PS 352: Exam #3
Constitutional Monarchies
- Arranged by a Monarch (i.e. UK) - Monarch = the head of the state - important to the people but have very little power - U.K. has more privilege than most monarchs
Election Frequency and Turnout in a Parliamentary system
--> parliamentary systems cannot go longer than 5 years in between elections but can also be as close as 6 months between. (the PM can call for elections at any time)
Ideological polarization in the U.S. electorate
--Hershey says that careful study of American political attitudes raises serious doubt that most voters are "ideological" -People do not necessarily hold a set of fixed stands à Voters can be pulled towards one of these views (liberal/ conservative) under some condition and pulled toward another view(liberal/conservative) under other conditions - a sharp contrast to an ideological thinker. -But Hershey did say that Americans have become more polarized in both ideological and partisan terms (maybe as a result of party polarization and how media easily enable confirmation bias) We have seen an increase in the amount of people who self- identify as conservative, highly conservative, liberal or highly liberal. These people are usually very politically active so these words MEAN something to them.
"Gingrich Experiment"
-America got a little taste of party responsibility with Newt Gingrich in mid 1990's. -Newt and a majority of Republicans running for house seats signed the "Contract with America." This pledged that if voters would give Republicans a house majority, then they would guarantee a vote on 10 pieces of legislation within the first 100 days. It concluded with a saying that is very party responsible, "If we break this contract, you can throw us out." -The Republicans did win a House majority and once in office, the new Republican leadership used its control of the house to vote on each of the 10 promised pieces of legislation. -However, that's were party government stopped because the Senate Republican majority had not committed itself to the Contract with America, so they didn't feel the need to consider these bills quickly or pass them at all. -In addition to the Senate, a Democratic president had the power to veto any legislation that made it through both houses. -What is the importance of the Gingrich experiment? à It clearly showed that the separation of powers is a mighty ROADBLOCK in the path if responsible parties. Even when the same party controls the white house and both houses of Congress, party government is still difficult to achieve because the party's candidate is chosen by the public, so the party can't force the candidate to uphold the party's program.
"Strong" party
Many researchers measure a party's vigor by examining its organizational features. Stronger parties would have larger budgets and more full-time, paid staff members. That can be termed party organizational strength. Strong parties Work effectively to register votes Tell people about party candidates Get voters to polls on election days Be successful in filling its ticket with attractive candidates Candidates win more races than lose Party would be able to get its platform enacted into law Overall, American party organizations are more heavily regulated than are parties in other democracies.
What issue positions distinguish the Democratic and Republican parties, as described in their 2016 party platforms?
Marriage equality Democrats: applauded the Supreme court decision which recognized that LGBTQ people have the right to marry the person they love Republicans: Traditional marriage between a man and women is the foundation of a free society Abortion Democrats: every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services—including abortion—regardless of who she is. Republicans: We assert the sanctity of human life and affirm the unborn child has a fundamental right to life Finance student loans Democrats: Will allow those with student debt to refinance their loans at the lowest rates possible Republicans: the federal government should not be in the business of originating student loans
Be familiar with the reasons for the weaknesses of state party organizations but also how they have gained power recently
Reason for traditional weakness: -Began as loose federations of semi-independent local party chairs and power was decentralized -Progressive reforms in the early 1900s kept state party organizations weak. Ex: The introduction of the direct primary limited the influence of state parties on campaigns for state offices. Candidates could win primary nominations, raise money for their own campaigns and run without party organizational help. -One party dominance in several states (during 1900s) left several state parties weak and conflict riddenà when one party dominates a states politics, the diverse forces within the state are likely to compete as factions within the part (lack of unifying). The party in power has no incentive or ability to unify b/c the party dominates the state, but if there was viable opposition (not one-party dominance), then the party would have more of an incentive to unify all the parties "factions." Ex: Southern Democrats.
"Party government"
Responsible party= party government -- party government: The governing party in this system would translate a coherent political philosophy into government action and would then be responsible for the result/ fulfilling the promise. Party government allows the electorate or public to hold the party in power fully responsible for the government's performance. In responsible party system, people don't vote for the candidate they vote for the partyà the candidates are seen as disposable placeholders for the party's foundational principles and philosophies.
How do states regulate parties?
State laws often tell parties: How they must choose their candidates Who can sign a party's petition to get on the ballot What public buildings parties must hold their conventions Party committees are regulated "lightly" in only about ⅓ of the states (most of this ⅓ being the south, Plains states, and upper Midwest) 15 states (ex: California, New Jersey, Ohio) have chosen to take control in almost every detail of the parties' activities These state restrictions often times do not affect or weakened the parties. These state laws actually serve to help protect the Dem and Rep parties against competition from minor parties. Though, this also indicates that state law does not view the parties as just private groups, but public utilities that can be subject to a great deal of state direction. How states do not have entire freedom to regulate: Federal courts have done the following: frequently stepped in to protect citizens' voting rights Kept the states from unreasonably limiting minor-party and independent candidate ballot access Acknowledged the parties' right to control their internal affairs Ex: in 1980s the Supreme Court ruled that the state of Connecticut could not prevent the Rep party from opening up its primary to independents if it wanted to.
