Chapt. 5- Political Parties

Why are minor parties important?

- Even if a minor party doesn't win any electoral votes, it can pull votes from one of the major parties. - Minor-party stands often draw attention to some issue that the major parties have preferred to ignore. - When their proposals have gained any real degree of popular support, one and sometimes both of the major parties have taken over these ideas and then presented the politics as their own.

The electoral system

- the single-member district pattern works to discourage minor parties because only one winner can come out of each election. - Republicans and Democrats regularly act in a bipartisan way when it comes to discouraging the minor parties. - the election laws are deliberately shaped to preserve, protect, and defend the two major parties which frustrates the minor parties.

What are the signs of weakening political parties?

1. A sharp drop in the number of voters willing to identify themselves as Republicans or Democrats, and a growing number who regard themselves as independents. 2. A big increase in split-ticket voting. 3. Various structural changes and reforms that have made parties more open. 4. Changes in the technology of campaigning for office. 5. The growth of single-issue organizations.

What are the 5 main things political parties do?

1. Nominating candidates- parties select candidates and present them to voters, and help their candidates win elections. 2. Informing and activating supporters- parties try to inform and inspire voters by campaigning for their candidates, taking stands on issues, and criticizing candidates and the positions of their opponents. 3. The bonding agent function- a political party acts as a bonding agent to ensure good performance of its candidates and officeholders, and they make sure their candidates are both qualified and have good manner. 4. Governing- public officeholders are regularly chosen on the basis of party, Congress and state legislatures are organized on party lines, provide the channels through which the different branches of government work together, and has played significant roles in the process of constitutional change. 5. Acting as watchdog- it plays this role as it criticizes the policies and behavior of the party in power, makes the party in power more responsive to the wishes and concerns of the people.

Consensus

A general agreement among various groups.

Political party

A group of persons who seek to control government through the winning of elections and holding public office (mainly the two major parties). More generally a group of persons, joined together on the basis of common principles, who seek to control government in order to affect certain public policies and programs.

Multiparty

A system in which several major and many lesser minor parties exist, seriously compete for, and actually win, public offices.

Coalition

A temporary alliance of several groups who come together to form a working majority and so to control a government.

Ward

A unit into which cities are often divided for the election of city council members.

Two-party system

America has a two-party system because Ina typical election, only the Republican or the Democratic Party's candidates have a reasonable chance of winning public office.

Ideological parties

Based on a popular set of beliefs- a comprehensive view of social, economic, and political matters. (Socialist, Socialist Labor, Socialist Worker, Communist, and Libertarian Party)

Factions

Conflicting groups.

Single-member districts

Contests in which only one candidate is elected to office on the ballot.

Incumbent

Current officeholder.

Sectionalism

Emphasizes a devotion to the interests of a particular region.

What some of the reasons why people identify themselves with a certain political party?

Family, major events, and economic status.

Single-issue parties

Focus on only one public-policy manner. (American or "Know Nothing", Free Soil, Right to Life, Prohibition Party)

What do parties have to do in order to maintain some government stability?

If one party is unable to win the support of a majority of voters, they must share their power to govern with other political parties creating a coalition.

Whig Party

Minor party, loose coalition of eastern bankers, merchants and industrialists, and many owners of large plantations. They were considered a major party from mid-1830s to 1850s.

The force of tradition

Most Americans accept the idea of a two-party system simply because there has always been one.

Is there a strong link between the state party organizations and the national party committees?

No, because each of the states party organizations are only loosely tied to the party's national structure.

Pluralistic society

One consisting of several distinct cultures and groups.

Minor party

One of the many political parties without wide voter support in this country.

One-party system

Only one political party is allowed at a time (ex. Dictatorship). Many of the states tend to have a one-party arrangement where a specific party controls specific states regularly.

Splinter parties

Parties that have split away from one of the major parties. (Bull Moose, the Green Party, Progressive parties)

Economic Protest parties

Proclaim their disgust with the major parties and demand better times, and have focused their anger on enemies such as the monetary system. (Greenback, Populist Party)

Usually the lifespan of a single-issue party is...?

Short lived, because they die away as events have passed them by, as their theme fails to attract voters, or as one or both of the major parties have taken their key issues as their own.

What are the 4 eras of the political parties?

The Era of Democrats (1800-1860), The Era of Republicans (1860-1932), The Return of the Democrats (1932-1968), and The Era of Divided Government (1968-present).

The Era of Good Feelings

The Era of the Democrats (1800-1860) - one party system

Major parties

The Republican and Democratic parties.

What are the 4 reasons that explain why we have a two-party system?

The historical basis, the force of tradition, the electoral system, and the American ideological consensus.

Plurality

The largest number of votes cast for the office. The winning candidate is the one who receives the plurality.

Quorum

The minimum amount of people that need to attend a meeting in order for a group to do business (usually the majority).

Party in power

The party that controls the executive branch of government.

Initiative

The passage or creation of a law by voters.

Electorate

The people eligible to vote.

The historical basis

The ratification of the constitution led to the birth of the Federalist and Anti-Federalist party's, and ever since then we have had a two-party system.

Precinct

The smallest unit of election administration; the voters in each precinct report to one polling place.

Partisanship

The strong support of their party and its policy stands.

What are the similarities between political parties and media?

They both inform and activate supporters.

The American Ideological Consensus

This nation has not been regularly plagued by sharp and unbridgeable political divisions. The realities of American society simply do not permit more than two major parties.

Recall

To take back a vote (remove an elected official).

Referendum

Votes for whether you want a law passed or not (usually for state amendments). Amending a constitution or making legislative changes.

Split-ticket voting

Voting for candidates of different parties for different offices at the same election.

When might a major party support a minor party candidate for president?

When that minor party is likely to draw votes from the opposition.

Bipartisan

When the two major parties find common ground and work together.