Political Parties

What is a political party?

• One definition:

  • A political organization that sponsors candidates for public office under its own “brand” name.

• Another definition:

  • A coalition of political candidates who seek public office with a common political agenda (platform).

Parties vs. Interest Groups

• An interest group is in many ways a lot like a party.

• Both parties and interest groups are linkage institutions.

• Parties primarily seek to influence the political system by electing candidates to public office.

• Interest groups try to influence politics by both:

  • Working with those candidates already in office.

  • Working to elect candidates who are expected to favor their organization's goals.

A “necessary evil”?

• Founders' view: parties were forms of faction; inimical to republican government.

• Political scientist E.E. Schattschneider: “Modern democracy is unthinkable save in terms of the parties.”

• Political parties exist in all democratic societies.

• Political scientists define democracy in part in terms of parties.

How many parties?

• 

  Most democracies have more than two major parties:

  • Mexico: 3 major parties (PAN, PRI, PRD).

  • Canada: 4 major parties (Conservative, Liberal, Bloc Québécois, New Democrats).

  • Britain: 3 major parties (Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrats), with strong regional parties in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Why Two Parties?

The two-party system persists in America for several reasons.

• The electoral system:

  • The U.S. uses single member districts with plurality elections (“first past the post”).

  • Many other democracies use some form of proportional representation or a mixture with a strong proportional element instead.

• The presidency and Electoral College:

  • The “big prize” encourages two nationwide major parties.

  • Parties need to win states to gain any electors.

Primary Elections Help Major Parties

• 

  Ambitious candidates seek the nominations of a major party rather than joining minor parties or forming their own parties.

• Examples: former U.S. Representative Ron Paul (R-Texas) and his son, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

Rules Favor Major Parties

• Anti-fusion and sore loser laws make it harder for minor parties to nominate popular candidates.

• The Australian ballot means minor parties face difficulty qualifying their candidates for the ballot.

• Presidential candidate matching funds require at least 5% of the vote in previous election.

• Media downplays minor party candidates.

Changes in Party Alignments

• Although the U.S. has had a two-party system since 1796, not always the same two parties.

• Transitions between eras of party competition (“party systems”) are fairly frequent—known as realignments.

• When large groups of voters change their party allegiances.

• Realignments can either help give rise to a new major party, or change the balance of power between the existing major parties.

The First Party System

• While “factions” existed in colonial times, early American elections had no true parties.

• During Washington's administration, two groups emerged and soon became political parties:

  • Federalists led by Alexander Hamilton supported a stronger central government, closer ties w/Britain.

  • Democratic-Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson supported decentralized government, closer ties w/France.

Decline of the Federalists

• 

  Unpopular actions during the Adams administration:

  • The Jay Treaty.

  • Alien and Sedition Acts.

• On wrong side of war with Britain (War of 1812).

• Federalists essentially eliminated from national electoral politics by 1820: “Era of Good Feelings.”

The “Corrupt Bargain” of 1824

• 

  The 1824 presidential contest split the Democratic-Republicans:

  • Andrew Jackson (Tenn.)

  • John Quincy Adams (Mass.)

  • William H. Crawford (Ga.)

  • Henry Clay (Ky.)

• Since no candidate got a majority of electoral votes, election decided by the House of Representatives.

• “Corrupt Bargain” puts Adams in the White House.

The Second Party System

• As a result the Democratic-Republicans fragment into two factions that become separate parties:

  • Andrew Jackson's supporters called themselves Democrats. Supported national expansion, freer trade with Europe.

  • Opponents under Clay organized as the National Republicans but soon became the Whigs: disliked Jackson, opposed war with Mexico, support Clay's American Plan.

• Jackson (and the Democrats) go on to dominate politics for the next 30 years.

The End of the Whigs

• By the 1850s, both parties were split by the question of slavery and other “sectional” issues.

• 

  Some former Whigs organized a new party, the Republicans, in 1854; the party was unified against slavery and attracted both anti-slavery Whigs and Democrats.