Separatism
Tension between east and west and the exception of the Civil War --> we have never had the desire to separate the country such as places like Quebec, Belgium, Basque country
Why is the term "semi-responsible" most commonly applied to the current Democratic and Republican parties?
The term "semi-responsible" is applied to the United States current political parties because the U.S. has a divided government. Even though our current political parties clearly differ on a number of important issues (Democrats are uniformly liberal and Republicans are consistently conservative), the separation of powers (divided government) makes a fully-responsible party government impossible B/C when both Democratic-controlled and Republican-controlled parts of the government have their fingerprints on every major piece of legislation, voters find it very hard to figure out which party is responsible for the bad policies. Even when the same party controls the white house and both houses of Congress, party government is still difficult to achieve because the party's candidate is chosen by the public, so the party can't force the candidate to uphold the party's program.
When is party government most likely to occur?
When there is strong presidential leadership --a strong president is able to push congress to enact important parts of their platformà especially likely when the presidents party controls both houses of congress by more than a narrow margin. In times of national crisis --During times of crisis, the parties have usually been divided on solution policies, which makes it easier for voters to identify the party's stance (therefore making it easier for them to hold a party responsible) When parties supporting coalitions are reshaped (party realignments) --When this happens, the parties have divided more clearly on a single set of issues, and party leaders, activists and voters have reached high levels of agreement with one another AND major differences with the other party these changes typically produce an unified federal government, with one party controlling both Houses of congress, the presidency and a judiciary.
What are the levels of party organizations at the state and local level?
-Americans elect officeholders at different levels: local, state and nationalà party organizations follow the same pattern. Different levels of Local Party Committees: -The county is the main unit of local party organization in most states because so many local officials are elected at the county level (Sheriffs, prosecutors, clerks, judges, council members, etc.) -The party organizations at the country level support the candidates for these offices AND are the parties' grassroots, which means where most of the activity of party voters takes place. There are also precincts or wards in local party organizations -Precinct: when the counties are divided into smaller units -Each precinct has a party leader who controls party activity in that area (a lot of these positions are vacant). Local Party Committees do the following: -register new voters, canvassing or "D2D", get voters to the polls, recruit volunteers to help with party tasks and may try to raise money for local candidates Different levels of State Central Committees: -At the state level, party organizations are called the State Central Committee. -State parties help recruit candidates for statewide offices and state legislate seats, assist in training candidates and raise money for their campaigns. -They may also work with local parties on crucial tasks of voter registration, canvassing and GOTV (Get out the vote) -State law gives state central committees some other cool powers: the responsibility for organizing party conventions, drafting party platforms, supervising the spending of party campaign funds, and selecting the party's presidential electors, representatives to the national committee and some of the national convention delegates.
What is a "political machine" and how does it operate?
-What is a political machine? à a disciplined organization that controlled the nomination of candidates to elective office. It had hierarchical structure (that local party organizations lack today). It relied on material incentives-jobs and favors—to build support among voters. ABOUVE ALL, it controlled the government in a city—not focused on national politics just the city politics. How did it operate? -In the early 1800s large numbers of immigrant came to the US. These immigrants were poor, spoke no English and faced a difficult adjustment to their new environment. Party leaders in these cities saw an opportunity for a mutually profitable exchangeà Immigrants needed jobs and social services, and party leaders needed large number of votes to win office......so if the party could register these new voters then those votes might put the party in power. In return, the party would then use its acquired resources to help the new voters. -A way that political machines in the US operated or used their power was in the form of patronage jobs—city government jobs given based on party loyalty NOT qualifications. Most of the immigrants needed jobs so the patronage jobs were the most visible benefits offered by the party machine. By giving patronage jobs, the party could be assured that the worker would remain loyal to the party.
What is the case against party government in the U.S.?
2 main concerns 1. It would increase conflict Focusing on providing clear alternatives on major issues would cause more conflict, splintering the 2 party system The possibility of uncontrollable minority groups pop up Interest groups would suffer leading to parties being #1 source of political representation 2. It wouldn't work under the constitution Seperation of power used to prevent tyranny of federal government, party government would increase the likelihood of it Americans prefer seperation of power The Gingrich experiment in 1994 (failure) The separation of powers (divided government) makes a fully-responsible party government impossible B/C when both Democratic-controlled and Republican-controlled parts of the government have their fingerprints on every major piece of legislation, voters find it very hard to figure out which party is responsible for the bad policies. Even when the same party controls the white house and both houses of Congress, party government is still difficult to achieve because the party's candidate is chosen by the public, so the party can't force the candidate to uphold the party's program.
