Political Parties, Candidates, and Campaigns Chapter 8

1. Political Parties, Candidates, and CampaignsChapter 8 AP U.S. Government and Politics

2. Introduction • A political party is an ongoing coalition of interests joined together to try to get its candidates for public office elected under a common label. • U.S. campaigns are both party-centered and candidate-centered. • Party-centered - the Republican and Democratic parties compete across the country election after election. • Candidate-centered - individual candidates devise their own strategies, choose their own issues, and form their own campaign organizations.

3. The History of U.S. Parties • Parties are linkage institutions; they serve to connect citizens with government. • Party Competition develops when Americans vote. • Voters choose between candidates who represent the Republican and Democratic parties. • Voter’s opinions are narrowed – they vote and the party that wins gets to govern. • Many of America’s early leaders distrusted parties. • Washington warned of the “baneful effects” of parties in his farewell address. • Madison – likened parties to special interests – Federalist #10

4. The First Parties • The first political parties originated from a rivalry between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. • Hamilton organized the Federalist Party. • Jefferson created the Democratic-Republican Party. • After Jefferson won the 1800 election, no Federalist would again control the white house. • In the 1820s, it appeared that the political system may operate without parties. • “The Era of Good Feeling” • Policy differences split the Democratic-Republicans. • The dominant faction, led by Andrew Jackson, became known as the “Democrats”.

5. Andrew Jackson and Grassroots Parties • Jackson’s goal – wrest political power from elites. • Jackson created a grassroots party, a party organized at the level of the voters, which depends on voter support. • Voting rights were extended to those without property, causing many more people to vote. • During this time the Whig Party was created by opponents of Jackson and the Democrats. • It was short lived, as the issue of slavery tore the party apart. • As the Whigs disintegrated, a northern-based party called the Republican Party emerged. • In 1860, Republican nominee Abraham Lincoln won with just 40% of popular vote, causing Southern states to secede. • Civil War – only time in U.S. history where Two-Party system failed to peacefully solve American’s political differences.

6. Republicans and Democrats – The Two-Party System • Since the Civil War, America has settled into a pattern of competition the Republican and Democratic parties. • They have been able to respond to crucial times through reorganization through change. • Party Realignment occurs when dramatic shifts in partisan preference drastically alter the political landscape. • Preceding party realignment is one or more critical elections, also known as realigning elections. • A critical election is an election that signals a party realignment through voter polarization around new issues and personalities.

8. The Two-Party System, cont. • Realignments are rare. • Civil War realignment, 1896 election, Great Depression (1930s) • Today, the Republican Party dominates politics in the South. • Northeastern and Western States are increasingly Democratic. • Since the 1970s, divided government has become common. • In a divided government, different political parties control the presidency and one or both houses of Congress.

10. Electoral and Party Systems • U.S. history has been dominated by a two-party system. • Most democracies have a multiparty system, in which three or more parties have the capacity to control government. • America’s two-party system is the result of voting in single-member districts. • The candidate with the most votes in a district wins the office – winner-take-all system. • Discourages minor parties. • Different from Europe, where proportional representation is used to allocate seats according to a party’s share of the popular vote.

11. Politics in the Two-Party System • The main goal of a political party is to get its candidates elected to office. • To do this, they try to attract majority support by staying near the center of the political spectrum. • Median Voter Theorem states that parties can maximize their vote by winning voters in the middle. • The Party Coalition refers to the groups and interests that support a political party. • The gender gap represents the difference between men and women in political attitude and voting preference. • Women – more likely to have liberal views and be Democrats. • Hispanic vote is a major key to both parties; currently more Democrats than Republicans.

12. Minor (Third) Parties • The U.S. has always had minor political parties. • They form to promote policies their followers do not believe are being represented adequately by the two major parties. Types of Minor Parties • Reform parties – Claim that the two major parties are having a corrupting influence on government. • Progressive Party, Reform Party (Ross Perot) • Single-issue parties – Formed around a single issue of overriding interest to its followers. • Free-soil Party, Prohibition Party, Right to Life Party

13. Types of Minor Parties • Ideological parties – characterized by ideological commitment to a broad philosophical position. • Socialist Workers Party, Libertarian Party • Factional Parties – minor parties created when a faction within one party breaks away to form its own party. • Bull Moose Party (Roosevelt), States’ Rights Party

14. What are the functions of a political party? • Get their candidates elected. • Recruit candidates for office. • Organize and run campaigns. • Organize voter registration drives, recruit volunteers, work to increase participation. • Present alternative policies for operating the government. • Provide a political identity. • Each party has an image – gives the public a familiar platform. • Endorsing specific policies. • Coordinating policymaking. • Through party identification, politicians in different government branches work together and support each other.

