes each party’s candidate receives.

•Various other problems third parties have to deal with financing, campaigns require a lot of money, and many voters believe third-party candidates can’t win so they are reluctant to “waste” their vote on them.

Plickers•Which is not an obstacle faced by third parties?A.Getting on ballotsB.They are all controversialC. Single-member districtsD.Obtaining financing

Plickers•Which is not an obstacle faced by third parties?A.Getting on ballotsB.They are all controversialC. Single-member districtsD.Obtaining financing

Closing Activity: Analyze the political cartoon

Answer the following:1. What is the

cartoonist saying about the party spectrum in the US?

2. Where on this spectrum do you think most of the American public and their political ideals would be on this spectrum?