political parties, politics & voting

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Political Parties&

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Political Parties A political party is group of people who run candidates

for public office under its banner. A party is a group that seeks to elect candidates to public

office by supplying them with a label (party identification), by which they are known to the electorate.

United States parties have become weaker as labels, sets of leaders, and organizations.

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By Selection of MembersCadre Parties

Cadre refers to a nucleus or small core of indoctrinated leaders who promote ideological interests.

Examples: Socialist Workers’ Party, American Nazi Party, Communist Party

Mass PartiesMass party refers to an organization where anyone is

encouraged and free to join. There are few if any tests for membership.

Examples: American Democratic and Republican Parties.



By Nature of IdeologyMissionary Parties

Missionary party refers to a highly ideological organization whose members must be recruited and converted to the tenets or values of the organization.

Examples: Prohibition Party, Communist PartyBroker Parties

A Broker is someone who buys and sells on a commission. A broker party is an organization that is less ideological and is willing to modify its positions on issues in order to secure the most votes.

Examples: American Democratic and Republican Parties

Broker Parties Want VOTES!



Ideology Ideology is a systematic set of attitudes and opinions

people use to justify their view of the political world. There is no one ideology. Ideology is thought to exist on a continuum from left to

right on the political spectrum.

Centralized Power

Decentralized Power© iTutor. 2000-2013. All Rights Reserved


By Degree of Discipline Strong Party Discipline

Discipline refers to the degree of authority and power the leaders hold over their rank and file members. Parties with strong party discipline hold a great deal of leverage over party members.

Examples: British Labor and Conservative Parties

Weak Party Discipline Discipline refers to the degree of authority and power

the leaders hold over their rank and file members. Parties with weak party discipline have relatively little leverage over party members.

Examples: American Democratic and Republican Parties



Democrats and Republicans Mass Parties--virtually anyone can join. Broker Parties--looking for votes, not converts. Decentralized Parties--power is widely dispersed. Weak Party Discipline--leaders exert few sanctions.

DemocratRepublican



Functions of Political Parties

a) Promote stability

b) Recruit leaders

c) Organize government

d) Help educate citizens

e) Provide loyal opposition

f) Spawn civic engagement

g) Simplify choices



Promote Stability Major political parties serve as a buffer to soften the class of

extremism. They do so by building coalitions and brokering compromises.

Recruit Leaders Modern governments need quality leaders. Political parties

serve as personnel agencies to identify, recruit and promote competent public servants.

Organize government Without some mechanism to organize the law-making

process, legislative bodies would be nearly impossible to function. Party leaders set legislative priorities and help enact laws.

Help Educate Citizens Parties help define issues and educate voters about their

positions on public policy.



Provide Loyal Opposition The party out of power serves as watchdog to keep the

governing party from abusing its authority.

Spawn Civic Engagement Parties help register voters and organize get-out-to-vote

drives. Voter turnout in partisan elections, all things being equal,

is significantly higher than in non-partisan elections.

Simplify Choices Most voters do not have the time, resources or

inclination to study every candidate and issue. The parties help simplify their choices.



A Two-Party System Tradition

It seems the United States has nearly always had a strong two-party system.

It is part of our nation’s history and tradition.

Social Consensus If a nation can achieve a

“consensus” on fundamental values, then two parties are all that is needed to resolve secondary issues.

Economic Divisions Some believe our two major

political parties represent an economic division between the so-called “haves” and “have nots” in American society.

Development of the America’s Two-Party

System© iTutor. 2000-2013. All Rights Reserved


Political Socialization The primary agent of partisan transmission is the family. Most American families are either identify with or lean to

either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. Few American children are socialized to be anything else.

Legal Restrictions Most legal restrictions are imposed by the 50 state

constitutions and legislation. Historically, state governments have enacted laws that

favor the two major political parties. For most U.S. elections, political candidates are elected

from single-member districts where the winner-takes all.



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