AP US Gov Political Parties Notes

I.               What is a political party?

A.             Political party- trying to gain control over government by running candidates and getting them elected (an organization that runs candidates for office; it seeks to gain control over the government)

B.             Interest groups advocate for a certain issue and try to influence government policy; they educate people in the process

C.            We have 2 main parties, but many “3^rd Parties” or minor parties

D.            These parties have changed over the years

E.             Democratic party has always existed (Was Democratic Republican, then starting with Andrew Jackson it became the Democratic party)

II.              Why we have a two party system/ 3^rd Parties

A.             Public Opinion

1.             We only have two major parties because public opinion on key issues is pretty consistent (economy, governmental system)- we all share a common view and believe in a certain view of capitalism, democracy, freedom of speech. This concept is called The American Ideological Consensus, which means that we agree on ideology.  We don’t have the same class systems- we have social mobility- we have people who could be born into the working class and become rich.  Everyone is part of the “middle” the two parties try to appeal to these middle people

B.             Our election system makes it hard for 3^rd parties to win

1.             Plurality voting- the person who gets the most votes wins- this hurts third parties because if you have a system where you need more than 50% the third party can use its votes as a bargaining chip, but we don’t have this, so the third parties have nothing over the bigger parties. In America, no one needs 50%, so this does nothing for the third parties

2.             Single Member Districts/Winner Takes all- Only one person wins- this is no true in other countries, they have proportional representation. You wouldn’t have to win an election to get seats. In America, plurality wins, and whoever gets the most votes wins. The biggest most dramatic example of the winner take all is the electoral college. Only one person wins, we don’t take percentages and carve it up to divide it all up

III.            Third Parties

A.             Why do these 3^rd parties run in America?

1.             They play the role of innovator: They force the major parties to adopt certain ideas. They raise awareness of ideas, or they come up with new ideas. Force other parties to take clear cut stands on issues. They are a voice for the people that feel alienated from govt/have ideas that aren't popular. They are a safety valve for discontent.  

B.             FRQ on Minor parties

1.             The people voting for the third parties are wasting their votes by voting for them

2.             Winner Take All System (No proportional System) and Single Member Districts. One is for president one is for congress. Campaign finance laws hurt minor parties more than major parties. They are excluded from presidential debate because a person has to have over a certain percentage of the population to debate. Federal funding for candidates don’t help them because they don’t have a big enough percent of the population

3.             Pushes new ideas and educate people about them, and try to push the major parties to adopts these ideas

C.            Four Types of Minor Parties

1.             Ideological

a)             Have lasted the longest

b)             Want to make big changes

c)             Socialist, Communist, Green, Libertarian

2.             Single Issue Political Parties

a)             Bring up new ideas and issues

b)             Focus on one issue, and often times the issue is brand new

c)             Prohibition Party, Marijuana Party

3.             Economic Protest Parties

a)             Want to move the economy in a different direction

b)             Usually based on region

c)             Populist party

4.             Factional parties

a)             Breakoff from one of the 2 major parties

b)             1948 2 different parties broke off from the Democratic party (one broke of for states rights, the other was a progressive organization that wanted change and wanted more radical changes)

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IV.            Realignment Elections

A.             A period of time when one party gains control of the government and solidifies that control for a long period of time.  It operates under unified government, because you need control of Congress and the President to change the direction of the country both socially and economically

1.             Some argue that Reagan’s election in 1980 was a realigning election, but he never had control over the House.  There was still divided government, and the Republicans did not control the presidency and Congress.  Reagan still moved the country in a conservative direction, and many people moved to vote in Reagan’s direction (Reagan Democrats)

B.             Five Realignments

1.             1800- Jefferson became president and the Democratic-Republicans defeated the Federalists and took over, and there was a peacefully transfer of power

2.             1828- Jackson became president.  There was a shift in support because there were no more property restrictions on voting, so the common people voted for Jackson who advocated for the common man.  This election put the Democrats on course to become a major party

3.             1860- Whig Party collapsed and Republicans came to power with Lincoln.  The two parties (Democrats and Whigs) were struggled over the issue of slavery- neither party addressed the issue directly, so the Republicans (who were a 3^rd party at the time) came to power because they had a clear view on slavery.  It was an issue that led to realignment (slavery).

4.             1896- Republicans defeated William Jennings Bryan.  The Populist Party supported suffering farmers and broke off from the Democrats.  Bryan got the Democratic nomination and adopted the Populist platform, and the Republicans won because the Democrats who were against the Populists voted for the Republican candidate (key issue- economics).  The country was not divided between the North and South, now it was East vs. West (urban vs. rural).

5.             1932- FDR and the New Deal.  Before this most blacks were Republicans, and FDR brought them into the Democratic Party.  FDR got everyone in his coalition- blacks, Jews, minorities.  He took the government in a totally different direction with social programs and protecting the lower classes.  (key issue- Great Depression and a new role for government playing a bigger role in our lives)

C.            Lanahan- Was 2008 a realignment election?

1.             No

a)             More Democrats turned out than Republicans.  Democrats were more enthusiastic about Obama, while Republicans weren’t enthusiastic about McCain and Palin.  This represents a lack of enthusiasm, but not a shift form one party to another

b)             Enthusiasm for the Democratic party was not based on ideas, it could have just been a one time thing because people like Obama’s personality

c)             People were not thinking about foreign policy as much (Republican strength) and were more focused on the economy, so they looked toward a Democrat.  Hypothetically, if there was a national security crisis, people may support a Republican candidate

d)             In hindsight (not in Lanahan)

(1)           We don’t have unified government anymore- Republicans took control of the House

(2)           Tea Party Movement

2.             Yes

a)             The white population is going down and the Hispanic population is going up, and Republicans don’t do well with minorities.  Proportionally fewer white people voted in 2008, which signifies a long term trend of the decline in whites

b)             Young voters voted for Obama and can be lifelong Democrats

c)             Shift in attitude- we now believe in an activist government, which fits in to the ideology of the Democrats

3.             It’s too early to tell whether 2008 was a realigning election or not

V.             Learn on your own- political machines and differences between political parties in US and Europe

VI.