Unit 6 – Day 1 – Political Parties
Read Text pages 246 – 250
2006 Midterm Election – G.W. Bush held the White House, Republicans lose The House or Reps, Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female Speaker of the House.
1994 – Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey took the House for Republicans for the first time in 40+ years as a result of a new language, simple guidelines on how to govern and changes to how the House works with the “Contract with America.”
Define political parties:
Ask class for their definitions.
Text –
Mine – “Groups of people that share similar ideas on the role, scope, and power of the government.”
Primary goal of political parties (and politicians) – (retain/gain power)
Are political parties a good thing?
Political competition –
Do you believe this?
Three main components of political parties:
1) The party in the electorate –
Electorate:
From Gallup Polls: (http://www.gallup.com/poll/15370/party-affiliation.aspx)
Republicans Democrats
(including (including
Republicans Independents Democrats leaners) leaners)
% % % % %
2012 Nov 15-18 27 38 32 39 50
2004 Jan 2-4 32 40 28 48 46
Real #’s of Republicans and Democrats were difficult to find.
Independents WERE the fastest growing group until Obama
US Census Bureau Data for Nov. 2008
226 million eligible voters (age 18 or older) (71% are registered to vote)
131 million eligible voters actually voted (63.6 % actually voted)
Interesting Break Down – compares 2004 to 2008# and who voted for who.
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0404.pdf
124 Million votes cast (2012)
130 Million votes cast (2008)
120 Million votes cast (2004)
103 Million votes cast (2000)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnists/neuharth/neu057.htm
That's the real beauty of our two-party system. Neither major party is strong enough to win with just its stalwarts. The winner must capture a majority of independents, crossovers or newly registered voters. Estimated numbers this year:
204 million eligible voters (age 18 or older)
63 million registered Democrats (72 mil)
47 million registered Republicans (55 mil)
32 million registered as independents or with minor party (42 mil)
62 million not registered
1992, with George Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot in the race, 55% of eligible voters went to the polls. 1996, Clinton, Bob Dole and Perot turned out only 49%, an all-time low.
To ignite independents, a Democratic candidate has to abandon some of his party's loony liberal leftists. The Republican candidate must forsake some of his party's crazy conservative contemptibles.
No independent presidential candidate has ever captured a majority of votes cast. Teddy
Roosevelt came closest in 1912 with 27%. Perot got 19% in 1992 (but NO electoral college votes).
But, in every national election the major-party candidate who gets most of the independent votes wins.
Long live free-thinking and free-spirited independents!
(Answers in red were from http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=731064 )
Show Chart.
Registered voters in U.S. appear to be shifting away from Republicans
By Jennifer Steinhauer
Published: Tuesday, August 5, 2008 NY Times
Well before Senators Barack Obama and John McCain rose to the top of their parties, a partisan shift was under way at the local and state level. For more than three years, starting in 2005, there has been a reduction in the number of voters who register with the Republican Party and a rise among voters who affiliate with Democrats and, almost as often, with no party at all.
While the implications of the changing landscape for Obama and McCain are far from clear, voting experts say the registration numbers may signal the beginning of a move away from Republicans that could affect local, state and national politics over several election cycles. Already, there has been a sharp reversal for Republicans in many statehouses and governors' mansions.
In several states, including the traditional battlegrounds of Nevada and Iowa, Democrats have surprised their own party officials with significant registration gains. In both of those states, there are now more registered Democrats than Republicans, a flip from 2004.
No states have switched to the Republicans over the same period, according to data from 26 of the 29 states in which voters register by party. (Three of the states did not have complete data.)
In six states, including Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Iowa, the Democratic piece of the registration pie grew more than three percentage points, while the Republicans' share declined. In only three states - Kentucky, Louisiana and Oklahoma - did Republican registration rise while Democratic registration fell, but the Republican increase was less than a percentage point in Kentucky and Oklahoma. Louisiana was the only state to register a gain of more than one percentage point for Republicans as Democratic numbers declined.
