POLITICAL PARTIES

Political Parties and What they do

• Political Party – a group of people who seek to control government through the winning of elections and holding public office – joined by common principles to affect change
• The Major parties – Republicans and Democrats

Role of Political Parties

• Selecting and Supporting candidates
• Informing the public and activating supporters through pamphlets, bumper stickers, ads, signs, buttons
• Act as bonding agent
• To ensure qualified representatives are carrying the people’s message to government

Role of Political Parties

• Serve as a link
• Enables the branches and levels of government to communicate
• Acts as a watchdog
• The party not in power is watching the party in power

Two – Party System

• Two – Party System – a political system dominated by two major political parties

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History of two party system

• Federalist and Anti-Federalists
• Began with the ratifying of the Constitution
• Now it is tradition and is unlikely to change
• Prevalence of single-member districts
• Winner is the one who gains a plurality or largest number of votes
• Republicans and Democrats work in a bipartisan manner to perpetuate the system

History of two party system

• Minor parties have difficulty getting on the ballot and be heard
• Some minority parties
• Ideological Parties (Environmentalism)
• Independent Candidate Parties (on their own)
• Single Issue Parties (Green Party)
• Splinter Parties (Libertarian)

History of two party system

• Multiparty systems, where three or more parties compete for control of the government are common in Europe, Israel, and Japan
• Advantage – gives voters the opportunity of voting from a variety of choices
• Majorities are rare and pluralities usually indicate winners
• Coalitions must be formed with other parties to gain a majority of votes and get the work of governing done

History of two party system

• One party systems do occur. In these instances, the party and the government are the same thing. The People’s Republic of China is an example.

Political Parties

• Platforms and Planks
• Platform – a political party’s statement of its goals and positions on all issues
• Plank – a single issue on a political party’s platform

Political Parties

• The Political Spectrum in the United States
• Far left: Radical
• Left Wing: Liberal and Democrat
• Left Moderate: Democratic mainstream
• Centrist: Moderate. Democrat and Republican
• Right Moderate: Republican
• Right Wing: Conservative mainstream
• Far Right: Reactionary
• This should be considered a spectrum in which a candidate can fall in between two categories from left (democrats) to right (republicans)
• Majority of Candidates elected to office are considered “Moderate”

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Republicans and Democrats

• REPUBLICAN
• more socially conservative
• economically libertarian
• closer ties to both Wall Street (large corporations) and Main Street (locally owned businesses) than do the Democrats
• less affiliation with labor unions
• strong belief in personal responsibility, limited government, and corporate entrepreneurship
• generally oppose gay marriage, oppose abortion, and oppose embryonic stem cell research�

Republicans and Democrats

• DEMOCRAT
• favors farmers, laborers, labor unions, and religious and ethnic minorities
• opposed unregulated business and finance, and favored progressive income taxes
• advocates for welfare spending programs targeted at the poor. Environmentalism �advocates civil liberties, social freedoms, equal rights, equal opportunity, and a free enterprise system tempered by government intervention (what economists call a mixed-economy)
• believes that government should play a role in alleviating poverty and social injustice, even if that means a larger role for government and progressive taxation to pay for social services
• support gay marriage, pro-choice, and stem cell research.�

Party Organization

• What do party members do?
• Nominate Candidates
• Campaign for Candidates
• Raise money, stuff envelopes, poll voters, and drive people to the polls
• Make telephone calls

Party Organization

• National
• Raise money for Presidential campaigns
• Organize the national convention
• Create the party’s platform
• Senatorial Committee – elect Senators
• House Committee – elect Representatives
• State
• Work on electing state officials
• Work within the state to elect candidates to national office

Party Organization

• Local
• Cities are divided into districts or precincts
• There is a captain for each precinct
• Organizes local election efforts
• Responsible for all elections