1. Political Parties
Chapter 8

2. Democratic Participation Basics
 Over time, as the value of leisure time increases (or as
leisure time gets scarce), participation decreases
 Across society, as leisure time increases (and the value of
leisure declines), participation increases
 E.g., the elderly and/or retired
 Across society, as wealth increases, participation increases
 E.g., the poor participate less

3. What is a Political Party?
 Political Party – a group of political activists who organize to
win elections, operate the government, and determine public
policy
 Similar to interest groups, but interests groups do not want to
operate the government
 Faction – a group or bloc in a legislature or political party that
is trying to obtain power or benefits
 Factions generally precede the formation of political parties in
American history
 Might represent certain ideological or regional viewpoints
 Independents – a voter or candidate who does not identify
with an established political party

4. Political Party Activities
 Recruiting candidates for public office
 Organizing and running elections
 Presenting alternative policies for the electorate
 Accepting responsibility for operating the government
 Acting as the organized opposition to the party in power

5. What are Parties?
Labels, Banners, and IDs
 Recall role of informational shortcuts in making decisions
 Labels: Parties serve as simple indicators of ideology,
alliances, and preferences
 Indicate likely voting behavior once in office
 Banners: Parties serve this role even though they do so
noisily and sometimes with considerable error
 IDs: Parties serve in this sense, despite the fact that that
party identification has been on the decline over the past
century

6. Parties as Organizations
 Connect voters to government
 Democratic politicians answer to Democratic voters
 Republican politicians answer to Republican voters
 Discipline elected officials to keep campaign promises and to
keep in line with the will of voters
 Cohere officials to one another
 E.g., party discipline in Congress
 Cohere citizens to one another
 E.g., Tammany district leader in New York
 Party Machine: a party organization with a high degree of
control over member activity and recruits its members with
tangible incentives

7. Parties as Coalitions
 Parties are coalitions because no group can dominate in
politics without support from other groups to form a viable
campaign organization
 Forms of support
 Core – regular party supporters; will always support the party, but
may not turn out
 Variable – “Middle of the roaders”; may/may not turn out and
may/may not support
 Party alignment
 Parties are rarely reduced to single issues
 Party leaders must pay attention to “core” and “variable” support
to effectively campaign

8. A History of Political Parties in the
U.S.
 Democratic Party
 One of the two major American political parties evolving out of
the Republican Party of Thomas Jefferson
 Favored personal liberty and opportunity for the “common man”
in the 19th century
 Republican Party
 One of the two major American political parties
 Emerged in the 1850s as an antislavery party
 Consisted of former Northern Whigs and antislavery (Northern)
Democrats

9. A History of Political Parties in the
U.S.
 Whig Party
 A major party in the United States during the first half of the 19th
century; established in 1836
 Was very anti-Andrew Jackson and represented regional
interests primarily

10. A History of Political Parties in the
U.S.
 Third Party
 A political party other than the two major political parties
(Democratic and Republican)
 Splinter Party
 A new party formed by a dissident faction within a major political
party
 Typically, they emerge when a particular personality is at odds
with the major party

11. A History of Political Parties in the
U.S.
 Creation of Parties (1789-1816)
 Federalists and Anti-Federalists (Democratic Republicans)
 Presidential Electoral College electors chosen by state legislatures
 Era of Good Feelings [one party rule] (1816-1828)
 Federalists disappear; Dem. Republicans remain
 Factions develop with the election of J.Q. Adams (1824)
 National Two Party Rule “Jacksonian Period” (1828-1845)
 Dem. Republicans and Whigs
 Spoils system – when a political party gives government jobs to its
constituents as an reward and incentive for party loyalty
 Andrew Jackson’s administration in particular
 Presidential Electoral College electors chosen by the people
 Nominating system - Caucus

12. A History of Political Parties in the
U.S.
 Antebellum “Splinter” Period (1840-1856)
 Whigs and Democrats are the primary “two parties
 Rise of splinter parties: Liberty Party (1840), Free Soil (1845), Know-
Nothing (1845), American Party (1852), and Northern/Southern
Dems. (1856)
 Slavery, states’ rights, anti-immigration, and xenophobia contribute to
these groups
 Civil War Period (1856-1865)
 Whigs, Northern Dems., “Know-Nothings,” and Free Soilers create
the Republican Party in 1854; becomes a stable party in 1856
 Southern Dems. become Confederates with the CSA in 1861
 Technically, Republicans and Northern Dems. are the primary U.S.
parties during the war

