Unit 3: Lesson 3.7 Role of Political Parties in Elections and Policy Formation

Standard:                8. Public policy is shaped by governmental and non-governmental institutions and political processes.

Benchmark:         9.1.4.8.1 I can evaluate the impact of political parties on elections and public policy formation.

Essential Question:         What impact do political parties have on elections and public policy formation?

The donkey and elephant are the popularized symbols of the two main American political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. No animals were harmed in the taking of this picture; unfortunately, no legislation was agreed to either.

        Faction

Factions were inevitable, or so the authors of the Constitution thought. In the fierce ratification debate that followed the signing of the Constitution James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay wrote a series of letters that came to be known as The Federalist Papers. Today, the papers are collectively thought of as the most eliquently written literary work defending a large republic as has ever been written. One of the bigger fears of the people of the late 1700’s was that our new nation would be torn apart by faction, or a group of people, either majority or minority, with a common interest who may be working for or against the common public good. Madison goes on to argue in Federalist 10 that there are two ways to solve factions; 1. remove the reasons for the factions existence 2. deal with the effects of faction. To remove causes of faction, Madison argued, would cause either an extinguishment of liberty or a “groupthink” opinion on all matters. In a free society neither option is advantageous, thus we deal with the effects of faction through a system of checks and balances that prohibits any one faction from rising up and exerting too much control in our republic.

Parties

The two main political parties, or factions, that make up the American political landscape are the conservative leaning Republican Party and the liberal leaning Democratic Party. Of course both parties have moderate members as well, but typically moderate Republicans lean a little to the conservative side of issues and moderate Democrats lean a little ot the liberal side of issues.

Impact on Election Process

Political parties exist to provide a number of important services to the public. First, parties exist to choose and nominate candidates to run for office. Party faithful begin their work in the early months of an election year by holding precinct caucuses. At a precinct caucus, issues are discussed and recommended for the state and national party platform and attendees cast a preference ballot for whom they would like to endorse to run for seats in government. The party platform serves as a document outlining the main views held by the members of a particular political party. Caucus attendees have the opportunity to be elected delegates to the county, legislative district, and state conventions. Being chosen as a delegate gives party members the opportunity to actually cast a preference ballot to officially endorse political candidates from their respective political party. Once candidates have been endorsed, the party organizes and rallies around the candidates to spread their message and help the election efforts. In some instances, candidates skip the endorsement process and instead opt to run in the state’s August primary election. Regardless of being endorsed, the candidate that wins the August primary is the only candidate that can run with the party label behind their name on a general election ballot. Proponents of primaries argue they encourage more participation than just the party faithful. Opponents argue that party insiders spend the time getting to know the candidates and should be trusted with the endorsement process. Opponents also argue that the candidate winning the primary may just be spending more money than the opponent. Walking in parades, door knocking, phone calling, get out the vote efforts and spreading the message via social media are all examples of the ways in which political parties impact elections; however, the biggest way in which a party may impact an election might be the money at the parties disposal. National and statewide political parties have large sums of money that endorsed candidates have at their disposal. The money allows candidates to advertise their message in a more efficient manner than is possible without money. In recent years, money in politics has turned raising campaign money into a constant duty for elected officials. In fact, a serious candidate for statewide office, or U.S. House office, must have the ability to raise about $1 million to be able to compete and potentially be elected. In short, money matters in party politics.

Impact on Public Policy

Once elected, the business of governing begins. The majority party, or the party with the majority of members in the chamber, has control over the chamber to an extent. The majority sets the legislative agenda and relies on its members to rally and vote in unison on issues the party favors. The majority party has a major say in which issues our nation or state prioritizes. What role does the minority party play? They can be the voice of dissent, or they can vote with the majority. Thousands of votes happen every year and a majority do actually have bipartisan support. However, on many major issues, the two parties typically vote in opposition.

        Third Parties

        The American party system is actually considered a multiparty system, despite only two parties typically controlling most of government. Examples of third parties in American politics are the Independence Party, Green Party, Libertarians, and the Socialists. The parties may be splinter parties, or offshoots, of the main parties. The third parties may share wholly different views all together than the major parties. Of vital importance to third parties is gaining enough support to have a major party candidate on the presidential ballot every four years. This brings millions of dollars and publicity to the party, and ultimately may highlight causes the party cares deeply about. A major role that third parties play is to educate the public on issues that the two main parties will not touch.