POLS TX GOV CHP 3 (PT2)

Three Components of Political Parties

1) Party Organization- The people (permanent and temporary) who work for the party and whose sole purpose is to get their candidates elected to office. 2) Party in the Electorate- The people who identify with and vote for the candidates of a given party. 3) Party in Government- The candidates who are elected to government in partisan positions. Once elected to office, candidate become the party in government.

Modified One-Party Democratic

1950-1960

Two Party Balance

1970-1990

Finally, the election of Republican Bill Clements (Links to an external site.) as governor in _____ signaled the end of the second era and the beginning of a period where either party could (and did) win office on a regular basis

1978

This era is one of two-party balance or competitive two party system and lasted from______ _____ ______ _____ ______. During this period, Republicans held the governorship for twelve years and Democrats for eight. Democrats controlled the Texas House and Senate, but their majorities were increasingly smaller.

1978 until the late 1990s

In ______, no Democrat for statewide executive offices got more than 45% of the vote. 2014 results were even worse for Democrats who thought their ticket with a female candidate for Governor (Wendy Davis) and a Hispanic female for Lt. Governor (Leticia van de Putte) might improve their chances. Instead, no Democratic candidate for statewide office got more than 40 percent of the vote. However, the 2018 election offered hope the Democrats- they came close to winning the US Senate seat (Ted Cruz beat Beto O'Rourke by less than three percent), took two Congressional Seats and picket up a dozen seats in the state House of Representatives.

2010

In ______ election showed some weakness in the Republican Party organization in Texas with Ted Cruz, a Tea Party candidate, defeating Lt. Governor David Dewhurst who was supported by the state party organization, to get the party nomination for the US Senate. The same split played out in the Repubican Priamary where Dewhurst was again defeated by Tea Party Candidate Dan Patrick and is still evident in the fact that many Senate Republicans do not fully support Patrick even though he is of the same party as them.

2012

While Democrats made gains in ______, I would still consider the state leaning Republican, depending on the 2020 election results.

2018

In Texas and the rest of the nation, there are just two political parties (Democrats and Republicans) which have a realistic chance of winning a given office. Of course, there are other parties and, once in a very great while, a third party will win a governorship, a Senate seat or a seat in the United States Congress. However, that is very rare. We are a two-party system, which is unique among most democracies in the world.

2party system

Every elected official and almost all White voters claimed an affiliation with the Democratic Party. The reasons for this were many, but initially were rooted in the_____ _____ _____ _____. Texans and other Southerners associated all of the bad aspects of the Civil War and its aftermath with the national Republican administration of Abraham Lincoln and the Texas administration of Governor E.J. Davis. For decades to come, Democratic leaders would fuel those fires to help keep the Republican Party small and ineffective. In fact, the Republican party in Texas at this time existed primarily to distribute patronage when there was a Republican president. By the 1930s, the democratic hold was beginning to loosen. However, the Depression and the efforts of Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt increased the loyalty of many to the Democratic Party.

Civil War and Reconstruction

When most folks think about political parties, such as Republican and Democratic parties, they generally think about the identification of members of the public with each party. Party in the electorate is the party in the minds, hearts, and votes of the public-the psychological attachment that you do or do not have toward a political party. People generally identify with one of the two political parties, and their votes usually reflect that identification. Party in the electorate is not nearly so strong now in the United States as it has been in the past, with more than a third of the voters not identifying with either party. In Texas, party in the electorate has historically been quite strong, especially for Democrats (who controlled everything for so long), but it is weakening here as well.

Party in the Electorate

________ ________ are both permanent and temporary, will manage elections by appealing to those voters based on the positions they support.

Party organization

T/F in Texas and the United States, these three components do not work together effectively. More voters are independents than Democrats or Republicans. Campaigns are run on personalities, not issues, and officials vote based on their current whims and needs rather than campaign promises.

T

T/F parties in the United States and Texas are pragmatic, decentralized, two-party, and relatively powerless.

