Chapter 8- Political Parties

county

A 2008 survey of county party leaders by Melody Crowder-Meyer found that ______1_____ parties play an important role in many elections, especially lower profile elections such as those for ______1______ commissioner, sheriff, mayor, and school board members. She concludes that "______1_____ parties have the potential to significantly affect who is recruited to run for office, who receives party support, who gains assistance from community and interest groups, and who is eventually elected to public office."

party identification

A citizen's self-proclaimed preference for one party or the other.

New Deal coalition

A coalition forged by the Democrats, who dominated American politics from the 1930s to the 1960s. Its basic elements were the urban working class, ethnic groups, Catholics and Jews, the poor, Southerners, African Americans, and intellectuals.

party realignment

A critical election involved and accelerates a process called

A period of history in which there is one dominant majority party that wins most elections

A party era refers to

A group of people seeking to control government by gaining office in elections

A political party is

rational-choice theory

A popular theory in political science to explain the actions of voters as well as politicians. It assumes that individuals act in their own best interest, carefully weighing the costs and benefits of possible alternatives.

gold

A second Republican era was initiated with the watershed election of 1896, perhaps the bitterest battle in American electoral history. The Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan, populist proponent of "free silver" (linking money with silver, which was more plentiful than gold, and thus devaluing money to help debtors). The Republican Party made clear its positions in favor of the ______ standard, industrialization, the banks, high tariffs, and the industrial working classes as well as its positions against the "radical" Western farmers and "silverites." "Bryan and his program were greeted by the country's conservatives with something akin to terror." The New York Tribune howled that Bryan's Democrats were "in league with the Devil." On the other side, novelist Frank Baum lampooned the Republicans in his classic novel The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy follows the yellow brick road (symbolizing the gold standard) to the Emerald City (representing Washington), only to find that the Wizard (whose figure resembles McKinley) is powerless. But by clicking on her silver slippers (the color was changed to ruby for Technicolor effect in the movie), she finds that she can return home.

policy

A two-party system operating under these conditions would make it easier to convert party promises into governmental ________. A party's officeholders would have firm control of the government, so they would be collectively rather than individually responsible for their actions. Voters would therefore know whom to blame for what the government does and does not accomplish.

party machines

A type of political party organization that relies heavily on material inducements, such as patronage, to win votes and to govern.

responsible party model

A view about how parties should work, held by some political scientists. According to the model, parties should offer clear choices to the voters and once in office, should carry out their campaign promises.

political party

According to Anthony Downs, a "team of men [and women] seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election."

1. win elections 2. nominate candidates 3. influence

Almost all definitions of political parties have one thing in common: parties try to __1_ _____________. This is their core function and the key to their definition. By contrast, interest groups do not ______2_______ ______________ for office, though they may try to _______3______ elections. For example, no one has ever been elected to Congress as the nominee of the National Rifle Association, though many nominees have received the NRA's endorsement. Thus, Anthony Downs defined a political party as a "team of men [and women] seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election."

nomination

Almost no one above the local level gets elected to a public office without winning a party's endorsement. A party's official endorsement is called a _______________; it entitles the nominee to be listed on the general election ballot as that party's candidate for a particular office. Up until the early twentieth century, American parties chose their candidates with little or no input from voters. Progressive reformers led the charge for primary elections, in which citizens would have the power to choose nominees for office. The innovation of primary elections spread rapidly, transferring the nominating function from the party organization to the party identifiers.

win

Although third-party candidates almost never ___ office in the United States, scholars believe they are often quite important. They have brought new groups into the electorate and have served as "safety valves" for popular discontent. The Free Soilers of the 1850s were the first true antislavery party; the Progressives and the Populists put many social reforms on the political agenda. George Wallace told his supporters in 1968 they had the chance to "send a message" to Washington—a message of support for tougher law and order measures, which is still being felt to this day. Ross Perot used his saturation of the TV airwaves in 1992 to ensure that the issue of the federal deficit was not ignored in the campaign. And in 2000, Green Party candidate Ralph Nader forced more attention on environmental issues and ultimately cost Gore the presidency by drawing away a small percentage of liberal votes.

alike

American national parties are a loose aggregation of state parties, which are themselves a fluid association of individuals, groups, and local organizations. There are 50 state party systems, and no two are exactly ________. In a few states, the parties are well organized, have sizable staffs, and spend a lot of money. Pennsylvania is one such state. In other states, such as California, party organizations are weak and underfunded.

1. nomination 2. staff 3. against

American political parties are too decentralized to take a single national position and then enforce it. Most candidates are self-selected, gaining their nomination by their own efforts rather than the party's. Because party primaries are electoral contests for popular support, the party's organization and leaders do not have control over those who run in the general election under their labels. In America's loosely organized party system, there simply is no mechanism for a party to discipline officeholders and thereby ensure cohesion in policymaking. Party leaders can help a candidate raise money, get on to the prestigious committees, and sometimes provide support in their efforts to get special benefits for their constituency. But what they cannot do is even more telling: They cannot deny them the party's ________1________ at the next election or take away their congressional __2__ support. Thus, unlike politicians in parliamentary systems who can be told by their party leaders that they must follow the party line or else not be renominated in the next election, American politicians enjoy the freedom to buck the party line. American officeholders try to go along with their parties' platform whenever they can. But when the party line conflicts with their own personal opinion and/or the clear desires of their constituents, then they feel perfectly comfortable in voting ______3______ their party's leaders.

because most of the American electorate is centrist

American political parties tend to take middle of the road stands on major issues

critical election

An electoral "earthquake" where new issues emerge, new coalitions replace old ones, and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party. These periods are sometimes marked by a national crisis and may require more than one election to bring about a new party era.

winner-take-all system

An electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded only to the candidates who come in first in their constituencies.

