Unit 8
Political Parties and Elections
Today’s Essential Questions:
*How did the U.S. develop into a two party system?
*What roles do parties play in our political system?
*How do our two major parties differ? (and where do they fall on the political spectrum?)
*Why have other parties if they don’t have much of a chance winning elections?
-a group of people with similar beliefs and ideas about government; B. main mission is to get candidates elected
-Parties vary in their beliefs on many different categories…
*Gov’t involvement v. freedoms (esp. at fed’l level)
*Foreign policy (trade, war, immigration, human rights)
*Domestic policy (abortion, healthcare, gun rights, economy)
B. Goals and Purposes
B. Goals and Purposes
to inform…voters about candidates and policies
B. Goals and Purposes
to develop….a platform (stance on positions)
B. Goals and Purposes
to narrow down and support…candidates for offices (at all 3 levels)
B. Goals and Purposes
To influence…voters
Watchdog role
Keeping the other party honest
Calling them out for failures or bad things
C. Party Systems by Nations
One Party system:
-only one political party
-usually a dictatorship or communist system (authoritarian; totalitarian)
-competition from other parties/candidates not allowed
-little political freedom; no opposition
Multi-Party System
-3 or more parties
-lots of choices
-single party majorities rare
-form coalitions--when two or more parties join together in order to make a majority in a multi-party system; control most multi-party systems
-can be unstable because coalitions frequently fail and new coalitions are formed
Party voting in Scotland
Common in Europe
Seats won by each party in the 2005 German federal election, an example of a proportional voting system
Two Party System
-System used by United States; has two major parties (Democrats and Republicans) and several minor parties
-Advantages
-stability in government
-experienced leaders
-Disadvantages
-minority ignored
-little change in government
D. Political Ideology: a system of ideas and ideals, especially one that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy
How do you know which party/candidates you identify with the most?
A
B
C
D
E
most Americans
Democrats
Republicans
Socialists, Marxists, Communists
Theocrats, Monarchists
Political Spectrum
Ideologies Across the Spectrum
-Conservatives-- person who favors less government or a government that is less involved in people’s lives and is less open to reforming ideas
-Liberals-- people who are in favor of more government involvement and may be more open to reform
-Moderates-- person who is somewhere in-between the major political parties and may have some beliefs which favor one side and other beliefs that favor the other party
Radical
principles focused on altering social structures through revolutionary or other means and changing value systems in fundamental ways
Reactionary
What are they and why do they exist? Represent people that don’t fall inside the moderate box; provide people with another choice
What struggles do they face? (from video)
*Play 2 important roles:
Minor Parties’ Effects on our Electoral System
Year | Independent Candidate | Third Party Name | Electoral Votes Won | Winning Candidate and Party |
1892 | James Weaver | Populist Party | 22 | Grover Cleveland (D) |
1912 | Theodore Roosevelt | Progressive Party | 88 | Woodrow Wilson (D) |
1948 | Strom Thurmond | State's Rights | 39 | Harry Truman (D) |
1968 | George Wallace | American Independent | 46 | Richard Nixon (R) |
1992 | Ross Perot | Independent | no votes but won 18.9% of the popular vote (impacting possible swing states) | Bill Clinton (D) |
Beware of stereotypes….and…
media biases...
Biases
Belonging to a Party
-who can be a party member?
Anyone who is eligible to vote
NC Voter Registration Application
What are party members expected to do?
- VOTE!!!!!!!!
- campaign/support their candidates
- donate
Many people choose to not be a party member (sometimes called independent or unaffiliated voters)
E. Political Party Organization
Parties do work on levels. Each
level is lead by a committee.
Can you think of any positions that
Would be supported by a party at
each of these Levels? (in other
words name elected officials
at each of these levels)
Party leaders at all levels are involved in…
Local Level
-most important level; why? the people being voted on here affect us the most (these people are closest to the voters)
-known as “grassroots” level (ideas begin here and climb up)
-all voting takes place here (in areas called precincts)
-most volunteers work at this level
Responsibility: work to get people registered
Concerns: getting their people elected into these positions...commissioners, mayors, sheriffs, state reps, school board, lower level state judges
*preventing political machine– when a party so strongly controls an area that the opposing party offers little resistance
State Level
-Lots of funds raised and spent at this level
Responsibilities:
-pick electors who vote for Presidential candidate
-pick delegates to head to national convention
-hold primary elections (to narrow down candidates w/in the party)
Concerns: focus on winning these positions: Governor, Lt. Gov’r, members of the Council of State, Federal Congressmen and women (House Reps and Senators from their states)
National Level
-billions spent at this level
-focus on getting
a. members of Congress elected
b. Presidential and V.P. candidates elected
-at this level parties host a…
-National Convention-- Meeting held every four years when Presidential candidates are chosen and the party develops official policy beliefs (close out primary season)
*It is here that the party works on its…
National Level
-create platform here
-both developed at National Party Conventions
*not representative of all party members
B. More goals and purposes: to develop a platform and inform citizens about what issues the candidates stand for or against
Describe a stereotypical...