T

4 qualifications

There is a large number of active and organized interest groups. All sides of the debate are adequately represented, for example, if there is an abortion group, there needs to be an anti-abortion group. All groups have equal access to policy makers. This is where we have a problem. I don't think all groups have equal access. Groups with more money, larger membership, better organization, and a better lobbyist, are likely to have more access. The leaders and lobbyists of those groups must operate in a democratic fashion, accepting the demands of their supporters. If they don't listen to us, the system falls apart. The political leaders must respond to what the leaders of the group demand. If you have all of these things, but the political leaders don't listen, none of this matters.

elitist system

There is a small, identifiable group of elites with common interests and characteristics. The attitudes and positions of this group consistently run contrary to the interests and positions of the general public. This group of elites wins the vast majority of the time. The elites will fake or allow "losses" every once in a while in order to stay in power.

________a famous scholar who died in the 1960s, suggested that political parties could be divided into three distinct, but interrelated parts: party in the electorate, party organization, and party in government.

V.O Key Jr

how the state meets these five criteria

all sides are not adequately represented in most debates. Business groups are well represented, while labor groups have almost no voice. Wealthy groups have a voice, while poor groups seldom do. the staff of the Texas legislature and the executive office are pretty good and can provide a strong counter to the information provided by biased groups. the reporting requirements in Texas are pretty strong, although lobbyists must merely report their presence or intent to lobby in the legislature, not the specific bills which they seek to influence. The problems with the financial reporting requirements were outlined earlier. as a result of history and practice, some groups do tend to dominate debate in Texas and all groups do not start on a level playing field.

precinct conventions are then submitted to _____ _____ if it gets enough votes

county conventions

Below the committee is the ________ __________. This job can be very important and it is only as important as you make it. Democrats have had chairs in all 254 counties, but Republicans did not meet that level of organization until 1994. The county chair can do all of the things that the state chair in his or her county does for the state-the amount of effort the county chair puts into this job is really up to him or her. Again, it is voluntary. The county chair presides over meetings of the party and other things, but that is up to each chair. His or her job is to keep the party alive between elections.

county party pair

contrary to popular belief, America is not a two-party system. Instead, we are a 102-party system! There are the national Republican and Democratic parties, then Republican and Democratic parties in each of the fifty states. Each state party organization is organized separately and passes its one-party agenda and platform. A Republican in Texas is likely to be very different from a Republican in Massachusetts.The national party cannot make a state or local political party do anything. A state party may nominate a candidate to run for office that party members in the rest of the country hate.

decentralized

During the first era, for more than eighty years following the Civil War (1870s to 1950s), politics in Texas could be described in one word:

democrat

while the ________ _________ of Texas may oppose limitations on abortion, they are more concerned with winning offices and controlling government-if that means electing a Democrat who is pro-life, then so be it.

democratic party

Historically, ________ were strong in the electorate and weak in organization and government.

democrats

political consultants have

dramatically weakened political parties because candidate does not have to go to political party for advice all they have to do is hire people

This would suggest that our system is not pluralist. It is rather, an ______ system

elitist

______ _______ lose and lose badly

extreme candidates

I would say that the Republican Party is strong in the electorate, strong in organization and relatively weak in ___________. Texas Democrats are moderate in organization, weak in the electorate and strong in ___________

government

guiding forces in tx

ideology- what you are region-if something is good for region you support it

______ _________are primarily interested in influencing the policy outcome important to their group, so they tend to focus more narrowly on the issues they cover than do political parties

interest groups

the primary objective of these is to influence public policy in their direction, even if that means supporting candidates who may lose, but who agree with you

interest groups

Why do some people think we would be better off with stronger political parties

it would get us away from the politics and campaigns of personality. With truly responsible parties, campaigns and campaign commercials would be about issue positions rather than personalities. if candidates actually kept their promises, voters might regain faith in the political process. government officials would work together to help solve the problems of the country. If they do not solve the problems, the voters would kick out one party and replace it with the other one.

