Political parties

What is the Republican party?

Who are the Republican party?

What is the Democratic party?

Who are the Democratic party?

What issues do they compete over?

Political Parties

• What do parties do?– 1)

– 2)

– 3)

Political Parties

• What do parties do?– 1) Private organization

– 2) Govern

– 3) Brand label

What are Parties?

• Organization dedicated to winning elections

• Primary institution for organizing mass democracy

• Democracy, representation impossible w/o parties

Elections and Party Systems

•Party System = basis of party competition

•not all systems the same...

•different types of parties

•different number of parties

•different issues that parties compete over

•What is basis of party competition in US?

Responsible party model

Argument: two party system =

One Controls Government

One Acts as Opposition

Elections a referendum on the Government

Requires “discipline,” unified parties; but provides simplicity, accountability

Parties and Responsible Government

Parties present clear choices to votersCohesive platformControl nominations -- how??MPs all vote their party’s line

Number of choices limitedGovernment Opposition

Accountability

What makes a party system?

• What unites groups / people under one party label

• What divisions are reflected by major parties?

Lippset & Rokkan Model

A nation’s party systems function of:

CoalitionsCoalitions of social groups defied by historical cleavages

• National Revolution (State building)

• Industrial Revolution

• Post - material Revolution

Lippset & Rokkan Model

Thinking about party systems:

How well does this model / logic explain the US party system?

What about other countries?

Lippset and Rokkan: Old Coalitions

Party Cleavages:

Reflect historic patterns

Land-based elites vs. liberals/merchants

Church vs. State

City vs. Country

Owners vs. workers

Dominant culture vs. distinct regions

Political Parties: Old Coalitions

National Revolutions•Cleavages:

• Center v. periphery

• US revolution, civil war; Quebec, Scotland

Political Parties: Old Coalitions

National Revolutions•Cleavages:

• Federalists vs. Anti-federalists

• Original Liberal Parties

• vs. land owning class

Political Parties: Not so Old Coalitions

Industrial Revolution

Cleavages:

Owners vs. workers

Capital vs. Labor / workers

Land-based interests vs. Capital

Political Parties: Not so Old Coalitions

Industrial Revolution

Cleavages:

•UK Liberal Party (old version)

•Labour vs. Conservatives (UK)

•Social Democrats (SPD) vs Christian Dems (CDU), Germany

•US Democrats 1930s

Political Parties: New Coalitions?

A third era of cleavages:

Post-material / post-industrial revolution (Inglehart, Dalton)

•Societies move beyond ‘material’ economic concerns

•Newer cleavages around ‘cultural’ values

•‘Process’ oriented concerns

Party Coalitions

How do these ‘old’ cleavages define contemporary parties?

• Religion (CDU in Germany, US Democrats pre‘68?)

• Region (Scotland SNP, Germany CSU, Canada BQ, )

• Class (Torries v. Labour in UK; Socialists in FR, IT, SP; Dems v. GOP in US)

Post Materialism

Dalton:

“Most parties and party systems are still oriented primarily toward the traditional political alignments that L & R described”

New coalitions: Values based, environment, lifestyle, minority rights, social/moral issues

Post Materialism

Post material

• post scarcity• aesthetics• political rights, speech• participation

• ideas count more than money

Material

• national security• economic growth• law and order• fight inflation

Post Materialism

% post material

• Germany 14%• UK 15%• Netherlands 22%• France 20%• Denmark 25%• Ireland 12%

% ‘mixed’

• Germany 59%• UK 64%• Netherlands 64%• France 53%• Denmark 67%• Ireland 60%

Party Coalitions

How much do ‘old’ cleavages matter?

Does this model work in US (why? why not?)

•Class?

•Land-elite based parties (Conservatives vs..... Liberals)

a dead cleavage?

•Church v. State Cleavage (religious v. secularists)

Old Politics v New Politics?

In US

Old “New Deal” system: Dems = party of working class

GOP = party of business

Since then, ‘values’:

Women’s movement, Civil Right Movement, Environmentalism, sexual-orientation concerns, changes in economy, family structure

But: Rising income inequality

Old Politics v New Politics?

New politics = decline of class voting

= parties have less class basis

= rise of values cleavages

= greater mix of material / post mat. issues

What is class?

Old Politics v New Politics?

Most important issue 2004 election?

1992? 2008?

And the economy

Party Identification

“Generally speaking, do you think of yourself as a Democrat,Republican, independent, or what?”

Where do attachments to party come from?

New Politics, US?

Party ID 1952 1968 1980 1996 2000 2008Low income 64% 65% 60% 63% 62% 63%% Democratic

High income 30% 41% 32% 41% 36% 28%% Democratic

Old vs. New Politics, US

Party Vote 2012Low income 60% % Democratic

High income 44% % Democratic

Old vs. New Politics, US

Party ID 1952 1968 1980 1996 2000 2008Unskilled 71% 81% 56% 52% 50% n/a% Democratic

Professional 52% 44% 47% 41% 46% n/a% Democratic

Old vs. New Politics, US

Is there more / less “class” voting in the US?

Dalton, Chpt. 8 p, 161% “working class” = % middle class

Class v. income

Is there an upper class?

Old vs. New Politics

Why might class voting be decreasing?

•Growth of the “new middle class”•“Workers” have income similar to middle class”•“Increased social mobility”•“Social modernization”

•Parties have broadened their appeal to attract middle class voters

• Even European socialists appeal to center• Obama, 2015 SOTU

Old vs. New Politics

Is class voting decreasing?

•Change in political conflict

•Parties less likely to make appeals on class-based issues

•Or, all parties have abandoned working class, low income voters

Old Politics v New Politics: If not ‘class’, then what?

• Traditionalists vs..... Non-traditionalists?

• Small public sector vs..... larger public sector

(old cleavage?)

• Materialists vs..... Post materialists?

environment over economy vs....

economy over environment

Review: Cleavages and Voters

National revolution region, religion, center v. others

Industrial revolution ‘middle/upper’ class vs. working class

Postindustrial materialist / post material

Party Systems: Number of Parties

Types of parties & basis of competition in a nation (Dalton)

NumberNumber of parties

• Two-party systems (US, UK..sort of)

• Multi-party systems (FR, IT, Ger...sort of)

Why 2, 3, more parties?

Institutional design (yesterday)

Electoral system rules:

PR vs FPTP

Multi-member constituencies

Number of cleavages

Comparing parties

How do US parties compare to Europe?

Does a two party system = less distinct parties?more distinctive parties?

Does a multi-party system = more ideological diversity?

Party Identification

“Generally speaking, do you think of yourself as a Democrat,Republican, independent, or what?”

Where do attachments to party come from?

Sociological determinism

You have no free will?

Funnel of Causality Early life-->PID----------------->vote