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Chapter 5: Political Parties Section 1. Objectives. Define a political party . Describe the major functions of political parties. Identify the reasons why the United States has a two-party system.
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Objectives Define a political party. Describe the major functions of political parties. Identify the reasons why the United States has a two-party system. Understand multiparty and one-party systems and how they affect the functioning of a political system.
Key Terms • political party: a group of persons who seek to control government by winning elections and holding public office • political spectrum: the range of political views, from the so-called left to the right • partisanship: strong support for a specific political party and its policies • single-member districts: a voting district in which only one candidate is elected to each office on the ballot
Key Terms, cont. • plurality: the largest number of votes cast for an elected office; this number does not have to be a majority of all votes cast • bipartisan: an approach to policy making in which the two major parties find common ground on an issue • consensus: general agreement among different groups on an issue • coalition: a temporary alliance of several groups who join to form a working majority in a multiparty system
What are political parties, and how do they function in our two-party system? A party is a group of people who try to control government by winning elections and holding public office. Political Parties: Nominate candidates Inform and inspire supporters Encourage good behavior among members Govern once in office Perform oversight on government actions Introduction
What is a Party? Checkpoint: What are the three elements that make up a political party? The party organizationis the party professionals who run the party at all levels by contributing time, money, and skill. The party in governmentincludes the candidates and officeholders who serve at all levels of government. The party in the electorateare the millions of voters who identify strongly with a particular party and support its policies.
What Parties Do Parties express the will of the people in government. They can also encourage unity by modifying conflicting views and encouraging compromise. Parties nominate—find, recruit, prepare, and gather public support for—qualified political candidates. Parties inform the public and try to shape public opinion, using all forms of media to campaign for or against opposing candidates and policy issues.
Roles of Parties • Parties act as a “bonding agent” to encourage accountability among their candidates and office holders. • Parties play a key roles in governing at all levels. • Legislatures are organized along party lines and parties shape the electoral process. • Partisanship guides many legislative votes and appointments to public office. • Parties provide channels of communication between the branches of government.
Parties as “Watchdogs” • Checkpoint: How do parties perform the watchdog function? • In particular, the minority party keeps a close eye on the actions of the party that controls the executive branch to make sure that it does not abuse its power or violate the public trust.
The Two-Party System The Republican and Democratic parties dominate American politics. Only the candidates from the two major parties have a chance to win most elections. Why is this the case? The Framers opposed political parties. They saw parties as “factions” that caused disunity and conflict. George Washington warned against the dangers of parties.
Once established, parties became part of tradition. The nature of the election process supports the two-party system. Nearly all American elections take place in single-member districts--only the one candidate who wins the largest number of votes gets elected to office. This works against third-party candidates, who have little chance of finishing in the top two. Tradition
Tradition, cont. • The two major parties write election rules that discourage non-major parties. • For example, it is very difficult for a third party candidate to get on the ballot in all 50 states.
Ideological Consensus • Americans tend to share a broad ideological consensus. • The United States is made up of many different cultural groups. • While Americans don’t agree on every issue, they do support the same basic freedoms. • Strongly divisive issues have tended not to last for generations.
Building Consensus • Both major parties try to be moderate and build consensus. • Both parties tend to have a few major areas of policy differences while being rather similar in other areas. • The similarities between parties arises because both parties are after a majority of voters in any given election. Both parties must compete for the many voters in the middle of the political spectrum.
Multiparty Systems • Multiparty systems are used by many democracies. • They have several major and many smaller parties. • Each party is based on a particular interest. • These interests can include economic class, religion, or political ideology.
Multiparty systems tend to represent a more diverse group of citizens. Supporters admire this feature, arguing that it gives voters many more choices among candidates and policies. However, this diversity often makes multiparty systems less stable. The power to govern must usually be shared by several parties who join in a coalition. Multiparty Systems, cont.
One-Party Systems • Only one political party exists, offering no real choice. • Some U.S. states and districts are “modified one-party systems.” • In these places, one party repeatedly wins most of the elections and dominates government.
Review • Now that you have learned about political parties and how they function in our two-party system, go back and answer the Chapter Essential Question. • Does the two-party system help or harm democracy?
Objectives Understand the origins of political parties in the United States. Identify and describe the three major periods of single-party domination and describe the current era of divided government.
Key Terms • incumbent: the current officeholder • faction: one of two or more competing groups • spoils system: the practice of awarding public offices, contracts, and other governmental favors to those who supported the party in power • electorate: the people eligible to vote • sectionalism: a devotion to the interests of a particular region
Introduction • How has the two-party system affected the history of American government? • During different periods in American history, either the Democratic or Republican Party has dominated national politics and the branches of the federal government. • Recent history has seen the federal government divided between two parties.
The Nation’s First Parties The battle over ratification of the Constitution led to the rise of the first major parties. The Federalist Party was formed by supporters of the Constitution. They wanted a stronger national government and policies that helped financial, commercial, and manufacturing interests. Alexander Hamilton and John Adams were key representatives.
Democratic-Republican Party • Opposing the Federalists was the Democratic-Republican Party. • They wanted a more limited national government, with policies aimed at helping farmers, planters, labor, and small business. • Key leaders such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison favored a strict interpretation of the Constitution.
The Democratic Party • The election of 1796 was the first time two parties fought for the presidency. • The Federalists won, but faded from power after losing the 1800 election. • The Democratic-Republicans later split apart and gave rise to the Democratic Party.
