Political Parties Chapter 9
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8/7/2019 Ch. 9 - Political Parties (Class)
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ch-9-political-parties-class 1/19
PoliticalPartiesChapter 9
8/7/2019 Ch. 9 - Political Parties (Class)
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The Meaning of Party
} Political Party:
}
A ´team of men [and women] seeking tocontrol the governing apparatus by gaining
office in a duly constituted election.µ
} Parties can be thought of in three parts:
} Party in the electorate
} Party as an organization
} Party in government
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The Meaning of Party
} Tasks of the Parties} Linkage Institution: The channels through
which people·s concerns become politicalissues on the government·s policy agenda.
} Parties Pick Candidates
} Parties Run Campaigns
}
Parties Give Cues to Voters} Parties Articulate Policies
} Parties Coordinate Policymaking
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The Meaning of Party
}Parties, Voters, and Policy: The Downs Model
} Rational-choice theory: Assumes that individuals act intheir own best interest, weighing the costs & benefits.
Figure 8.1
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The Party in the Electorate
} Party identification is a citizen·s self-proclaimed
preference for one party or the other.
} Ticket-splitting:
} Voting with one party for one office and with
another party for other offices.
} Ticket-splitting has become the norm in Americanvoting behavior.
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The Party Organizations: Fromthe Grass Roots to Washington} These are the people that work for the
party.
} Local Parties} Party Machines: A type of political party
organization that relies heavily on materialinducements to win votes and to govern.
} Patronage: A job, promotion or contract givenfor political reasons rather than merit. Used byparty machines.
} Now urban party organizations are generallyweak.} County organizations have partially filled the
void.
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The Party Organizations: Fromthe Grass Roots to Washington
} The 50 State Party Systems} Closed primaries: voters must be registered with
their party in advance and can only vote for that party} Open primaries: voters decide on election day
which party to participate in, and then only thatparty
} Blanket primaries: voters get a list of all
candidates and can vote for one name for each office, regardless of party label} State party organizations are on an upswing in
terms of headquarters and budgets.
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The Party Organizations: Fromthe Grass Roots to Washington
} The National Party Organizations
} National Convention: The meeting of partydelegates every four years to choose apresidential ticket and the party·s platform.
} National Committee: One of the institutionsthat keeps the party operating betweenconventions.
} National Chairperson: Responsible for day-to-day activities of the party.
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The Party in Government:Promises and Policy
}These are the party members
actually elected to government.}Candidates are less dependent on
parties to get elected, but they stillneed help.
}
Coalition:}A group of individuals with a common
interest upon which every political partydepends.
}Parties & politicians generally do
what they say they will do.
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Party Eras inAmerican History
}Party Eras
} Historical periods in which a majority ofvotes cling to the party in power.
}Critical Election
}An electoral ´earthquakeµ where new
issues and new coalitions emerge.}Party Realignment
} The displacement of the majority partyby the minority party, usually during a
critical election.
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Party Eras inAmerican History
} 1796-1824: The First Party System
} Madison warned of ´factionsµ
} First party were the Federalists
} 1828-1856: Jackson and the DemocratsVersus the Whigs
} Modern party founded by Jackson
} Whigs formed mainly in opposition toDemocrats
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Party Eras inAmerican History
} 1860-1928: The Two Republican Eras
}
Republicans rose as the antislavery party} 1896 election revolved around the gold
standard
} 1932-1964: The New Deal Coalition
} Forged by the Democrats - relied upon
urban working class, ethnic groups,Catholics and Jews, the poor, Southerners
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Party Eras in American History
} Party Coalitions Today (Figure 8.2)
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Party Eras in AmericanHistory
} 1968-Present: The Era of Divided PartyGovernment
} Party dealignment - disengagement of
people from parties
} Party neutrality - people are indifferent
towards the two parties
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Third Parties:
Their Impacton American Politics
} Political parties other than Democrat or Republican
} Rarely win elections
} Third parties bring new groups and ideasinto politics
} Two-party system discourages extremeviews
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Third Parties:
Their Impacton American Politics
}Winner-take-all system:
} Legislative seats awarded only to first placefinishers.
} Proportional Representation:
} Legislative seats awarded based on votesreceived by the party - more votes, moreseats
}Coalition Government:
} Two or more parties join to run government
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Understanding PoliticalParties
}Democracy and Responsible PartyGovernment
1. Parties have distinct comprehensive
programs.
2. Candidates are committed to the
program.
3. Majority party must carry out its program.4. Majority party must accept responsibility.
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Understanding PoliticalParties
}American Political Parties and the Scopeof Government
} Lack of uniformity keeps government small
} But, it also makes cutting governmentprograms harder to do
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Understanding PoliticalParties
} Is the Party Over?
}
Political parties are no longer the chiefsource of information for voters
} State and national party organizations are
getting stronger
} Majority of people still identify with a party,
but still split their tickets} Parties will continue to be around
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