political parties – three key terms ● de-alignment abandonment of citizens from identifying with...
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Political Parties – Three Key Terms
●De-alignmentAbandonment of citizens from identifying with the two
political parties.
●Critical electionAn electoral “earthquake” in which the election
results produce surprising change.
●RealignmentChange in the political party that occurs after a
“critical election”. Change includes platform, demographic support, & change in majority. Change is national as well as local and has permanence.
The issues
Democrats●Liberal●Pro spending on social programs●Pro choice●Gay rights●Secular●Relax immigration rules●Gun control●Affirmative Action●Campaign regulations●Anti death penalty●Federal government power●Proactive on environment
Embrace change
Republicans●Conservative●Pro spending on military●Pro life●Pro traditional marriage●Allow religion in public life●Border control●Second Amendment rights●Individualism●Economic freedom on campaigns●Pro Death Penalty●State government power●Environmental regs hurt businesses
●EmbraceTradition
The issues
Voting Coalitions of the Two Parties:
Democrats
●Young (18-21)●Women●African American●Jewish●North Eastern & Western Regions●Urban●Union
Republicans
●Upper Income●Protestant/church going●Military families●South●Midwest●Rural
Party Realignments
●Why are these a big deal?
1.1800 Federalists and Anti Federalists2.1828 Jacksonian Democrats vs. Whigs3.1860 Two Republican Eras4.1932 The New Deal Coalition
Today – the era of “Divided Government”
Political Party Organizations
Decentralized why?
National Party Committee- In charge of National Convention
State Party Committee- In charge of holding primaries/caucuses and sending delegates to the National Convention
Obstacles to Third Parties (Unit III)
● What is a “third party”?
● Cite examples of third parties
● Identify and describe major challenges to third party success in the United States today
• Ballot access• Debate access• Proportional access
Role of the Party in Presidential Elections
● Define: plurality election
● Define: majority election
● Define: winner take all election
● Define primary, caucus, convention. What are some of the different types of primaries?
What does it mean to have a “big tent” party?
Obama attempts to build a big tent:●http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LweI9U6ePPU
Glenn Beck Criticizes the big tent:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/20/glenn-beck-cpac-2010-spee_n_470356.html
●Blue Dog Democrat (Democrats who are conservative on social issues)
●RINO (Republican In Name Only)●Tea Party
Impact of Tea Party onRecent Republican Primaries
●Tea-party backed Republicans have beaten “RINO” Republicans in Primaries, sometimes to lose in the General Election.●Example: Christine O’Donnell who ran for US Senate in Delaware, won in Republican primary against Mike Castle (RINO) but lost in general election to Democrat Chris Coons.
Was the election of 1994 a realignment?
(1) President Clinton began his presidency with a Democratic controlled Congress. Democrats had controlled Congress for 40 years.
Was the election of 1994 a realignment?
(2) In 1994 the mid-term election Republicans took control of Congress, with Newt Gingrich as the Republican Speaker of the House, promising to implement a “Contract with America” or a series of conservative policies.
CHANGES IN PROCESS
Then: PARTY LEADERS CHOSE NOMINEES
Now:CITIZENS VOTE AT THE STATE LEVEL TO CHOOSE NOMINEES
PARTIES HOLD NOMINATING ELECTIONS IN EACH STATE
● PRIMARY ● closed● Open
● CAUCUS ● IOWA HAS FIRST CAUCUS● Howard Dean after losing Iowa:● http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5FzCeV0ZFc
● NEW HAMPSHIRE HAS FIRST PRIMARY● SUPER TUESDAY
Primaries/Caucuses an overview of the vote count
● THE NATIONAL PARTY GIVES A CERTAIN NUMBER OF DELEGATE VOTES TO EACH STATE (similar to electors being allowed to represent each state)
● THE STATE COUNTS THE VOTE AND SENDS DELEGATES TO THE NATIONAL CONVENTION BY ONE OF TWO FORMULAS:
● WINNER TAKE ALL (Republicans)● PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION
(Democrats)
Checking for understanding…
State of Oceana has 100 delegates to both conventions 10% of vote goes to candidate A 40% of vote goes to candidate B 50% of votes goes to candidate C
●How many delegates to the Democratic national convention does A,B, and C receive? ●How many delegates to the Republican national convention does A,B, and C receive?
And sometimes not !
● During the 2008 Democratic Primaries, Florida and Michigan were stripped of their delegates by the national party!
THE NATIONAL CONVENTIONShttp://www.demconvention.com/; http://www.gopconvention2012.com/
● ONCE A TIME OF SUSPENSE, NOW JUST A BIG POLITICAL STAGE SHOW
● DELEGATE VOTES COUNTED, NOMINEE OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED
● RUNNING MATE ANNOUNCED● SPEECHES AND RATIFICATION OF
PARTY PLATFORM● A BIG POLITICAL PEP RALLY
1968 Democratic Convention – Chicago – A Turning Point
● George McGovern initiated changes to the rules to prevent another convention disaster
● Quota for female and minority delegates was established
● proportional representation was mandated and a requirement to vote by state rule
McGovern Reforms - Democrats
con’t● Due to the great debate within
Democratic party about changes
● Compromise was made – SUPERDELEGATES
● How important are superdelegates