Democrat
Republican
What party does this stereotype depict?
What party does this stereotype depict?
Review of Party Focus at each Level (options: Fed’l, State, Local)
1. Support their party’s gubernatorial (gov’r) candidate and those running for Council of State? ______________
12. Raise and spend millions on the President and VP; also, tight House and Senate seat races? _____________
3. Where ideas are born (grassroots): _____________
4. Responsible for creating the platform (and planks): ______________
5. Sometimes you find party machines dominating here: _______________
6. Responsible for conducting primaries for presidential elections: ____________
7. Host a national convention every 4 years: _____________
8. Is further divided up into voting areas called precincts: ______________
9. Select electors to vote in the electoral college: ______________
10. Focus on positions such as sheriff, mayor, commissioners: _____________
11. Next 2 slides...guess the party stereotype.
8-2 Election Process
Back to 8-1 A
Other functions of political parties:
-narrowing down candidates -supporting them thru campaign efforts
-informing citizenry (ads, debates, town halls, canvassing, rallies)
Goal: To Win Elections
-Elections have two important parts:
Both Republicans and Democrat must
1) narrow down their candidates through the Nomination Process
(caucus and primaries)
and
2) Campaigning for their candidates
Takes place as soon as a candidate announces he/she is running and continues all the way up to General Election Day
GOP Hopefuls for President (pre-Primaries)
2020 Democratic Hopefuls
So how do we go from that many to one?
Each state plays a role in narrowing candidates down through two different types of elections: caucuses and primaries. The parties in each state decide how this will go.
I. Nominating Process (now comes the narrowing down…state by state)
Within the states each party may hold a
a) caucus
-a meeting of party leaders to name candidates (not as popular at the federal level); some states do this for Presidential Candidates (Iowa)
or
b) primary elections
-special elections held within the party to determine which candidates will run for office in the general election
Primary Elections
Two types, depending on the state:
1. Open Primary
-primary where any voter can help choose candidates
Advantage: all voters can vote
Disadvantage: sabotage may occur
2. Closed Primary
-primary where only party members are allowed to vote
Advantages: protects party candidates from sabotage
Disadvantage: keeps independents from voting
Presidential Candidates (only)
-after the narrowing down the candidates of each party host a…
c. National convention -meeting of party representatives (delegates) to name Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates & create/announce the party platform (and planks!)
*decide during primaries
F. Campaigning starts early w/ the announcement that candidates are running in primaries but it gets real heated throughout primary season until election day in November
What all is involved? commercials, speaking events, debates, rallies are all part of the process (canvassing or traveling city to city, state to state meeting and greeting people...especially hitting up the ______ states)
Recap on Election Process
Write down the steps in the path to General Election Day
8-3 Influencing Public Opinion
*can be very misleading as
-a majority may represent only 51%
-sometimes poll/survey results can also be biased or flawed
Biggest Influences
1. Personal Background
Age, gender, income, race, religion, occupation, family
2. Mass Media
TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, recordings, movies, internet, books, etc.
3. Public Officials
Officials state their views and hope to persuade voters
4. Special Interest Groups
groups who share a point of view about an issue and work together to influence the public and government officials.
How is it measured?
-Public Opinion Polls
A survey in which individuals are asked to answer questions about a particular issue or person
...and of course election results
Why Measure Public Opinion?
They allow officeholders to keep in touch with citizens
*Negative:
May discourage voters
Ignore the candidates views
Interest Groups
-a group of people who have similar interests or concerns about an issue
*Use various methods to try to influence people/politicians:
-donate campaign $
-advertise for their cause and candidates
-conduct research and provide info to public
-hire lobbyists to persuade politicians
Types of Interest Groups
A. Economic Groups
1) Business Organizations- protection of the rights of businesses and business owners (National Association of Manufacturers)
2) Professional Associations- protects lawyers, doctors, accountants, teachers (American Medical Association, National Education Association)
3) Labor Unions-fight for workers: wages, working conditions, benefits (labor unions such as AFL-CIO)
Other Types of Interest Groups
B. Particular Groups of People
1) Ethnic groups- NAACP; MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund)
2) Age groups- AARP; Gray Panthers
3) gender groups- NOW; Rainbow Coalition
And there’s more...