Party conventions were once much more than large, partisan, _____ __________ ___________ ___________. Before candidates were chosen in primaries, they were chosen at conventions. The party leaders would get together and discuss who the party's nominee for a particular office would be. Then, they would vote and choose that nominee, considering the likelihood that they would win the election, as well as the loyalty of the person to the party leaders and the party views. The convention also wrote the party platform and established the principles on which the campaigns would be conducted.

media orchestrated pep rallies

The modern conventions are little more than ______ ________ __________ ________. The party nominees are known long before the convention. The party principles and platforms are written by the convention then generally ignored by the candidates. The speakers make their speeches to the television audience rather than the convention delegates. These conventions are designed to get campaign volunteers fired up for the election. Party organizations, both temporary and permanent, are now stronger then they have ever been. While the chairs and committee members are not paid, each party has more than two dozen paid staff persons and that number swells during the election season.

media-orchestrated cheerleading sessions

In 1961, John Tower (Links to an external site.) was elected as a Republican to replace Lyndon Johnson in the United States Senate-the first statewide elected Republican since 1874. This election set in motion the second era, ______ ______ ______ _______. Democrats won most of the time, but Republicans could win under the right conditions or with the right candidate.

modified one-party Democrat

precinct convention does 2 things

nominate candidates to go to district/county convention which is the next level write proposals for state party platform (each precinct can submit proposals to go on the platform)

The history of party politics in Texas can be divided into four periods

one party Democratic (1870s-1950s) modified one-party Democrat (1960s - 1970s) two party balance (1970s-1990s) one-party Republican control (Late 1990- Present).

_______ _______ related to what the elected officials of each party do once in office. If the party in government is strong, Democratic elected officials will vote together on one side and Republican elected officials will vote together on the other side. Historically in Texas this has been weak.

party in government

if the campaigns are run on issues and the voters vote based on issues, party officials in office (_______ ____ ________) will be careful to keep those campaign promises and be expected to be rewarded for doing so

party in government

_______ _________refers to the political party in the minds and attitudes of the voters. If individuals strongly identify with the positions and candidates of one of the two parties, then their vote for office will be based on those conviction

party in the electorate

what the people do once in office (top of pyramid)

party of government

bottom of pyramid (large, broad, but not overly intense in parties

party of the electorate

________ ________is the linkage between voters and government

party organization

much smaller group , more focused and more intense (middle pyramid) focused on getting people elected, voluntary (not many in Tx)

party organization

The second component is the _________ __________. This refers to the party officials (state chairman, state committee, precinct and district chairs, as well as hired staff) who are dedicated to the daily existence and operation of the political party. These folks, some paid and some not, are dedicated to seeing that the members of their party who are recruited to run for office are elected to office.

party organization (concerned only with elections, they dominate and organize campaigns

At the precinct convention, you elect folks to go to the county/ district convention, and you propose ideas for the _______ _________. One week after the precinct convention, the county/district convention is held. At this convention, you elect people to go to the state convention, then you decide which of the issue proposals from the precinct conventions are good enough to go to the state convention.

party platform (party agenda)

number one activity of these conventions is _____ ______

peprallys

The _______ _______ _______ is always working to prepare the party for the next election. They work to see that there are candidates to run, money to campaign with, and voters to support the party come the next election.

permanent party organization

Interest groups are positive when the system meets the four qualifications of ____________ (democracy by groups)

pluralism

_______ _________ are more interested in controlling the positions and powers of government, which means electing the most people, even if they do not really agree with the party's political position.

political parties

political action commitees and interest groups compete with _______and dramatically weakened political parties

political parties

political parties in Texas and the US are more concerned about winning than they are about maintaining some type of ideological or philosophical purity. They would rather win with a candidate that believes half of the party's issues than lose with a candidate that believes all of them.

pragmatic (practical)