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.

FACT

An organizational chart is usually shaped like a pyramid, with those who give orders at the top and those who carry them out at the bottom. In drawing an organizational chart of an American political party, you could put the national committee and national convention of the party at the apex of the pyramid, the state party organizations in the middle, and the thousands of local party organizations at the bottom. Such a chart, however, would provide a misleading depiction of an American political party. The president of General Motors is at the top of GM in fact as well as on paper. By contrast, the chairperson of the Democratic or Republican national committee is on top on paper but not in _____.

in control of both houses of Congress

Another noteworthy aspect of Nixon's 1968 election was that for the first time in the twentieth century, a newly elected president moved into the White House without having his party ___ ____ __ _____ ________ ____ _____________. Prior to 1968, most newly elected presidents had swept a wave of their fellow partisans into office with them. For example, the Democrats gained 62 seats in the House when Woodrow Wilson was elected in 1912 and 97 when FDR was elected in 1932. Nixon's inability to bring in congressional majorities with him was not to be an exception, however, but rather the beginning of a new pattern—repeated in the presidential elections won by Ronald Reagan and George Bush. For a time, it seemed that the normal state of affairs in Washington was for American government to be divided with a Republican president and a Democratic Congress.

on their own

As organizations, American political parties are decentralized and fragmented. One can imagine a system in which the national office of a party resolves conflicts among its state and local branches, determines the party's position on the issues, and then passes orders down through the hierarchy. One can even imagine a system in which the party leaders have the power to enforce their decisions by offering greater influence and resources to officeholders who follow the party line and by punishing—even expelling—those who do not. Many European parties work just that way, but in America the formal party organizations have little such power. Candidates in the United States can get elected ___ _____ ____. They do not need the help of the party most of the time, and hence the party organization is relegated to a comparatively limited role.

Democratic

At one time, urban machines in Albany, Chicago, Philadelphia, Kansas City, and elsewhere depended heavily on ethnic group support. Some of the most fabled machine leaders were Irish politicians, including New York's George Washington Plunkett, Boston's James Michael Curley, and Chicago's Richard J. Daley. Daley's Chicago machine was the last survivor, steamrolling its opposition amid charges of racism and corruption. Even today there are remnants of Daley's machine in Chicago. Machine politics in Chicago survived through its ability to limit the scope of reform legislation. A large proportion of city jobs were classified as "temporary" even though they had been held by the same person for decades, and these positions were exempted from the merit system of hiring. At its height, the Democratic political machine in Chicago dispensed 40,000 patronage jobs, the recipients of which were expected to deliver at least 10 votes each on Election Day and to kick back 5 percent of their salary in the form of a donation to the local _________________ Party.

conservative

Because American officeholders don't always follow the platform planks of their party, even when Democrats controlled majorities in both the House and Senate in 2009-2010, President Obama could not take for granted that his policy proposals would be enacted into law. In particular, Obama regularly encountered resistance from members of the organized caucus known as " Blue Dog Democrats ." Back in the days of the Solid South, Democrats would often say that they would vote for "a yellow dog" if their party wanted them to. Today's Blue Dogs say they have been squeezed so often by the liberals in the Democratic leadership that they have turned blue. Hailing mostly from Southern and/or rural areas of the country, they are more fiscally (financially) ________________ than most Democrats and are resistant to any domestic policy proposals that would enlarge the scope of government. Thus, on congressional votes like the $787 billion economic stimulus package or the even more expensive health care proposal, many Blue Dog Democrats did not support President Obama's initiatives.

Republican

Bill Clinton's election in 1992 briefly restored united party government until the Republicans won both houses of Congress in the 1994 elections. For the remaining six years of his presidency, Clinton was forced to battle with Republican majorities in both houses who generally opposed his most cherished policy priorities. During the eight years of George W. Bush's presidency, the Republicans maintained control of the Congress for just the middle four years, from 2003 through 2006. Barack Obama enjoyed Democratic majorities in Congress during his first two years as president, but divided government returned to Washington when the Republicans gained control of the House in 2010. After the Republicans' gains in the 2010 elections, their leaders were optimistic that they were at last on the verge of a new era of Republican dominance. On the other side, Democratic leaders were hopeful that voters would not like the actions of the new Republican House majority and would restore unified Democratic control of the government. In the end, the ambitions of both sides were frustrated as voters opted to continue divided government by reelecting President Obama along with a _______________ majority in the House.

chairperson

Day-to-day activities of the national party are the responsibility of the party's national ________________. -hires the staff -raises the money -pays the bills -attends to the daily duties of the party. When asked, at a joint appearance, what their biggest organizational challenge was, the ________________ of the Democratic and Republican parties both promptly responded "money." Together, the Democratic and Republican national committees raised $688 million in 2008, thereby plunging a tremendous amount of funds into the presidential campaign.