13. A History of Political Parties in the
U.S.
 Reconstruction Era (1865-1876)
 Republicans and Northern/Southern Dems. are the primary parties
 Southern Democrats slowly regaining power in the South
 Reps. split between Conservative/Radical factions due to Reconstruction
 A “Liberal Reps.” faction (1872) emerges calling for an end to Reconstruction
 Gilded Age (1876 – 1896)
 Sectionalist politics and tariff reform are key
 North vs. South alignment prominent; North = Republican; South = (Southern Dems.)
 Reps. = party of business and prosperity; Southern “Yellow Dog” Dems. = institutionalized
party in the South
 Third parties: Greenback and Populist form over economic issues
 Progressive Period (1896-1932)
 Gilded Age third parties assimilate into the Democratic party
 Democrats, Republicans, and Progressives (middle ground for both parties)
 Direct Democracy (direct election of senators via 17th Amendment)
 Referenda, recall, and reform
 Prog. Era third parties: Socialist and Prohibition

15. A History of Political Parties in the
U.S.
 New Deal Period (1932-1968)
 Democrats become the dominant party (North and South coalition)
 Party benefits emanated from the federal government, not the party
(F.D.R. was very much in control)
 Third parties: Union (Depression Era) and States’ Rights Dems.
“Dixiecrats” (aligned against Truman in 1948)
 Modern Period (1968-present)
 Democrats and Republicans are the two primary parties
 Libertarian movement begins in the 1970s
 Other third parties: American Independent (1968), Reform (1992),
and Green (1996)

16. Faces of a Political Party (Overall)
1. Party-in-the-electorate
 All the individuals who claim an attachment to a political party
 Those that also express a preference for one party over another
2. Party Organization
 The formal structure and leadership of a political party
 Includes: election committees; local, state, and national executives;
and paid professional staff
3. Party-in-Government
 All of the elected and appointed officials who identify with a
political party

17. Faces of a Political Party (National
Level)
 National Convention
 The meeting held every four years by each major party to select
presidential and vice presidential candidates
 Write a platform
 Choose a national committee
 Conduct party business
 Party Platform
 A document drawn up at each national convention
 Outlines policies, positions, and principles of the party
 National Committee
 Standing committee of a national political party
 Established to direct and coordinate party activities between party
conventions

18. Winner-Take-All Electoral System
 Plurality
 A number of votes cast for a candidate that is greater than the
number of votes for any other candidate, but not necessarily a
majority (more than 50%)
 At almost every level of government in the U.S., the outcome of
elections is based on the plurality
 Electoral College
 A group of persons, called electors, who are selected by the voters in
each state
 This group officially elects the president and vice president of the
United States
 In all but two states (Maine and Nebraska), if a presidential
candidate wins a plurality in the state, then all of the state’s electoral
votes go to the candidate

19. Mechanisms of Political Change
 Realignment
 A process in which a substantial group of voters switches party
allegiance, producing long-term change in the political landscape
 Ex. Texas’ shift from Dems. to Reps. (1950s)
 Dealignment
 A decline in party loyalties that reduces long-term party
commitment
 Absence of strong partisan attachments make it easy for parties
to decline and/or split
 Ex. Increasing independent voters today

20. Mechanisms of Political Change
 Straight-Ticket Voting
 Voting exclusively for the candidates of one party
 Split-Ticket Voting
 Voting for candidates of two or more parties for different offices
 Ex. Voting for a Republican presidential candidate and a Democratic
congressional candidate
 Swing Voters
 Voters who frequently swing their support from one party to
another

21. Why Two Parties?
 History
 Two-party division began with the Feds./Anti-Feds.
 Big fed. gov’t vs. states’ rights
 Economic and Geographical Divisions
 Sectionalism between the North and South apparent from the
founding of the U.S.
 The two parties have gravitated toward either side
 Lack of ethnic, racial, or religious parties
 However, splinter parties sometimes represent these topics

22. Why Two Parties?
 Institutionalism
 Plurality rule vs. proportional representation
 Single member districts
 Sincere vs. strategic voting
 Sincere voting – voting for a candidate for their position on the issues
 Strategic voting typically used to eliminate third parties
 “We can’t win without YOUR support”; “You see our point. Come to our side of
the aisle.”
 (1896) – Populists urged to support William Jennings Bryan, a Dem. candidate
for president
 (1912) – Dems. urged Progressives to vote for Woodrow Wilson
 (2000) – Gore pushed Green party supporters to vote for him
 (2004) – Kerry pushed Green party supporters to vote for him

23. Decline of Parties
 More multifaceted society
 Fewer 2-sided issues to divide everyone equally into one group
or another
 Declining willingness to be associated with a party
 Not everyone wants to be seen as “part of the group”
 Individualism is key
 Decline of political machines
 Urban and rural political networks (helped lead to the founding of
parties like the Greenbacks, Populists, and Progressives)

24. Decline of Parties
 Technology and Politics
 Professionalization of Politics
 Anyone can go to school to be a politician now
 Some argue that this has led to an “overexposure” of politics
 News Media
 Social Media
 Dominance of individualistic campaigns
 Party primaries consistently using strategies to show “how I am
different” from the rest of my party (Individualism again)