_______ _________ are more concerned with whats doable rather than the grand plan (want to win)

pragmatic parties

four characteristics of political parties in Texas and the United States

pragmatic, decentralized, very weak, 2 party system

at the very bottom is the ________ ________. Each county is divided into electoral precincts, and county chairs try to recruit chairs in each precinct. Again, this position is what the chair makes of it. There are many precincts with no chairs and some in which chairs do absolutely nothing.

precinct chair

state party chair is....

primary cheerleader of party recruiter of candidates (do not want blank candidate) primary fundraiser(hold events, speeches)

supporters of Democratic governor Alan Shivers who supported Republican Presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower for President

shivercats

what is the state party chairperson responsible for

speaking on behalf of the party, raising money for the party, recruiting candidates for the party, and generally getting the voters fired up about the party's chances of winning elections

the _______ _______ meets to write party platform and, in presidential years, determine who will go the national party convention.

state convention

Just below the state chairperson and vice-chair, is the _______ _______ _______. There is not a lot of power in this position and it is usually given to people who have been active in the political party.

state executive committee

You can view the party organization here as a pyramid. At the top of that pyramid is the _______ _______ _________ - the man or woman elected by his or her respective party to be the main voice and face of the political party.

state party chairperson (and vice-chair)

The state party writes the _______ _______ _________, a list of proposals and ideas that the party generally supports. However, many candidates will ignore the party platform if they do not agree with key parts of it. The platforms generally play little role in the elections.

state party platform

The _________ ___________ ___________, namely precinct, district, state, and national party conventions, exist to get the party voters organized and fired up for the coming election.

temporary party organizations

why interest groups are bad

the political system is determined and controlled by an elite group of leaders, ignoring the will of most people-a few small interest groups, controlled by White, wealthy males tend to control the system. Historically, in Texas, this has been very true. It may be changing, but historically, it was clearly true. If you agree with this theory, then interest groups are not good.

Legislators were more likely to vote because of where they were from (region of the state) or what beliefs they held (ideology) than because of party. There are several reasons for this:

the separation of powers: The executive branch, the judicial branch, and the legislative branch (both chambers) have their own power base. The leaders of each are elected by the voters and are NOT answerable to leaders of the other branches. Texas Senators would be more likely to work with leaders of the Senate than with the governor, even if they are of the same party, for example. Democrats controlled all of the offices so that party competition meant nothing.Therefore, there was no incentive for members of the party to work together. Even if Democrats did not work together, they still won. Even if Republicans did work together, they still lost. the role and influence of lobbyists, interest groups, and political consultants in campaigns contributes to limited party government. It is difficult for the party to instill loyalty in its members by threatening to keep them out of office because interest groups and their money control that more than the parties.

party in government

those officials once elected what do they do and how do they behave. if active republicans vote together against democrats and vice versa. HAS NOT BEEN CASE IN TX

2nd job of convention is

to get publics attention (portray positive image)

he parties cannot control who gets the party's nomination. They cannot control who wins the election, and they cannot control what a candidate does when he or she gets elected to party office. If a member of the US Senate votes the opposite of the rest of his party, the party cannot kick him or her out. It can try to influence that person, but nothing more. As candidates can increasingly get their messages out and raise money through social media, one can expect parties to get weaker instead of stronger.

very weak

The permanent party organization is always working to prepare the party for the next election. They work to see that there are candidates to run, money to campaign with, and voters to support the party come the next election. these are ________ posistions

volunteer

why are political parties here so different

we have had only two parties since the inception of parties in the early 1800's, and it is hard to break that habit. the parties are limited in power because we in the US, and particularly in Texas, believe that the individual is more important than a group. No political party will tell us what to do! (Recall that in Texas, party membership is determined by the act of voting!) our rules are set up to discourage centralized parties or third parties. The two major parties (Democrats and Republicans) have all kinds of advantages that young third parties don't have. Other countries give votes to minor parties, but here, you only get power if you win, not if you come close.