1. political conflict 2. special appeal

Despite the regular appearance of third parties, the two-party system is firmly entrenched in American politics. Would it make a difference if America had a multiparty system, as so many European countries have? The answer is clearly yes. The most obvious consequence of two-party governance is the moderation of ______1_____ _________. If America had many parties, each would have to make a special _____2_____ in order to stand out from the crowd. It is not hard to imagine what a multiparty system might look like in the United States. Quite possibly, African American groups would form their own party, pressing vigorously for racial equality. Environmentalists could constitute another party, vowing to clean up the rivers, oppose nuclear power, and save the wilderness. America could have religious parties, union-based parties, farmers' parties, and all sorts of others. As in some European countries, there could be half a dozen or more parties represented in Congress.

loyalty

Downs notes, though, that from a rational-choice perspective, one should expect the parties to significantly differentiate themselves in order to win over loyal adherents, who will participate in party activities and provide a core of regular supporters. Just as Ford tries to offer something different from and better than Toyota in order to build buyer __________, so Democrats and Republicans have to forge substantially different identities to build voter loyalty. Those who identify with the two parties do indeed have distinct ideological profiles. Democrats lean to the left of center (towards liberalism), and Republicans clearly lean to the right of center (conservativism).

restrictions

Each political party advocates specific policy alternatives. For example, the Democratic Party platform has for many years advocated support for a woman's right to an abortion, whereas the Republican Party platform has repeatedly called for ________________ on abortion.

closed primaries

Elections to select party nominees in which only people who have registered in advance with the party can vote for that party's candidates, thus encouraging greater party loyalty.

open primaries

Elections to select party nominees in which voters can decide on Election Day whether they want to participate in the Democratic or Republican contests.

third parties

Electoral contenders other than the two major parties. American this are not unusual, but they rarely win elections.

Blue Dog Democrats

Fiscally conservative Democrats who are mostly from the South and/or rural parts of the United States.

party eras

Historical periods in which a majority of voters cling to the party in power, which tends to win a majority of the elections.

a. Position themselves near political center

How do parties maximize their appeal to voters? a. Position themselves near political center b. Lie about their opponents c. Stake out clear positions to the left or right d. Make party members sign loyalty oaths

programs committed implement responsbility

Ideally, in a democracy candidates should say what they mean to do if elected and, once they are elected, should be able to do what they promised. Critics of the American party system lament that this is all too often not the case and have called for a "more responsible two-party system." Advocates of the responsible party model believe the parties should meet the following conditions: 1. Parties must present distinct, comprehensive _______1______ for governing the nation. 2. Each party's candidates must be ________2________ to its program and have the internal cohesion and discipline to carry out its program. 3. The majority party must ______3______ its programs, and the minority party must state what it would do if it were in power. 4. The majority party must accept _________4__________ for the performance of the government.

action

If parties generally do what they say they will, then the party platforms adopted at the national conventions represent blueprints, however vague, for _________. In their study of party platforms and voter attitudes over three decades, Elizabeth Simas and Kevin Evans find that "voters are in fact picking up on the parties' objective policy positions." Consider what the two major parties promised the voters in their 2012 platforms. There is little doubt that the choice between Democratic and Republican policies in 2012 was clear on many important issues facing the country. When voters selected Barack Obama over Mitt Romney, the country was poised to move in a direction that was significantly different than had the election gone the other way.

symbolic images and ideas

In most European nations, being a party member means formally joining a political party. You get a membership card to carry around, you pay dues, and you vote to pick your local party leaders. In America, being a party member takes far less work. There is no formal "membership" in the parties at all. If you believe you are a Democrat or a Republican, then you are a Democrat or a Republican. Thus, the party in the electorate consists largely of _____________ __________ ___ _______. For most people the party is a psychological label. Most voters have a party image of each party; that is, they know (or think they know) what the Democrats and Republicans stand for. Liberal or conservative, pro-labor or pro-business, pro-choice or pro-life—these are some of the elements of each party's images.

median

In order to win party nominations, politicians need the support of the __________ voter within their own party—namely, people who are substantially to the left or right of center. But they need to balance satisfying their own party's core supporters with not moving too far away from the center of national opinion, and in particular from Independent swing voters.

1. Whigs 2. Democrats

In the 1850s, the issue of slavery dominated American politics and split both the ___1___ and the _______2______. Slavery, said Senator Charles Sumner, an ardent abolitionist, "is the only subject within the field of national politics which excites any real interest." Congress battled over the extension of slavery to the new states and territories. In Dred Scott v. Sandford, the Supreme Court of 1857 held that slaves could not be citizens and that former slaves could not be protected by the Constitution. This decision further sharpened the divisions in public opinion, making civil war increasingly likely.

1. James Madison 2. factions (parties) 3. Alexander Hamilton

In the Federalist Papers, ______1_____ ______________ warned strongly against the dangers of "_____2____,". But ________3______ ________________, one of the coauthors of the Federalist Papers, did as much as anyone to inaugurate our party system. _______3_______ was the nation's first secretary of the treasury, for which service his picture appears on today's $10 bill. To garner congressional support for his pet policies, particularly a national bank, he needed votes. From this politicking and coalition building came the rudiments of the Federalist Party, America's first political party. The Federalists were also America's shortest-lived major party. After Federalist candidate John Adams was defeated in his reelection bid in 1800, the party quickly faded. The Federalists were poorly organized, and by 1820 they no longer bothered to offer up a candidate for president. In this early period of American history, most party leaders did not regard themselves as professional politicians. Those who lost often withdrew completely from the political arena. The ideas of a loyal opposition and rotation of power in government had not yet taken hold. Each party wanted to destroy the other party, not just defeat it—and such was the fate of the Federalists.

broken

Indeed, two projects that monitored President Obama's actions on his 2008 campaign promises found far more promises that were followed through on than broken. Th e National Journal 's "Promise Audit" (http://promises.nationaljournal.com/) identified about 200 of Obama's most important promises and found at least some progress made on keeping 84 percent of them. Similarly, PolitiFact, a Pulitzer Prize-winning feature of the St. Petersburg Times (http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/) reported at least some progress on 76 percent of a broader selection of over 500 promises made by Obama. In both studies, unfulfilled promises usually fell in the category of proposals that had been shelved for one reason or other; relatively few promises were __________ outright.

kept

It is all too easy to forget how often parties and presidents do exactly what they say they will do. For every broken promise, many more are _______. Ronald Reagan promised to step up defense spending and cut back on social welfare expenditures, and his administration quickly delivered on these pledges. Bill Clinton promised to support bills providing for family leave, easing voting registration procedures, and tightening gun control that had been vetoed by his predecessor. He lobbied hard to get these measures through Congress again and proudly signed them into law once they arrived on his desk. George W. Bush promised a major tax cut for every taxpayer in America, and he delivered just that in 2001. Barack Obama pledged to get American troops out of Iraq and accomplished this feat by the end of 2011. In sum, the impression that politicians and parties never produce policy out of promises is off the mark.