Multi-party system
A system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coalition. --> they have a proportional system of representation that is not a winner-take-all method (proportion of the vote is proportional to the number of seats allotted to that particular party)
Parliamentary system
A system of government in which the legislature selects the prime minister or president. --> leader of the government is the leader of the party in majority in the assembly; party can call for a vote of no confidence to remove the PM (demonstrates the fluidity and instability of the parliamentary system)
Working Class Parties and the American Exceptionalism
America doesn't have a party that specifically defends the working class (no party that has a sole reason for being the "worker's party") - Franchise (Social Dems gave the right to vote to ordinary individuals) -Lack of class consciousness (Americans don't think about and are more likely to say middle class than anything like "working class" --> ingrained into Americans that you can "pull yourself up by your bootstraps") - frontier as a "safety valve" (Frederick Jackson Turner thesis where the urban American poor were able to solve their problems by moving to the frontier; less of a unionization movement because people sought fortune and moved west rather than organize politically --> ability to escape to a new opportunity was a way in which that deflated the potential of working class parties in urban areas - Material vs. Moral values (working class parties emphasize workers' solidarity; promote solidarity over individuality) - Repression
Proportional representation
An electoral system used throughout most of Europe that awards legislative seats to political parties in proportion to the number of votes won in an election. --> the downside of a Multi-party system because a single party rarely captures the majority of seats in the national legislature; means that whatever party is on top can't really form a government without working with opposition party members --> Prime Minister arises out of the legislative branch; leader of the government is the leader of the party in majority in the assembly
How would a responsible party system work in the U.S.?
Clear choices, clear principles, and government held to its promises Parties become more accountable rather than individual candidates The public must play a role in keeping the government responsible through active citizenry Winning elections would not be as important as enacting policy You would essentially need a party government to make a responsible party system work efficiently in the US The party's main focus would be on the policies that it has pledged to put into effect, NOT just winning the election. For a responsible party system to happen in US, all elected branches of government would have to be controlled by the same party at a particular time (the absence of a divided government).
Contrast between the status of the Republican Party in Kansas and Republican Parties in the South
Conflicts between moderate and very conservative activists have plagued the Kansas Republican Party for years. The conservatives won and Sam Brownback, a very conservative person, was elected governor. He pushed a highly conservative agenda. Brownback supporters tried to purge the state party of moderate Republicans. Brownback's program was so bad that his rating went down and over 100 moderate Republicans declared to vote for the Democratic governor. Brownback was losing in the pre-election polls but was able to win the election after a "eleventh hour boost" from outside funders. He won. In 2016, the tides turned again when the moderate republicans beat Brownback's allies. This showed that the state and local party organization are permeable—groups within or even outside the party structure can take over the party if they get enough votes. The direction and policies of a state party organization can change, depending on which groups control the leadership at the time.
How have state and party organizations changed over the course of U.S. history?
Definition: party organization is the foundation of the political party. It gives the party a way to endure, despite changing officeholders. Local and state party organizations are vital to American campaigning because these organizations are vital to American campaigning because these organizations facilitate the mass of voter mobilization and the stinger these organizations are, the more effectively they can mobilize support. Changed: -In recent decades, party organizations have battled mainstream groups and insurgents. - In the early 1800's party organizations basically functioned as political "machines" (which controlled city governments by bringing immigrants to the polls to vote for their party. Within a few decades, a variety of forces drained the strength and power from these political machines and most arty organizations became super weak or inactive. -In the 1970s, party organizations were just cadre parties and weak ones too. Party organizations didn't have full-time workers, lacked organizational support. Activity peaked during election season. -1980s it is said that party organizations were going through a "growth spurt." More activity going on in party organizations. The increase in political activity was happening as national parties were becoming more polarized. -Now, party organizations are not institutionalized but have continued to develop as structured organizations. Good evidence shows that local and state parties are more active and stronger now than a generation ago. Local and state party organizations have become service providers to candidates. Parties provide labor in the form of volunteers, but they are no longer a major source of campaign funds.
Responsible Party system
European model of party government: officeholders are expected to act according to party wishes and to vote along party lines. ** U.S. has an Irresponsible Party System because we can vote based on individual candidate not just party affiliation ** --> Europe votes based on party not the individual candidate because to them party members are interchangeable; parties are responsible and unified (i.e. ideology and policy issues) --> they're cohesive ** see Hershey on responsible parties **
