Parties

2. 1. Define: Political Party, Partisanship, Bipartisanship,
platform, moderate, and third party.
2. Explain what political parties do.
3. Describe the structure of a major party.
4. Compare the political parties and indicate whether there
are major differences between the parties.

3. Political parties are not part of
the U.S. Constitution.
Group of people, with
common interests, seeking to
control government and
create public policy.
The U.S. has a two-party system.

4. The first two American political parties:
I. Federalists:
Support a strong national government
Ratification of the Constitution
II. Anti-federalists:
Against a strong federal government
States rights!

5. “However [political parties] may now and then
answer popular ends, they are likely in the course
of time and things, to become potent engines, by
which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men
will be enabled to subvert the power of the people
and to usurp for themselves the reins of
government, destroying afterwards the very
engines which have lifted them to unjust
dominion.”
George Washington,
Farewell Address,
September 17, 1796

6. Political Party Duration Background Information Noteworthy Members
Democratic-Republican
(A.k.a Jeffersonian-Republicans):
1791 - 1825 They believed in a modest central government,
limited commercial activity, and strong farming
communities.
Thomas Jefferson and
James Madison
National-Republican: 1825 - 1830 Like the former Federalists, they favored a strong
economic nationalism.
John Quincy Adams
Whig: 1833 - 1860 They supported an expanded national government,
increased commercial development, and cautious
westward expansion.
Henry Clay, Daniel Webster,
William Henry Harrison, and
Zachary Taylor
Anti-Mason: 1828- 1838 As the first independent third party, they resented
Andrew Jackson's affiliation with the Freemasons.
Thurlow Weed
Free-soil: 1848 - 1854 As a third party, they opposed slavery in any
territory acquired from Mexico.
Martin Van Buren
Know-nothing
(A.k.a. American):
1855 - 1860 This third party objected to the wave of Catholic
immigrants entering the U.S.
Ned Buntline
People’s
(A.k.a. Populist):
1891 - 1908 This third party was against large-scale commercial
agriculture that would put them out of work, and
they supported the regulation of communication,
transportation, and banking systems.
William Jennings Bryan
Progressive
(A.k.a. Bull Moose):
1912- 1916 This third party supported women's suffrage,
environmental conservation, and the concepts
of initiative, referendum, and recall.
Theodore Roosevelt and
Thomas Kearns

8. Americans Elect Communist Party
Unity Party of America
U.S. Pirate Party
Nationalist Socialist

9. This 1837 political cartoon (below), shows
President Jackson riding a donkey.

10. Thomas Nast
This 1874 political cartoon (below), by Thomas
Nast, depicts the first Republican elephant.

11. 1. Coordinate Policymaking:
A. Partisanship:
Devoted to a party or a set of
principals.
B. Bipartisanship:
Both parties are in agreement.
2. Run Campaigns:
Conduct drives for new voters, get
party members registered, and staff
polling places.

12. 3. Inform the Public: Educate supporters
through rallies, media, and brochures.
4. Fundraising: Followers donate and provide
the party with money.

13. 1. Party of the Electorate:
 All the eligible voters who identify
themselves as part of the party.
2. Party as an Organization: Chairperson,
National Party Office, State & Local Offices.
 The group that makes the rules, raises
money, selects candidates, and organizes
campaigns.
3. Party in Government:
 All party members who hold public office.

15. Moderate
Fascism
AnarchyCommunism
LibertarianSocialist Liberal Conservative
Monarchy
Democrats Republicans

16. Each political party has a platform.
A list of a party’s position on specific issues.
To attract more votes, parties become more moderate in their
platforms.
Moving away from the extreme positions of the political
spectrum.

19. 3rd
Party: Any party outside of the
primary two parties.
No 3rd
party has ever gained control of
the White House.
However, they can alter elections.
More importantly, they influence
the policy-making of government.
Most third parties are short lived.

20. 1. Issue Oriented:
 Protesting a specific issue of the time.
2. Ideological:
 They want a dramatic change to society.
3. Splinter:
 Develops when a major party splits.
 Usually formed around a leader with a
strong personality.

21. In 1912, the Republican Party
split to support the Progressive
Party of Theodore Roosevelt.
After a failed assassination
attempt, Roosevelt, with a
bullet lodged in his chest stated
“I’m fit as a bull-moose.”

23. BackBack
Founded: 1828 (oldest political party in the U.S.)
Platform:
• Increased taxes for the wealthy
• Unions and workers
• Federal healthcare & entitlement programs
• Ethnic, racial, sexual, and spiritual diversity
• Pro-choice
• Strict gun control
Noteworthy member (s): Andrew Jackson,
Franklin D. Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy
Andrew Jackson

24. Founded: May 20, 1854
Typically supports:
• Free market competition & corporate
deregulation
• Businesses and corporations
• Privatization of health care and social security
• School choice/vouchers and homeschooling
• Increase defense and research budget.
Noteworthy member(s): Abraham Lincoln,
Dwight Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan
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Abraham Lincoln

25. Founded: 1991
Platform:
• Preserve the right to bear arms for self-defense
• Demands stricter penalties on illegal immigrants
• Reduce the role of government
• Terminate health care and entitlement programs
• Encourage the churches to help those in need
• Repeal the federal income tax
• Condemn deployment of troops without a declaration of war
Membership (2008): 438,222 BackBack

26. Founded: 1991
Platform:
• Promote peace, economic justice, and the
health of the planet
• Develop clean and renewable energy sources
• Cannabis should be legalized
• Nationalize health-care and socialization
because it’s a human-right
• Opposes death penalty
• Oppose further oil and gas drilling
Noteworthy members: Ralph Nader
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Ralph Nader

27. Founded: December 11, 1971
Platform:
• Support LGBT and same-sex marriages
• Eliminate restrictions on immigration
• Against government intervention in the economy
• Supports the legalization of drugs, gambling pornography,
prostitution
• Public schools should be privatized
• Neutrality in foreign affairs
Fact: The fastest growing party in the U.S. BackBack

28. Founded: 1995
Platform:
• Fiscal accountability and responsibility
• Detailed blueprint for a balanced budget
• Energy independence via increased domestic
sources
• Reduce use of coal, oil, & nuclear energy
• Support our allies when asked, and when
fiscally feasible.
Noteworthy members: Ross Perot and Jesse
Ventura
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Ross Perot

29. Founded: 2002
Platform:
• Opposes all gun control
• Pass a balanced-budget amendment
• Secure our borders and encourage legal immigrants to leave
the U.S.
• Supports organized prayer in public places
• Repeal federal income tax
• Pro-life
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30. Founded: 2009
Platform:
• Fiscal responsibility and public accountability
• Develop practical domestic energy sources
• Increase public and private emphasis on math and science to
promote innovation
• Every citizen should be considered as equal
Fact: Founded by veterans of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, it
has almost 30,000 members who are mostly veterans.
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