1. broader 2. limited

Just knowing whether a candidate is a Democrat or a Republican provides crucial information to many voters. Voters can reasonably assume that if a candidate is a Democrat, chances are good that he or she favors progressive principles and a _____1______ scope of government. On the other side of the coin, it can be reasonably assumed that a Republican favors conservative principles and a more _____2_____ scope of government. A voter therefore need not do extensive research on the individual candidates but rather can rely on the informational shortcut provided by their party affiliations.

1. Parties pick candidates 2. Parties run campaigns 3. Parties give cues to voters 4. Parties articulate policies 5. Parties coordinate policymaking

Kay Lawson writes that "parties are seen, both by the members and by others, as agencies for forging links between citizens and policymakers." Here is a checklist of the tasks that parties perform—or should perform—if they are to serve as effective linkage institutions: The importance of these tasks makes it easy to see why most political scientists accept Schattschneider's famous assertion that modern democracy is unthinkable without competition between political parties.

c. Young people

More Americans are identifying as Independents, especially: a. People over 65 b. Minorities c. Young people d. Less-educated citizens

Democratic

More than anyone else, General Andrew Jackson founded the modern American political party. In the election of 1828, he forged a new coalition that included Westerners as well as Southerners, new immigrants as well as settled Americans. Like most successful politicians of his day, Jackson was initially a Democratic-Republican, but soon after his ascension to the presidency, his party became known as simply the _________1________ Party, which continues to this day. The "__________1_________" label was particularly appropriate for Jackson's supporters because their cause was to broaden political opportunity by eliminating many vestiges of elitism and mobilizing the masses.

constituents

On the other hand, because it is rarely the case that one single party can ever be said to have firm control over American government, the hard choices necessary to cut back on existing government spending are rarely addressed. A disciplined and cohesive governing party might have the power to say no to various demands on the government. In contrast, America's loose party structure makes it possible for many individual politicians—Democrats and Republicans alike—to focus their efforts on getting more from the government for their own ________________.

national committee

One of the institutions that keeps the party operating between conventions. It is composed of representatives from the states and territories.

patronage

One of the key inducements used by party machines. This job, promotion, or contract is one that is given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone.

The primary reason why the two party system persists and flourishes in America is because of the way electoral laws are set up. If a candidate gets the plurality of the vote, it gets him or her everything, most importantly the seat. This all or nothing way of getting a seat is known as the winner-take-all system. Electoral laws helps promote two party system and leaves no room for third parties. Third parties never win elections and they take away votes from relevant parties. However, they offer up ideas and if they're popular enough the other two parties steal and make them a part of their platforms.The two platforms, the Republican party and the Democratic party, meet the people's needs. The people don't need the third party option from an ideological and policy point of view.

Open-Ended: Why do we have a two party system?

headquarters

Organizationally, state parties are on the upswing throughout the country. As recently as the early 1960s, half the state party organizations did not even maintain a permanent _________1_________; when the state party elected a new chairperson, the party organization simply shifted its office to his or her hometown. In contrast, almost all state parties today have a permanent physical ________1_________, typically in the capital city or the largest city. State party budgets have also increased greatly, as parties have acquired professional staffs and high-tech equipment. Nevertheless, as John Bibby points out, they mostly serve to supplement the candidates' own personal campaign organizations; thus, state party organizations rarely manage campaigns. The job of the state party, writes Bibby, is merely "to provide technical services" within the context of a candidate-centered campaign.

tailor their appeals to each individual

Partly filling in the void created by the decline of the inner-city machines has been a revitalization of party organization at the county level—particularly in affluent suburbs. These county organizations distribute yard signs and campaign literature, register voters, get out the vote on Election Day, and help state and local candidates any way they can. Traditionally, local organizations relied on personal knowledge of individuals in the neighborhood who could be persuaded to support the party. Today, these organizations have access to computerized lists with all sorts of details about registered voters that they use to try to ________ _____ _________ __ _____ ______________.

Independent

Party images help shape people's party identification, the self-proclaimed preference for one party or the other. Because many people routinely vote for the party they identify with (all else being equal), even a shift of a few percentage points in the distribution of party identification is important. Since 1952, the American National Election Study surveys have asked a sample of citizens, "Generally speaking, do you usually think of yourself as a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independent?" Repeatedly asking this question permits political scientists to trace party identification over time. In recent presidential elections, two clear patterns have been evident. First, in contrast to the 1952-1980 period when Democrats greatly outnumbered Republicans, the Democratic Party's edge in terms of identifiers in the electorate has lately been quite modest. In 1964, there were more than twice as many Democrats as Republicans, whereas in 2008 Republicans trailed Democrats by a mere 6 percentage points. Second, in most recent elections the most frequent response to the party identification question has been __________1__________. In 2012, 42 percent of the population called themselves __________1___________. Survey data demonstrate that the younger one is, the more likely he or she is to be a political independent.