Over the same period, the share of the electorate that registers as independent has grown at a faster rate than Republicans or Democrats in 12 states. The rise has been so significant that in states like Arizona, North Carolina and Colorado, nonpartisan voters essentially constitute a third party.
Swings in party registration are not uncommon from one year to the next, or even over two years. Registration, moreover, often has no impact on how people actually vote, and people sometimes switch registration to vote in a primary, then flip again come Election Day.
But for a shift away from one party to sustain itself - the current registration trend is now in its fourth year - is remarkable, researchers who study voting patterns say. And though comparable data are not available for the 21 states where voters do not register by party, there is evidence that an increasing number of voters in those states are also moving away from the Republican Party based on the results of recent state and congressional elections, the researchers said.
"This is very suggestive that there is a fundamental change going on in the electorate," said Michael McDonald, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and an associate professor of political science at George Mason University who has studied voting patterns. He added that, more typically, voting and registration patterns tend to even out or revert to the opposing party between elections.
Dick Armey, the former House majority leader and one of the designers of the so-called Republican Revolution of 1994, said: "Obviously, these are not good numbers for the party to be looking at. Democrats have always had extremely broad, multifaceted registration programs."
But in terms of the presidential election, Armey said the tea leaves were harder to read.
"I think the key in this one is, where do all these new independent voters break?" he said. "I think right now, you've got a guy in western Pennsylvania saying, 'I am really disgusted right now, and I'm not going to register as a Republican anymore, but I really don't want this guy Obama elected."'
Those in charge of state Democratic parties cite a national displeasure with the Bush administration as an impetus for the changing numbers, which run counter to a goal of Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's former top adviser, to create a permanent realignment in favor of Republicans.
"I think nationally and here, people are kind of tired of the way this administration has been conducting the policies of this country," said Pat Waak, chairwoman of the Colorado Democratic Party.
Yet while an unpopular war, a faltering economy and a president held in low esteem have certainly combined to hurt the Republican Party, Democrats are also benefiting from demographic changes, including the rise in the number of younger voters and the urbanization of suburbs, which has resulted in a different political flavor there, voting and campaign experts said. The party has also been helped by a recent willingness to run more pragmatic candidates, who have helped make the party more appealing to a broader swath of the electorate.
Among the 26 states with registration data, the share who have signed on with Democrats has risen in 15 states since 2004, and the percentage for Republicans has risen in six, according to state data. The number of registered Democrats fell in 11 states, compared with 20 states where Republican registration numbers fell. In the 26 states and the District of Columbia where registration data were available, the total number of registered Democrats increased by 214,656, while the number of Republicans fell by 1,407,971.
2) Party as an organization –
Democratic National Committee – Chairman is
Republican National Committee – Chairman is
3) Party in government –
(ex. Obama, Pelosi, Reid)
Second major tasks of the political parties – Linkage Institution:
(4 key linkage institutions – political parties, elections, interest groups, mass media)
In other words, the political parties are the link, or go betweens, for “the people” and the governmental institutions.
Major tasks of the political party as a linkage institution:
1) :
Party’s endorsement is called a nomination.
Progressive Era, most changed to primaries.
(Ex. Ned Lamont hand picked in Ct. – Anti-War)
2) :
Help coordinate campaigns. Provide funding. Get out the vote campaigns.
Run ads: Tn. - Harold Ford – Playmate looking over her shoulder "I met Harold at the Playboy party"
3) :
Democrats typically assist working Americans (Pro-Labor)
Republicans typically assist business interests (Pro-business)
Liberal v. Conservative
4) :
Democrats – Anti Iraq War
Republicans – Tax Cuts, “Stay the Course”
i.e. create political platforms
5) :
Officials look to other members of their party to get things done
Ex. John Bonacic asked John Ward for help
Spitzer asking Schumer for help.
Unit 6 – Day 2 –Political Parties
Read text book pages 250 - 258
Party in the Electorate:
membership, no dues, no card. Symbolic images and ideas (
–
Party image). Part identification
Trend of party identification – downward. (This is now Old Info – Since Obama, more toward the Democrats, see yesterday’s notes.) More people are registered independent.