C. Particular Causes:
-guns, freedoms, animals, environment, non-smoking, limiting drugs, legalizing drugs, limiting drunk driving
Lobbyists
-people hired to try to influence politicians on behalf of an interest group
- work at all levels of government
-use $, info and influence to promote their interests
*Important because they do provide gov’t officials with valuable information
1. What interest is he working for?
2. What techniques does he/his group use to influence people/politicians?
VIII. Regulation of Lobbying
-effects of Lobbying
-activities of lobbyists have been and continue to be questionable
-now the government audits/regulates lobbying
Media
Why would it be advantageous to have as many people as possible watching your news syndication?
What could you do as a producer/writer of news show to get more people to watch?
What do clicks on stories mean for some websites?
Back to 8-1 B. Roles of Political Parties
to win…
to inform…
to develop….
to narrow down…
to support good…
to influence...
Many different propaganda techniques are used by parties and supporters in the campaign effort to influence voters
Propaganda Techniques p. 274-75)
-testimonials/endorsements
-bandwagon
-name calling/mudslinging/negative advertising/fear mongering
-glittering generalities
-plain-folk appeal
-cardstacking
*use your book to familiarize yourself with these techniques; see which one you would like to use for your candidate poster (due tomorrow)
To campaign is to advertise…
Guess the propaganda technique (use the choices from yesterday’s list on letter G)
#1 Ted Cruz 2016 Ad
#3 Ike for Pres
#4 Romney Ad
#5 The Original Mavericks
#2 Huckabee Ad
#6 LBJ Ad 1964
#7 Trump Commercial
C. How do candidates pay for all the expenses that come with campaigning?
From BBC Video 2012 Campaign Spending:
Public Funding
-Presidential Candidates raise money and the gov’t matches that amount (up to a certain amount so it is limited)
-Party can spend extra on behalf of candidates
* Most candidates choose not to accept public funding! (because of its limits)
Private Funding
-from individuals, interest groups and PACs
-no limits on how much candidates can raise in private funding
-PAC-- Groups that are formed in order to raise money for candidates running for office
Private Funding: (two ways to give)
��
Private Funding
-campaign finance reform
FEC (Federal Elections Commission): (1975) independent regulatory commission created by Congress to regulate campaign finance laws
-all money contributed and all money spend must be accounted for
Citizens United v. FEC: $ donated and spend is free speech
So, how much was raised and spent in 2016?
Fears of Our Party System
1. lack of political choices
2. fear that parties would divide the nation
-George Washington’s Warnings:
”dangers of factions”
3. minority may be ignored by majority
“the baneful (very harmful) effects of
The spirit of the party”
“the baneful (very harmful) effects
of the spirit of the party”
Beware of factions!
8-4 Voting and Elections
A. Growth of the electorate
How did the following suffrage am’ts help increase the electorate (total voting population)?
15th: (letter count) 17th: Senateen
19th: (age) 23th: MJ
24th: 2 vote 4 ... 26th: 2+6=8
B. It’s a STATE thing
Elections are a RESERVED power (rules/regulations vary from state to state)
Ex: date, time, early voting, Voter ID, etc.
Voting in NC
You vote in a precinct (area of voters). Each precinct has a polling place (building where people got to vote)
Voting trends
Straight ticket:
All one party
Split ticket:
Vote for different parties
For different postions
So many opportunities to vote!
Early voting
Absentee ballots (mail-in)
Same day registration
Polls open early and close late
And yet...
APATHY
F. General Election Day
After primaries and national convention (july/august) and a few months of campaigning General Election Day takes place (according to the Constitution) on the Tuesday following the first Monday of November every even numbered year
Example: 2018 midterm elections (Congressional, state and local positions)
2020 Presidential election year (amongst other Congressional, state, local positions)
Plurality v. majority
-Winning a certain amount of votes depends on state laws and positions
-typically a candidate must get the most votes to win (plurality)
-one position requires a majority to win...a presidential candidate must win at least 51% of the electoral votes to become President
Last activity...add to Unit 8 activities (NB paper); all due Wed
Recall Referendum
Runoff Initiative
Recount
For each topic:
Recall Initiative Runoff Referendum
Recount
1. Colorado Lawmakers Ousted Over Gun Law�
2. Oregon Ballot 2016
3. Colorado $12 Minimum Wage, Amendment 70 (2016)�
*in this example, an amendment to the state’s Constitution was created by a legislative body and referred to the people
4. Fake special election results:
Democratic Senatorial Primary for NC
20%
10%
30%
15%
25%
5. Florida Presidential Election Results in 2000
5. AP: A vote-by-vote review of untallied ballots in the 2000 Florida presidential election indicates George W. Bush would have narrowly prevailed in the partial **** sought by Al Gore, but Gore might have reversed the outcome – by the barest of margins – had he pursued and gained a complete statewide ****.