essential

Political parties are considered ____________ elements of democratic government. Indeed, one of the first steps taken toward democracy in formerly communist Eastern European countries was the formation of competing political parties to contest elections. After years of one-party totalitarian rule, Eastern Europeans were ecstatic to be able to adopt a multiparty system like those that had proved successful in the West. In contrast, the founding of the world's first party system in the United States was seen as a risky adventure in the then uncharted waters of democracy. Wary of having parties at all, the Founders designed a system that has greatly restrained their political role to this day. Whether American parties should continue to be so loosely organized is at the heart of today's debate about their role in American democracy.

majority

Political scientists call the 1896 election a realigning one because it shifted the party coalitions and entrenched the Republicans for another generation. For the next three decades the Republicans continued as the nation's ___________ party, until the stock market crashed in 1929. The ensuing Great Depression brought about another fissure in the crust of the American party system.

Al Smith

President Herbert Hoover's handling of the Depression turned out to be disastrous for the Republicans. He solemnly pronounced that economic depression could not be cured by legislative action. Americans, however, obviously disagreed and voted for Franklin D. Roosevelt, who promised the country a New Deal. In his first 100 days as president, Roosevelt prodded Congress into passing scores of anti-Depression measures. Party realignment began in earnest after the Roosevelt administration got the country moving again. First-time voters flocked to the polls, pumping new blood into the Democratic ranks and providing much of the margin for Roosevelt's four presidential victories. Immigrant groups in Boston and other cities had been initially attracted to the Democrats by the 1928 campaign of ___ _______, the first Catholic to be nominated by a major party for the presidency. Roosevelt reinforced the partisanship of these groups, and the Democrats forged the New Deal coalition.

issues realignment

Punctuating each party era is a critical election. A critical election is an electoral earthquake: fissures appear in each party's coalition, which begins to fracture; new _________ appear, dividing the electorate. Each party forms a new coalition—one that endures for years. A critical election period may require more than one election before change is apparent, but in the end, the party system will be transformed. This process is called party _________2_________ —a rare event in American political life that is akin to a political revolution. _________2___________ are typically associated with a major crisis or trauma in the nation's history. One of the major _________2________, when the Republican Party emerged, was connected to the Civil War. Another was linked to the Great Depression of the 1930s, when the majority Republicans were displaced by the Democrats.

their presidential candidates ignore the party platforms

The American political parties fall far short of the responsible party model for all of the following reasons except

fit

The Founders were very concerned that political parties would trample on the rights of individuals. They wanted to preserve individual freedom of action by various elected officials. With America's weak party system, this has certainly been the case. Individual members of Congress and other elected officials have great freedom to act as they see ____ rather than toeing the party line.

majority

The New Deal coalition made the Democratic Party the clear _____________ party for decades. Harry S Truman, who succeeded Roosevelt in 1945, promised a Fair Deal. World War II hero and Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower broke the Democrats' grip on power by being elected president twice during the 1950s, but the Democrats regained the presidency in 1960 with the election of John F. Kennedy. His New Frontier was in the New Deal tradition, with platforms and policies designed to help labor, the working classes, and minorities. Lyndon B. Johnson became president after Kennedy's assassination and was overwhelmingly elected to a term of his own in 1964. His Great Society programs vastly increased the scope of government in America, and his War on Poverty was reminiscent of Roosevelt's activism in dealing with the Depression. Johnson's Vietnam War policies, however, tore the Democratic Party apart in 1968, leaving the door to the presidency wide open for Republican candidate Richard M. Nixon.

Republican(s)

The _______1_______ rose in the late 1850s as the antislavery party. Folding in the remnants of several minor parties, in 1860 the ________1_______ forged a coalition strong enough to elect Abraham Lincoln president and to ignite the Civil War. The "War Between the States" was one of those political earthquakes that realigned the parties. After the war, the ______1_________ Party thrived for more than 60 years. The Democrats controlled the South, though, and the ______1__________ label remained a dirty word in the old Confederacy.

urban poor

The basic elements of the New Deal coalition were the following: ●___1___ dwellers. Big cities such as Chicago and Philadelphia were staunchly Republican before the New Deal realignment; afterward, they were Democratic bastions. ● Labor unions. FDR became the first president to support unions enthusiastically, and they returned the favor. ● Catholics and Jews. During and after the Roosevelt period, Catholics and Jews were strongly Democratic. ● The ___2__. Although the ___2___ had low turnout rates, their votes went overwhelmingly to the party of Roosevelt and his successors. ● Southerners. Ever since pre-Civil War days, white Southerners had been Democratic loyalists. Th is alignment continued unabated during the New Deal. For example, Mississippi voted over 90 percent Democratic in each of FDR's four presidential election victories. ● African Americans. The Republicans freed the slaves, but under FDR the Democrats attracted the majority of African Americans.

party competition

The battle of the parties for control of public offices. Ups and downs of the two major parties are one of the most important elements in American politics.

president

The chairperson of the party that controls the White House is normally selected by the ________________ (subject to routine ratification by the national committee), whereas the contest for chair of the party out of power is often a hotly fought battle. In the early 1970s, two of the people who served for a while as chair of the Republican Party at the request of President Nixon were Bob Dole and George H. W. Bush, both of whom used this position as a means of political advancement. Other notables to have served as chair of their party's national committee include former governors Ed Rendell (D-PA), Howard Dean (D-VT), Haley Barbour (R-MS), and Tim Kaine (D-VA).

linkage institutions

The channels through which people's concerns become political issues on the government's policy agenda. In the United States, these include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.

party realignment

The displacement of the majority party by the minority party, usually during a critical election period.

