7 political parties. copyright © houghton mifflin company. all rights reserved.7 - 2

7

Political Parties

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7 - 2

Political Parties*• Parties- Here and Abroad• Decentralization

» Party label important (party ID) as a voting aid» Arenas: Label, Organization, Set of leaders» US parties weaker in all three dimensions

• Reasons US/Euro Parties are different» Gatekeeper function strong in Europe» Federal system decentralizes power (Grodzins)» Candidates now chosen locally, not by nat’l parties

• Political Culture» Parties are relatively unimportant in life» Political parties are separate from other aspects» *Summary from Instructor’s Guide with Lecture

Notes, American Gov’t, 9th ed., Wilson/Dilulio, Jr.


Rise and Decline of the US Party• The Founding (to 1820s)

» Parties seen as factions, Washington warned

» Republicans defeated federalists

» Loose coalitions of interests

• The Jacksonians (To Civil War)» Political participation a mass phenomenon

• The Civil War and Sectionalism (to 1930s)» New Republicans dominant postwar

» Most states dominated by one party, w/factions w/i

• The Era of Reform (1900s-now, esp. wwii)» Progressives pushed to curtail party power

» Worst party corruption reduced

» Weakened all political parties


Figure 7.1: Decline in Party Identification, 1952-2000:

Source: National Election Studies, The NES Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior, 1952-2000, table 20.1.


Map 7.1: The Election of 1828


Figure 7.2: Trends in Split-Ticket Voting for President and Congress, 1920-1996


National Party Structure Today• Parties similar on paper

» National convention has ultimate power

» Convention composed of state delegates

• Party structure diverged in 1960s/1970s» RNC moved to bureaucratic structure

» DNC factionalized and redistributed power

» RNC began computerized mailing lists, DNC copies

» DNC and RNC send money to states (soft $)

• National Conventions» National cmte sets time and place

» Parties’ delegate formulas reinforce ideology

» Parties reflect upper-middle-class bias of each

» Conventions simply ratify primary season choices


Figure 7.3: Cleavages and Continuity in the Two-Party System


Two-party system and Minor• Rarity among nations today

• Evenly balanced nationally, but not locally

• Why has the 2pty sys. endured so long?– Electoral system: winner-take-all, plurality

– Opinions of voters: two broad coalitions

– State laws prevent third parties: Nader

– Minor parties: multiple types» Idological: Communist, libertarian

» One-Issue: Free Soil, Prohibition

» Economic Protest: Populists

» Factional Parties: Bull Moose, American Independ.

» Factional have had greatest influence


Figure 7.3: Cleavages and Continuity in the Two-Party System (cont’d)


Table 7.2: The Rise of Republican Politics in the South, 1956-2002


Nominating a President• Two contrary forces: base vs. appeal

• Representative delegates? Hardly

• Primary voters: little ideological difference

• Caucus voters: most dedicated, ideological

• New Delegates: issue oriented, but may choose unattractive candidate

• Dems: since 1968, have won more congressional than presidential. Candidates out of step with voters

• Disconnect between ave. citizen and del.


Table 7.1: Who Are the Party Delegates?


Table 7.5: How Party Delegates and Party Voters Differ in Liberal Ideology


Table 7.6: Political Opinions of Delegates and Voters


Table 7.3: Party Voting in Presidential Elections


Table 7.4: The Public Rates the Two Parties


State and Local Parties• State-level structure

» Intensity varies state-to-state

• The Machine: incentive-recruited members» High leadership control, extensive abuses

• Ideological Parties- the machine’s opposite» Principle more important, so factionalization often

» Today’s third parties

• Solidary Groups» Friendship as motivator; not corrupt, but lazy

• Sponsored parties: ex: union democrats

• Personal following: ex. Kennedys, Bushs?

7 political parties. copyright © houghton mifflin company. all rights reserved.7 - 2

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