October 14th - 7th period

Although many people regard political parties with suspicion, parties are an essential component of democratic government.
1) Citizens: main avenues of participation in government is through voting in competitive elections.
a) A political party is an organization that sponsors candidates for public office under the organization's name.
b) Both of the candidates and the organization acknowledges the same label and the label conveys a significant meaning throughout the electorate
c) Interest groups are distinct from parties in that interest groups may support candidates but never sponsor them as their avowed representatives
2) Parties perform the important functions for the political system
a) They are on e of the several linkages institutions that connect people in a large democracy to the government. Other linking institutions are interest groups, media, and elections. Parties increase political efficacy by helping citizens to make sense of government decisions and processes and to feel that government listens to them.
b) They nominate candidates for elections to public office ensuring minimum qualifications of candidates through the peer review process
c) They structure the voting choice in elections, reducing the number of candidates on the ballot
d) They propose alternatives government programs- helping voters choose between policies and personalities
e) They coordinate the actions of government officials to help bridge separation of powers
US political parties have long and complex histories
1) Parties are not mentioned in the constitution and did not exist in any recognizable form in the pre-party period, which lasted through Washington's 1st term in office.
2) First party system the federalists (led by Hamilton) against the democratic republicans (led by Jefferson). The feds represent urban, business oriented men, favored elitism and strong central government and banks. The Dem. Republicans favored strong state government, rural interests and weak central government.
3) The second party system involved what became the Democratic Party and the Whig party after the Federalists ceased to exist by 1820 and the Democratic Republicans split factions in 1824.
a) Democratic Party originated in 1828 among Southerners and Westerners who supported Andrew Jackson. They ushered in universal manhood suffrage and gained the support of rural anti-bank, small farmers from the South and West.
b) Whigs were formed in 1834 to oppose President Jackson. They were left with the old Federalists and groups like wealthy rural southerners. It was not ideologically coherent.
4) Present party sysem, featuring democrat and republican parties since the 1850. Critical elections were elections that produced a sharp change in patterns of party loyalty among voters and lasting electoral realignment. The critical elections have marked present party systems. Elections of 1860 brought Lincoln to the white house, with exception of grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson. The republicans controlled the presidency from 1860to 1933; the depression era of 1932 brought FDR to the white house where democrats stayed until 1969 with the single exceptions of Eisenhower
5) The elections of Richard Nixon brought a divided government with one party holding the presidency and the others controlling congress. From 1969 through 1993, the Republicans held the presidency except for Jimmy Carter's one term. In 1969, the Democratic Party reviewed its structure and convention delegate selection procedures. The party adopted guidelines to increase the representation and participation of minorities, women, youth, and the poor. The number of super delegates, or governors, members of congress, and other party leaders were reduced.
Why does the US have a two party system?
1) There have been many minor partie3s in US history
a) Bolter parties have been formed by factions that split from one of the major parties - George Wallace's American Independent Party.
b) Farmer-labor parties, such as the Populist Party.
c) Parties of ideological protests such as the Libertarian and Socialist Parties.
d) Single-issue parties like the Prohibition Party.
e) Minor parties have not fared particularly well as vote getters, though the presence of alternative president candidates (Ralph Nader, 2000) impacted those elections.
f) Minor parties may perform their most useful function as safety evolves for the political system, allowing discontented groups to argue for their policies within the political system.
2) For several reasons, only 2 parties have alternated in power in the US for more than 125 years.
a) The electoral system involves the twin principles of single winners (winner-take-all) chosen by simple plurality vote is the most important reason. It tends the encourage competion between only two parties for political office within each electoral district. The winner in American elections is one who receives the largest number of votes in each district. The winner does not need more than 50 percent of the vote. All they need is one more than his or her competitor.
b) The importance of the presidency causes diverse groups across the nation to coalesce in the two parties within each state.
c) Only those parties dominate contemporary elections because of historical claims on citizen loyalties.