tend to be moderate in their political views

The downs model suggests that a majority of voters

Party dealignment

The gradual disengagement of people and politicians from the parties, as seen in part by shrinking party identification.

party's members

The lack of disciplined and cohesive European-style parties in America goes a long way to explain why the scope of governmental activity in the United States is not as broad as it is in other established democracies. The long struggle to guarantee access to health care for all Americans provides a perfect example. In Britain, the Labour Party had long proposed such a system, and after it won the 1945 election, all its members of Parliament voted to enact national health care into law. On the other side of the Atlantic, President Truman also proposed a national health care bill in the first presidential election after World War II. But even though he won the election and had majorities of his own party in both houses of Congress, his proposal never got very far. The weak party structure in the United States allowed many congressional Democrats to oppose Truman's health care proposal. Over four decades later, President Clinton again proposed a system of universal health care and had a Democratic-controlled Congress to work with. But the Clinton health care bill never even came up for a vote in Congress because of the president's inability to get enough members of his own party to go along with the plan. It wasn't until 2010 that something akin to President Truman's proposal for health care for all Americans was finally enacted into law. Notably, this historic bill only passed by a narrow margin in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, with 34 House Democrats opposing it despite the strong urging of President Obama. In short, substantially increasing the scope of government in America is not something that can be accomplished through the disciplined actions of one ________'s _____________, as is the case in other democracies.

center

The long history of the American party system has shown that successful parties rarely stray too far from the midpoint of public opinion. In the American electorate, a few voters are extremely liberal and a few extremely conservative, but the majority are in the middle or lean just slightly one way or the other. This pattern is even more evident if we examine the key swing voters, namely, those who identify themselves as being independent of party affiliation. Independents are very much concentrated near the middle of the liberal-conservative spectrum. Thus, if Downs's theory is right, then parties must stay fairly near the __________ in order to broaden their appeal.

national party convention

The meeting of party delegates every four years to choose a presidential ticket and write the party's platform.

policy positions

The parties compete, at least in theory, as in a marketplace. A party competes for voters' support; its products are its candidates and policies. Anthony Downs has provided a working model of the relationship among citizens, parties, and policy, employing a rational-choice perspective. Rational-choice theory "seeks to explain political processes and outcomes as consequences of purposive behavior. Political actors are assumed to have goals and to pursue those goals sensibly and efficiently." Downs argues that (1) voters want to maximize the chance that policies they favor will be adopted by government and that (2) parties want to win office. Thus, in order to win office, the wise party selects policies that are widely favored. Parties and candidates may do all sorts of things to win—kiss babies, call opponents ugly names, even lie and cheat—but in a democracy they will use primarily their accomplishments and ______ ________ to attract votes. If Party A figures out what the voters want more accurately than does Party B, then Party A should be more successful.

a nomination

The parties endorsement to officially run for office as the candidate of that party is called

write the platform and nominate the presidential ticket

The parties whole national conventions to

organization

The party as an _________1_________ has a national office, a full-time staff, rules and bylaws, and budgets. In addition to its national office, each party maintains state and local headquarters. The party ________1_________ includes precinct leaders, county chairpersons, state chairpersons, state delegates to the national committee, and officials in the party's Washington office. These are the people who keep the party running between elections and make its rules. From the party's national chairperson to its local precinct captain, the party __________1__________ pursues electoral victory.

government

The party in _____1_____ consists of elected officials who call themselves members of the party. Although presidents, members of Congress, governors, and lesser officeholders may share a common party label, they do not necessarily agree on policy. Presidents and governors may have to wheedle and cajole their own party members into voting for their policies. In the United States, it is not uncommon to put personal principle—or ambition—above loyalty to the party's leaders. These leaders are the main spokespersons for the party, however. Their words and actions personify the party to millions of Americans. If the party is to translate its promises into policy, the job must be done by the party in ________1________.

electorate

The party in the _______________ is by far the largest component of an American political party. Unlike many European political parties, American parties do not require dues or membership cards to distinguish members from nonmembers. Americans may register as Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, or whatever, but registration is not legally binding and is easily changed. To be a member of a party, you need only claim to be a member. If you call yourself a Democrat, you are one—even if you never talk to a party official, never work in a campaign, and often vote for Republicans.

rural South

The party that crushed the Federalists was led by Virginians Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, each of whom was elected president for two terms in succession. They were known as the Democratic-Republicans, or sometimes as the Jeffersonians. The Democratic-Republican Party derived its coalition from agrarian interests rather than from the growing number of capitalists who supported the Federalists. This made the party particularly popular in the largely ________ ________. As the Federalists disappeared, however, the old Jeffersonian coalition was torn apart by factionalism as it tried to be all things to all people.

party as an organization

The people who keep the party running between elections and make its rules are members of which "head" of the party

national chairperson

The person responsible for the day-to-day activities of the party.

The party that is able to recognize what voters want will win elections

The rational choice theory suggests that

linkage

The road from public opinion to public policy is long and winding. Millions of Americans cannot raise their voices to the government and indicate their policy preferences in unison. In a large democracy, ______1______ institutions translate inputs from the public into outputs from the policymakers. ______1_______ institutions sift through all the issues, identify the most pressing concerns, and put these onto the governmental agenda. In other words, _____1______ institutions help ensure that public preferences are heard loud and clear. In the United States, there are four main ______1______ institutions: parties, elections, interest groups, and the media.

organize

The states are allowed wide discretion in the regulation of party activities, and how they choose to ____________ elections substantially influences the strength of the parties. In particular, the choice between holding open versus closed primaries is a crucial one. When it comes to the general election, some states promote voting according to party by listing the candidates of each party down a single column, whereas others place the names in random order. About a third of the states currently have a provision on their ballots that enables a voter to cast a vote for all of one party's candidates with a single act. This option clearly encourages straight-ticket voting and makes the support of the party organization more important to candidates in these states.

