Chapter 16—Political Parties

  1. Development of Parties
  2. Parties & Party System
  3. Political Party—group of people with broad common interests. They organize to:
  4. win elections
  5. control government
  6. shape government policies.

The role parties play differ in the following systems:

  1. One-Party System
  2. the party is the government.
  3. Usually found in nations with authoritarian governments.
  4. Come to power by force
  5. Ex: 1917—Communist Party in Russia & in Iran where Religious rulers ran the government (Theocracy)
  1. Multiparty System:
  2. most common system in nations that allow more than one political party
  3. often represent widely different ideologies (basic beliefs about government)
  4. One party rarely gets enough support to control the government
  5. Several parties often combine to obtain a majority & form a coalition government—Break down when disputes arise.—
  6. Politically unstable.
  1. Two-Party System:
  2. 12 nations have this type.
  3. 2 major parties dominate the government even though minor parties exist.
  4. United States: Republicans & Democrats.
  1. Rise of American Parties
  2. President Washington warned against the harmful effects of parties.
  3. 1st Parties: Federalists & Democratic-Republicans
  1. The Role of Minor Parties
  2. Minor parties generally fall into the following categories:
  3. Single Issue party focuses on one major social, economic, or moral issue.

Ex: Liberty Party & Free Soil Party—stronger stand against slavery.

  1. Ideological Party focuses on overall change in society

Ex: Socialist Labor Party, Communist Party—demanded government ownership of factories, transportation, resources, farmland, & other means of production & distribution.

  1. Splinter Party—splits away from one of the major parties because of some disagreement

Ex: Bull Moose Party (1912)

  1. Nearly all elected officials in the United States are elected by single-member districts—Only one candidate will win no matter how many candidates compete in a district. (Usually a Republican or Democrat wins)
  1. Party Organization
  2. Membership & Organization
  3. democrats & republicans are organized into 50 state parties & thousands of local parties that operate independently of the national party.
  4. Local, state, & national parties choose their own leaders & raise their own funds.
  5. Party membership involves no duties or obligations beyond voting.
  6. some people may volunteer, contribute money, etc

Levels of Political Parties:

  1. Local Party Organization
  2. Precinct—basic local unit
  3. Precinct Captain—volunteers t o organize party workers. They distribute information about the party & its candidates & get voters to the polls.
  4. Ward—a large district comprising of several adjoining precincts
  1. State Party Organization
  2. State Central Committee—Composed of representatives from the party’s county organization
  1. chooses the party state chairperson
  2. Main Job: help to elect the party’s candidates for state government officers.

3. National Party Organization

a. National Convention—gathering of party members & local & state party officials

  1. Meets every 4 Years to nominate the party’s presidential & Vice-presidential candidates
  2. National Committee—runs the party between Nation convention
  1. Political Party Functions:
  2. Political parties do the following important tasks:
  3. Recruiting candidates—main job
  4. Educating the Public—publishes its position on important issues.
  5. Operating the Government
  6. Dispensing Patronage—doing favors to reward party loyalty.
  7. Loyal Opposition
  1. Nominating Candidates
  2. Selecting Candidates
  3. Individuals are nominated for public office in the following ways:
  4. Caucuses—a private meeting of party leaders to select candidates. (19 states)
  5. Nominating Conventions—official public meeting of a party to choose candidates for office.
  6. Primary Elections
  7. Direct Primary—method most used today to select candidates—election in which party members select people to run in the general election.
  8. Closed primary—Only members of the political party can vote—Democrats pick Democrats & Republicans pick Republicans
  9. Open Primary—All voters may participate
  1. Petitions—A certain # of required voters sign so a candidate can be placed on the ballot.
  1. Presidential Nominations
  2. Every 4 years, each major party holds a national convention in July or August
  3. Purpose: Nominate President & Vice-President

Presidential Primaries operate under a wide variety of state laws. The following descriptions are true:

  1. Primaries may be a delegate selection process or a presidential preference poll, or both

2. Either the candidate who wins the majority gets all the state’s convention delegates or each candidate gets delegates based on how many popular votes he/she receives in the primary.

  1. Delegates selected on the basis of the popular vote may be required to support a certain candidate at the national convention, or they may be uncommitted

Critics of Primaries say

  1. that they are spread over too long a time in the election year
  2. make the image more important than the issues
  3. few people vote in primaries
  1. The National Convention
  2. 4 Standing Committees at the National Convention:
  3. Rules Committee—proposes rules for running the convention & sets the convention’s order of business.
  4. Credentials Committee—must approve the delegations from each state
  5. Committee on Permanent Organization—selects the permanent chairperson & other officials for the convention.
  6. Platform Committee—writes the party’s platform
  7. Statement of the party’s principles, beliefs, & positions on issues. It spells out how the party intends to deal with these issues.
  8. Planks—Individual parts of the platform