15. What are the functions of a political party? • Accepting responsibility for operation of government. • Staffing executive branch with party supporters, developing linkages among officials to implement their policies. • Act as organized opposition to the party in power. • By organizing opposition to the “in” party, the opposition party forces debate on policy alternatives.

16. The Weakening of Parties • Many political scientists feel political parties are getting weaker. • Candidates, not parties, now have the most influence in politics. • More people identify themselves as independents. • More campaigns are candidate-centered as opposed to party centered. • Increase in split-ticket voting. • Parties are more “open.” • Direct primary elections replaced parties nominating candidates for office. • Candidates now compete for public support, not necessarily the support of their party leaders.

17. The Weakening of Parties, cont. • Candidates now directly get most money. • It doesn’t pass through party leaders. • Decline of patronage jobs also weakened parties. • Government jobs are given to people loyal to a particular candidate, not an entire party. • Dealignment – General decline in party identification and party loyalty in the electorate. • Despite losing influence, party organizations are in no danger of going extinct.

18. The Structure and Role of Party Organizations • Structurally, U.S. parties are loose associations of national, state, and local organizations.

19. The Structure and Role of Party Organizations, cont. Local Party Organizations • Parties are organized from the bottom up, not top down. • 95 % of party activists work at the local level. • Local parties concentrate on local elections. • They also take secondary roles in state and national elections. State Party Organizations • At the state level, each party is headed by a central committee. • Made up of members of local party organizations and local and state officeholders. • Day-to-day operations are carried out by a chairperson. • Concentrate on statewide races – governor and U.S. Senator, and state legislatures.

20. The Structure and Role of Party Organizations, cont. National Party Organizations • National party organizations are structured in a similar way as those at the state level. • Their power is largely confined to setting organizational policy and determining the site of the presidential nominating convention. • Major role in campaigns – raise and spend money. • Most money raised is spent on recruiting voters and advertising. • Some money is given directly to Senate or House candidates for their campaigns. • This money, along with the money a candidate receives from individual contributors or interest groups is called hard money.

21. Hard money is subject to strict limits. • Soft Money – campaign contributions that are not subject to legal limits because they were given to parties, not individual candidates. • Soft money contributions are no longer legal as a result of the enactment of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). • Ban on soft money does not apply to “527 groups”, which are non-profit political groups. • “527 groups” now are allowed to run ads on issue advocacy, but can’t attack a specific candidate. • Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) – Supreme Court ruled that corporations and unions can’t be banned from spending money on campaigns. • It was ruled that they have the same 1st Amendment rights as individuals.

22. Candidate-Centered Campaigns • Party committees have a service relationship with candidates. • They assist candidates, but have no power to require them to support positions. • Today’s campaigns are controlled by the candidates. • Campaign costs continue to rise. • Incumbents have an advantage in fundraising. • Since campaigns are so expensive, the money chase is relentless. • Political Consultants are key operatives in today’s campaigns. • They are professionals who advise candidates on aspects of their campaigns.

23. Candidate-Centered Campaigns, cont. • Political consultants are skilled at packaging candidates. • Packaging refers to the process of recasting the candidate’s record into an appealing image. Voter Contacts • Campaigns use a variety of methods to try to influence voters. • Air wars – the main battleground of the modern campaign, mainly through the use of TV ads. • Ground wars concentrate on getting swing voters to the polls. • “Get-out-the-vote” efforts

24. Candidate-Centered Campaigns, cont. • Web wars are conducted using the internet to provide information, generate support, recruit volunteers, and raise money. • Many experts feel that internet advertising will overtake TV as the main medium of political campaigns. • Advertising is cheaper on the internet. Public Influence on Parties and Candidates • Candidate-centered campaigns have some distinct advantages. • They infuse new blood into politics. • They lend flexibility to electoral politics. • When issues change, self-directed candidates adjust quickly. • They encourage national officeholders to be responsive to local interests.

25. Candidate-Centered Campaigns, cont • Candidate-centered campaigns also have disadvantages. • They become fertile ground for interest groups. • They give large sums of money, allowing them to influence the election’s outcome. • They weaken accountability by making it easier for officeholders to deny responsibility for government action. • Candidate-centered campaigns strengthen the relationship between voters and candidates while weakening the relationship between the electorate and their representative institutions (parties).