1. causes 2. splinter 3. individual

The story of American party struggle is primarily the story of two major parties, but third parties are a regular feature of American politics and occasionally attract the public's attention. Third parties in the United States come in three basic varieties: ● Parties that promote certain ____1____—for example, a controversial single issue such as prohibition of alcoholic beverages—or that take a relatively extreme ideological position such as socialism or libertarianism. ● _____2_____ parties, or off shoots of a major party. Teddy Roosevelt's Progressives in 1912, Strom Thurmond's States' Righters in 1948, and George Wallace's American Independents in 1968 all claimed they did not get a fair hearing from Republicans or Democrats and thus formed their own new parties. ● Parties that are merely an extension of a popular ________3_______ with presidential aspirations. Both John Anderson in 1980 and Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996 offered voters who were dissatisfied with the Democratic and Republican nominees another option.

four

The supreme power within each of the parties is its national convention. The convention meets every ______ years, and its main task is to write the party's platform and then nominate its candidates for president and vice president. Keeping the party operating between conventions is the job of the national committee, composed of representatives from the states and territories. Typically, each state has a national committeeman and a national committeewoman as delegates to the party's national committee. The Democratic committee also includes assorted governors, members of Congress, and other party officials.

material

The urban political party was once the main political party organization in America. From the late nineteenth century through the New Deal of the 1930s, scores of cities were dominated by party machines. A machine is a kind of party organization, very different from the typical fragmented and disorganized political party in America today. It can be defined as a party organization that depends on rewarding its members in some _____________ fashion.

party image

The voter's perception of what the Republicans or Democrats stand for, such as conservatism or liberalism.

1. electorate 2. organization 3. government

The word team is the slippery part of this definition. Party teams may not be as well disciplined and single-minded as teams fielded by top football coaches. Individuals on a party's team often run every which way and are difficult to lead. So who are the members of these teams? A widely adopted way of thinking about parties in political science is as "three-headed political giants." The three heads are (1) the party in the ________1______, (2) the party as an _______2________, and (3) the party in ________3_________.

1. television 2. Internet

Through their national, state, and local organizations, parties coordinate political campaigns. However, ______1_______ and the ______2______ have made it easier for candidates to build their own personal campaign organization, and thus take their case directly to the people without the aid of the party organization.

merit system

Urban party organizations are also no longer very active as a rule. Progressive reforms that placed jobs under the _________ ___________ rather than at the machine's discretion weakened the machines' power. Regulations concerning fair bidding on government contracts also took away much of their ability to reward the party faithful. As ethnic integration occurred in big cities, the group loyalties that the machines often relied on no longer seemed very relevant to many people.

1. done in office 2. promises to do

Voters are attracted to a party in government by its performance and policies. What a party has ___1___ __ ________—and what it ______2_______ __ __—greatly influences who will join its coalition —a set of individuals and groups supporting it. Sometimes voters suspect that political promises are made to be broken. To be sure, there are notable instances in which politicians have turned—sometimes 180 degrees—from their policy promises. Lyndon Johnson repeatedly promised in the 1964 presidential campaign that he would not "send American boys to do an Asian boy's job" and involve the United States in the Vietnam War, but he did. In the 1980 campaign, Ronald Reagan asserted that he would balance the budget by 1984, yet his administration quickly ran up the largest deficit in American history. Throughout the 1988 campaign George H. W. Bush proclaimed, "Read my lips—no new taxes," but he reluctantly changed course two years later when pressured on the issue by the Democratic majority in Congress. Barack Obama promised to cut income tax rates for the middle class and raise them for the wealthiest Americans, but he backed off these promises after he was elected in 2008.

person, not party

Voters who call themselves Independents are the most likely to engage in the practice of ticket splitting —voting with one party for one office and the other party for another office. Independents overwhelmingly agree that they vote for the _____________, _____ ___________. And in practice they often do just that, voting for some Democrats and some Republicans. The result of many voters being open to splitting their tickets is that even when one party has a big edge in a state, the other party always has a decent shot at winning at least some important offices. In other words, despite media labels of red and blue states, the practice of ticket splitting means that no state is ever completely safe for a given party. Thus, New Jersey, Michigan, and Maine lean heavily toward the Democrats in national elections, but as of 2013 all the governors of these states were Republicans. On the other side of the coin, Democrats were serving as governors in heavily Republican states such as West Virginia and Arkansas.

ticket splitting

Voting with one party for one office and with another party for other offices. It has become the norm in American voting behavior.

d. All of the above

What are the functions of the party's national convention? a. Write party platform b. Nominate candidate for president c. Meet every four years to revise rules d. All of the above

Southern

When Richard Nixon was first elected to the presidency in 1968, he formulated what became widely known as his "Southern strategy." Emphasizing his support for states' rights, law and order, and a strong military posture, Nixon hoped to win over _____________ conservatives to the Republican Party, thereby breaking the Democratic Party's long dominance in the former Confederacy. Party realignment in the South did not happen as quickly as Nixon would have liked, but it has taken place gradually over the four decades since 1968. Whereas the Democrats held the vast majority of the South's Senate seats in the late 1960s and the 1970s, ever since the Congress of 1995-1996 the Republicans have been the dominant party in the South. This trend is evident in representation in the House of Representatives as well. In 1969, the Republicans were outnumbered 24 to 77 by the Democrats in the South. By 2013, the balance of Southern seats in the House had changed dramatically, with the Republicans holding 96 seats to just 40 for the Democrats.