The Era of the Democrats The Democratic Party won 13 of 15 presidential elections from 1800 to 1860. In the 1830s, President Andrew Jackson began a period of so-called Jacksonian democracy, marked by three major political changes: Voting rights were expanded to include all white males, not just those with property. A huge increase in the number of elected offices around the country. The spread of the spoils system.
Democrats v. Whigs • The Democrats drew much of their support from small farmers, pioneers, and slaveholders in the South and West. • Their greatest rivals were the Whigs, who were supported by wealthier merchantand industrial interestsin the East. Thomas Jefferson became President in 1803, ushering in an era of Democratic domination that lasted until the Civil War.
Democrats v. Whigs, cont. • The debate over slavery split the Whigs and the Democrats apart in the 1850s. • The Democrats were split between northern and southern factions. • Many Whigs and antislavery Democrats joined the new Republican Party in 1854.
Era of the Republicans • The Republican Party won 14 of 18 presidential elections from 1860 to 1932. • The Civil War crippled the Democrats. • All their powers was concentrated in the South, which they controlled for roughly 100 years after Reconstruction ended. • The Republican dominated nationally. • They had the support of farmers, laborers, business and financial interests, and freed African Americans. • The Republicans benefited from years of economic prosperity.
Economic Turmoil • An economic downturn made the election of 1896 critical. • Labor unions joined small farmers and small business owners to back the Democrats. • The Republicans won by appealing to a wider range of voters, but the Democrats gained new support outside the South.
End of the Republican Era • Checkpoint: What third-party candidate had an influence on the election of 1912? Explain. • The Republicans lost the presidency in 1912 largely due to a third party candidate. • Former Republican Theodore Roosevelt ran as a member of the new Progressive Party and split the Republican vote, helping Democrat Woodrow Wilson win.
Party Identity: Past and Present • Cartoonist Thomas Nast has been credited with creating the party symbols in is 1874 cartoon for the magazine Harper’s Weekly. • Originally, neither party adopted his ideas. Over time, each party assumed and revised the symbols, which havebecome synonymous with party identity.
Return of the Democrats • The Democrats won 7 out of 9 presidential elections from 1932 to 1968. • The Great Depression sparked the comeback of the Democrats. • With the economy in ruins, the Democrats gained the support of southerners, small farmers, big-city political organizations, labor unions, and minority groups.
Era of Divided Government • The Republicans won 7 out of 10 presidential elections from 1968 to 2004. • The Democrats controlled Congress for most of this period. • Republicans controlled Congress from 1995 to 2000 while Democrat Bill Clinton was President. • This division of power meant that neither party could easily control the agenda of the government without making compromises.
Republicans in the 1980s • The Republicans made major changes to U.S. foreign trade and domestic policies during the 1980s. • Republican candidates Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush won three landslide victories during this period.
Political Parties Today • In recent years, control of Congress, particularly the Senate, has shifted back and forth between the major parties. • Typically newly elected Presidents has a “coattail” effect that brings other candidates from their party to Congress. In recent years, this has not been the case.
Review • Now that you have learned how the two-party system has affected the history of American government, go back and answer the Chapter Essential Question. • Does the two-party system help or harm democracy?
Objectives Identify the types of minor parties that have been active in American politics. Understand why minor parties are important despite the fact that none has ever won the presidency.
Key Terms • ideological parties: parties based on a particular set of social, economic, and political beliefs • single-issue parties: parties focused on only one public-policy issue • economic protest parties: parties whose members are united by anger over economic hard times and dislike for the major parties • splinter parties: parties that have split off from one of the major parties; often focused on a single popular leader
Introduction • What role have minor parties played in American politics? • American minor parties have fallen into four broad categories: ideological parties, single-issue parties, economic protest parties, and splinter parties. • Minor parties can play a spoiler role in elections by taking critical votes from a major party. • They can also be the first to bring key issues to public attention with their campaigns.
Ideological parties are based on a particular set of beliefs that usually involve society, politics, and the economy. Most of these parties have involved Marxist ideas, such as Socialist, Socialist Labor, Socialist Worker, and Communist parties. Ideological Parties
Ideological Parties, cont. • The Libertarian Party promotes the opposite view, calling for the elimination of most government functions and programs. • Ideological parties rarely win many votes, but can last for many years.
Single Issue Parties • Single issue parties emphasize one public policy issue. • For example, the Free Soil Party opposed the spread of slavery to the West. • Most single issue parties fade away when their issue is resolved or no longer attracts public interest.
Checkpoint: How are economic protest parties different from single-issue parties? Economic protest parties arise in periods of economic trouble. They call for economic reforms. The Populist Party of the 1890s arose from the Greenbacks. They demanded public ownership of railroads, telephone, and telegraph companies along with political reforms. These parties disappear when the hard economic times end. Economic Protest Parties
Splinter parties split away from one of the major parties. They are often centered on a particular candidate who fails to win his or her major party nomination, or arise from a strong disagreement within a major party. Splinter Parties
Splinter Parties, cont. • The Dixiecrat and American Independent parties split from the Democratic Party over states’ rights and civil rights issues. • George C. Wallace, governor of Alabama campaigned for President in 1968 as a member of the American Independent Party.
The Bull Moose Party • The Progressive parties of Theodore Roosevelt and Robert La Follette split from the Republican Party. • Roosevelt’s party was nicknamed the Bull Moose Party. • Splinter parties tend to break up when their leaders step aside.