1998 data à Democrat 38.1%, Independent 35.3%, Republican 26.6%
Exception à African Americans
[However, GOP has tried to make inroads:
- Party of Lincoln (associated with Frederick Douglass)
- Teddy Roosevelt invites Booker T. Washington to White House
- Eisenhower – Little Rock
- George W. Bush – Colin Powell / Condeleeza Rice
- 7 African American men and women are looking hard at running for statewide
office as Republicans: 2 for U.S. Senate in Maryland and Michigan, 2 for governor in Ohio and Pennsylvania; the Treasurer in Ohio, Auditor of Vermont and Supreme Court Justice of Texas are all African American Republicans in 2006] (ALL )
Since Obama, Also includes, Latinos (non-Cuban), Asians, and Women, especially single females. The GOP had many blacks and Hispanics as keynote speaks at their 2012 convention, but must make more inroads or they will never win another presidential election.
Lack of Party Identification leads to Ticket Splitting –
(the norm).
Party as an organization:
If represented as a loose fitting / decentralized pyramid:
National Committees / National Convention
50 State Party Organizations
Thousands of Local Party Organizations
Parties are decentralized and fragmented. This is why the leaders of the “party in the government” get more power in deciding the policy agenda & stances on political issues at the national level.
Local Parties:
Political Machines: . Based upon patronage – (graft or spoils systems)
Ex. Tammany Hall (1790’s – 1960’s). Democratic Political Machine.
Power starts with Aaron Burr, keeps Adams from getting re-elected.
Democratic Party centered in NYC with election of Andrew Jackson
(large # of electoral college votes – 45)
Boss Tweed – Political “Boss” – controls party, not elected himself
(1854 – 1872). NYC – use of thugs/gangs, controlled immigrants
Chicago – Daley Family (1953-1976) (Boss and Mayor for 21 years)
Progressive reforms (ex. Pendelton Act – 1883) limited machines’ power by requiring civil servants to take a civil service exam.
County machines are still strong, don’t always use primaries (ex. John Ward gets left out for Annie Rabbitt)
State Parties:
Progressive Reform à Primaries
1) Closed Primaries:
(Ex. NYS)
2) Open Primaries:
(Ex. NH)
3) Blanket Primaries:
Illegal – ruled Unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_election
Open. Voters may vote in primaries of a party of their choice, the choice to be made at the voting booth. When voters do not pre-register for a party, this is called the pick-a-party primary because the voter can select which party he wishes to vote in on election day. In other open primary states, voters pre-register their party preference but the information is only used by parties for mailing lists and is non-binding.
Semi-open. Voters may vote in the primary of the party of their choice, but they must publicly declare which primary they will vote in before entering the voting booth (typically this is accomplished by requesting a ballot). In many states with semi-open primaries, election officials record each voter's choice of party on Election Day and the parties are given access to this information.
Closed. Voters may only vote in a primary if they are registered members of that party.
Semi-closed. Voters registered with a party may only vote in the primary of their party. Those declining to register with a party may choose which primary to vote in at the voting booth. For example, in West Virginia, Republican primaries are open to independents, but Democratic primaries are closed.
Blanket. No longer in use, allowed voters to vote for one candidate per office, regardless of which party they are a member of.
http://www.munileague.org/muninews/2001-02/primaries.htm
Open Primary: Private Declaration Best ChoiceBy Jocelyn Marchisio, Trustee
If we used the term nominating elections instead of primary elections, their purpose would be better described. In 1935, Washington adopted the blanket primary when nominating candidates for office. It is one of only three states that has used this method. Under the blanket primary system, the names of all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, are grouped together under the office for which they seek nomination. The name of each candidate’s political party is placed after his or her name on the ballot. Voters are permitted to vote for any candidate they choose irrespective of party affiliation. This plan makes it unnecessary for voters to declare their party affiliation at any time and gives the independent voter the fullest opportunity to select candidates of either or both parties.