party

When a president commits himself to a major policy goal, the first place he usually looks for support is from members of his own _______. In America's fragmented government, parties are essential for coordinating policymaking between the executive and legislative branches.

coalition government

When two or more parties join together to form a majority in a national legislature. This form of government is quite common in the multiparty systems of Europe.

responsible party

Whenever a president's agenda fails to pass because of his inability to rally his own party, advocates of __________1________ _______ government bemoan the lack of centralized political parties in America. However, not everyone thinks that America's decentralized parties are a problem. Critics of the _________1________ ________ model argue that the complexity and diversity of American society are too great to be captured by such a simple model of party politics. Local differences need an outlet for expression, they say. One cannot expect Texas Democrats always to want to vote in line with New York Democrats. In the view of those opposed to the ________1__________ ________ model, America's decentralized parties are appropriate for the type of limited government the Founders sought to create and most Americans wish to maintain.

Whig(s)

Whereas Jackson was the charismatic leader, the Democrats' behind-the-scenes architect was Martin Van Buren, who succeeded Jackson as president. Van Buren's one term in office was relatively undistinguished, but his view of party competition left a lasting mark. He "sought to make Democrats see that their only hope for maintaining the purity of their own principles was to admit the existence of an opposing party." A realist, Van Buren argued that a party could not aspire to pleasing all the people all the time. He argued that a governing party needed a loyal opposition to represent parts of society that it could not. This opposition was provided by the ____1____. The _______ Party included such notable statesmen as Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, but it was able to win the presidency only when it nominated military heroes such as William Henry Harrison (1840) and Zachary Taylor (1848). The ____1___ had two distinct wings—Northern industrialists and Southern planters—who were brought together more by the Democratic policies they opposed than by the issues on which they agreed.

d. A and B only

Which events sparked party realignments? a. Civil War b. Great Depression c. Nixon's Southern strategy d. A and B only

b. Increase defense spending

Which of the following is a campaign promise kept by President Reagan? a. Increase social welfare spending b. Increase defense spending c. Increase the federal deficit d. Increase funding for education

offices

Which party controls each of America's many elected offices matters because both parties and the elected officials who represent them usually try to turn campaign promises into action. As a result, the party that has control over the most government _________ will have the most influence in determining who gets what, where, when, and how.

1. two-party 2. winning 3. party eras

While studying political parties, remember the following: America is a __1__-_______ system and always has been. Of course, there are many minor parties around—Libertarians, Socialists, Reform, Greens—but they rarely have a chance of ______2______ a major office. In contrast, most democratic nations have more than two parties represented in their national legislature. Throughout American history, one party has been the dominant majority party for long periods of time. A majority of voters identify with the party in power; thus, this party tends to win a majority of the elections. Political scientists call these periods ____3_____ ____.

d. Winner-take-all elections

Why are there only two major parties in the U.S.? a. Only two parties are constitutionally allowed b. Two parties fulfill preferences of all voters c. No interest in additional parties d. Winner-take-all elections

moving away from both parties

With only about 60 percent of the electorate currently identifying with the Democrats or Republicans, it may well be difficult for either one to gain a strong enough foothold to maintain simultaneous control of both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue for very long. All told, both houses of Congress and the presidency have been simultaneously controlled by the same party for just 12 of the 46 years from 1969 to 2014. The regularity with which partisan control of the presidency and Congress has been divided during this period is unprecedented in American political history. The recent pattern of divided government has caused many political scientists to believe that the party system has dealigned rather than realigned. Whereas realignment involves people changing from one party to another, party dealignment means that many people are gradually __________ ______ ____ ____ _________. When your car is realigned, it is adjusted in one direction or another to improve its steering. Imagine if your mechanic were to remove the steering mechanism instead of adjusting it—your car would be useless and ineffective. This is what many scholars fear has been happening to the parties, hence the federal government.

Patronage

_________1________ is one of the key inducements used by party machines. A _________1________ job is one that is awarded for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone. In the late nineteenth century, political parties routinely sold some ________1_______ jobs to the highest bidder. Party leaders made no secret of their corruption, openly selling government positions to raise money for the party. Some of this money was used to buy votes, but a good deal went to line the pockets of the politicians themselves. The most notable case was that of New York City's Democratic leader William Tweed, widely known as "Boss Tweed," whose ring reportedly made between $40 million and $200 million from tax receipts, payoffs, and kickbacks.

coalition

a group of individuals with a common interest on which every political party depends

20% of the time

a study of campaign promises kept by President Obama, indicates he broke his campaign promises about

party unity may come at the expense of not accurately representing the needs of one's constituency

critics of the responsible party model state that it is not always effective because

proportional representation

in many other democracies, the system of awarding seats in the national legislature, unlike in the United States, is one of

register with that party

in the United States, to become a member of a political party you need to

gradual party dealignment

many political scientists believe what is currently happening with voters in regards to political parties is?

parties have to compromise their beliefs in order to control government

one drawback to a coalition government is

party neutrality

over the past 30 years, there's been a marked rise in

it allows voters to have a choice

political competition is important to democracy because

enforce rigid adherence to the policy positions

political parties perform all of the following tasks except

A major crisis or trauma in the nation

realignments are typically associated with

voting with one party for one office and another for other offices

ticket splitting is best understood as

political parties nominate candidates to run in elections for public office

what differentiates political parties from other influential groups in government

White Protestants

what is NOT one of the basic elements of the new deal coalition

party realignment occur often in American political life

which of the following statements about party realignment is false