What were the criteria that voters prioritized for redistricting when they approved the California Redistricting Commission (CRC) initiative? If the legislature.

What were the criteria that voters prioritizedfor redistricting when they approved the California Redistricting Commission (CRC) initiative? If the legislature drew the new districts, what criteria would they prioritize? How much did the CRC's district maps adhere to voters’ criteria? Did the new CRC process produce districts that were more competitive? 

Did it create maps that had distinct partisan advantages?

Elections and Party Systems

•What is a Party System?

• not all systems the same...why?

•What is basis of party competition?

•Why two party systems, why multi-party systems?

What are Parties?

• Organization dedicated to winning elections

• Primary institution for organizing mass democracy

• Democracy, representation impossible w/o parties

Responsible party model

Two parties:

One Controls Government

One Acts as Opposition

Elections a referendum on the Government

Requires “discipline,” but provides simplicity, accountability

Parties and Responsible Government

Parties present clear choices to votersCohesive platformMPs all vote party line

Number of choices limitedGovernment Opposition

Accountability

Lippset & Rokkan Model

Party Systems function of:

Coalitions of social groups defied by historical cleavages

• National Revolution (State building)

• Industrial Revolution

• Post - material Revolution

Lippset and Rokkan: Old Coalitions

National RevolutionCleavages:

Pre-existing interests vs..... forces of new nation-state

Land-based elites vs. liberals/merchants

Church vs.... State

City vs. Country

Center vs..... periphery

Dominant culture against distinct regions

Lippset and Rokkan: Old Coalitions

Industrial RevolutionCleavages:

Owners vs. workers

Capital vs. Labor / workers

Land-based interests vs. Capital

Lippset and Rokkan: New Coalitions

Post-material / post-industrial revolution (Inglehart)

Society moves beyond ‘material’ economic concerns

Newer cleavages around ‘cultural’ values

‘process’ oriented concerns

Lippset and Rokkan: Coalitions

How do these old cleavages define contemporary parties?

• Religion (CDU in Germany, US Democrats pre‘68?)

• Region (Scotland SNP, Germany CSU, Canada BQ, )

• Class (Torries v. Labour in UK; Socialists in FR, IT, SP)

Lippset and Rokkan: Coalitions

Dalton:

“Most parties and party systems are still oriented primarily toward the traditional political alignments that L & R described”

New coalitions: Values based, environment, lifestyle, minority rights, social/moral issues (?)

Lippset & Rokkan: Coalitions

How much do ‘old’ cleavages matter?

Does this model work in US (why? why not?)

• Class?

• Land-elite based parties (Conservatives vs..... Liberals)

a dead cleavage?

• Church v. State Cleavage (religious v. secularists)

Old Politics v New Politics?

In US

Old “New Deal” system: Dems = party of working class

GOP = party of business

Since then:

Women’s movement, Civil Right Movement, Environmentalism, sexual-orientation concerns, changes in economy, family structure

But: Rising income inequality

Party Identification

“Generally speaking, do you think of yourself as a Democrat,Republican, independent, or what?”

Where do attachments to party come from?

Sociological determinism

You have no free will?

Funnel of Causality Early life-->PID----------------->vote

Old vs. New Politics, US

Party ID 1952 1968 1980 1996 2000 2008Low income 64% 65% 60% 63% 62% 63%% Democratic

High income 30% 41% 32% 41% 36% 28%% Democratic

Old vs. New Politics, US

Party ID 1952 1968 1980 1996 2000 2008Unskilled 71% 81% 56% 52% 50% n/a% Democratic

Professional 52% 44% 47% 41% 46% n/a% Democratic

Old vs. New Politics, US

Is there “Class” in the US?

Dalton, Chpt. 8% “working class” = % middle class

Class v. income

Is there an upper class?

Old vs. New Politics, US

Why is class voting decreasing?

• Growth of the “new middle class”• “Workers” have income similar to middle class”• “Increased social mobility”• “Social modernization”• “Parties have broadened their appeal to attract

middle class voters• Socialists appeal to center

Old vs. New Politics, US

Is class voting decreasing?

• Change in political conflict

• Parties less likely to make appeals on class-based issues

• Or, all parties have abandoned working class, low income voters

Old Politics v New Politics: If not ‘class’, then what?

• Traditionalists vs..... Non-traditionalists?

• Small public sector vs..... larger public sector

(old cleavage?)

• Materialists vs..... Post materialists?

environment over economy vs....

economy over environment

Cleavages and Voters

National revolution region, religion

Industrial revolution ‘middle’ class vs. working class

Postindustrial materialist/post mat

Party Systems: Number of Parties

Types of parties & basis of competition in a nation (Dalton)

Number of parties

• Two-party systems (US, UK..sort of)

• Multi-party systems (FR, IT, Ger...sort of)

Why 2, 3, more parties?

Number of cleavages

Regionalism

Institutional design

Electoral system rules:

Single member constituencies vs.....

Multi-member constituencies

Runoff procedures

Party Systems & Electoral Rules

France: Plurality, 2 round w/ runoff

2 large parties, several small

Germany: Mixed Member Proportional (MMP)

2 large parties, several small

UK: Simple Plurality..... 2.5 (?) parties

US: Simple Plurality......2 parties

Party Systems and Electoral Rules

Rules that affect number of parties:

SMSP vs......... PR (but see last slide)

Size of national legislature

Presidential vs..... parliamentary

Federalism (regionalism)...Canada

Runoffs, ‘alternate’ vote systems (Australia)

Comparing parties

How do US parties compare to Europe?

Does a two party system = less distinct parties?more distinctive parties?

Does a multi-party system = more ideological diversity?

Party Identification

“Generally speaking, do you think of yourself as a Democrat,Republican, independent, or what?”

Where do attachments to party come from?

Sociological determinism

You have no free will?

Funnel of Causality Early life-->PID----------------->vote