• 1860: Democrats nominate two candidates; Whigs nominate nobody. Lincoln's election and Republican triumph in Congress leads to secession; civil war.

The Third Party System

• The two parties that emerged after the Civil War remain with us today, but in altered forms.

• At the end of Reconstruction:

  • The Democrats had the overwhelming support of southern whites and, increasingly, farmers.

  • The Republicans' supporters were concentrated in the industrializing cities; also included southern blacks (although most were soon disenfranchised).

The Fourth Party System

• The 1896 election reinforced this division:

  • 

    Democrats increasingly identified with the populist and agrarian movements, along with the South.

    • William Jennings Bryan.

• Republicans identified with industrialization and urbanization in the Midwest and Northeast.

• Both parties tried to attract support from Progressives with mixed success.

The Fifth Party System

• The Republicans dominated presidential elections until the beginning of the Great Depression.

  • Exception: Wilson (1912, 1916) against a divided Republican Party.

• Realignment based on economics (ca. 1932):

  • FDR and the Democrats were able to expand their coalition by adding working-class urban voters, including northern blacks.

  • Republicans became increasingly identified with the upper middle class and wealthy.

A Sixth Party System?

• The economic division between the two parties persists to this day.

• However, the 1960s and 1970s gave rise to new issues in politics:

  • Democrats became increasingly identified with social liberalism; Republicans identified with cultural conservatism.

  • The rise of dealignment: many citizens no longer identify with either major party.

• No consensus among political scientists.

A Seventh Party System?

• Realignments historically have happened every 32 to 36 years—if one happened around 1968, one is now “due.”

• Although it's too early to be certain, there are some possible sources of realignment:

  • National security/terrorism.

  • Economic divisions returning to the forefront.

• On the other hand, true realignments may no longer be possible due to changes in the political system.

The Tripartite Model

• Political scientists distinguish between three aspects of American political parties:

  • Party organizations: volunteers and professionals who raise money and recruit candidates.

  • Party in government: public officials who are affiliated with the party.

  • Party in the electorate: citizens who identify with the party and support its candidates

• To meaningfully discuss parties, we need to be clear which aspect(s) we are talking about.

Party Organizations

• 

  Parties are organized at the local, state, and national levels.

• Parties' national organizations are known as the national committee: runs party business between national conventions.

• Conventions choose presidential nominees; also establish the party platform.

Party Identification

• Party identification refers to the feeling of attachment citizens have to the major political parties.

• Political scientists who see dealignment argue that the increase in independent voters reflects a decline in the importance of parties.

• Other political scientists have shown that while voters have become more likely to call themselves independent, many “independent” citizens vote as if they are partisans.

Evaluating Parties Today

• Many political scientists argue parties should be stronger than they are today.

• Benefits of strong parties:

  • Help overcome the separation of powers to make government more efficient, particularly under unified government.

  • Synthesize society's demands into policy.

  • Simplify voting by reducing the field of candidates and clarifying choices.

• An example: the responsible party model.

Evaluating Parties Today

• Others have argued that parties are too strong.

• Drawbacks of strong parties:

  • Do not always deliver on their promises.

  • Can be dictatorial towards their members.

  • Present stark “either/or” choices.

  • May block worthwhile policies for partisan instead of substantive reasons.

• Reformers have generally won the public arguments.

Are Parties Weaker?

• In some ways, parties have become weaker:

  • National parties are coalitions of independent state parties; historically, the “national party” didn't exist as a permanent organization.

  • Progressive reforms to reduce influence of “machines” gave outsiders control of party nominations, reduced patronage.

  • Campaign finance reform has limited party spending on campaigns.

  • Voters have fewer ties to local parties due to redistricting, population mobility.

Are Parties Stronger?

• In other ways, parties have become stronger:

  • Fewer regional splits within the parties.

  • More “party-line” voting in Congress and state legislatures.

  • National parties have become better organized.

• Either way, parties today clearly fall short of the “responsible party” model.