Political Parties

A group of people who seek to control government through the winning of elections and the hold of public

offices.

Key Issues and Questions

• What are political parties and what do they do?

• Why do we have a two party system and how does a two party system differ from a multiparty system?

• What differentiates our major parties an how have they evolved over time?

Purpose of Political Parties

1. Nominate candidates

2. Inform and activate

3. Acts as a Bonding Agent - Ensure good performance

4. Govern

5. Act as a watchdog

Anyone can join a party, no matter what you believe, any member can run for election under a party label, no matter what they believe.

Candidates often raise their own money, so it is hard for the party leadership to control them.

However, if you widely disagree with a party’s platform (statement of what it supports) it makes little sense to join. Platforms thus do tend to represent what most party activists believe.

Party Systems

• One Party Systems• Two Party Systems

• Multi-party Systems

Why America Has Only TwoDominant Parties?

• Historical Circumstance• The Stability of Two• Laws that Preserve the Two Party Monopoly• Informal Institutional Supports

Why America Has Only TwoDominant Parties

• Historical Circumstance:– Parties are not mentioned in the Constitution.

– They were in fact seen as sinister by the framers.

– Yet, they rose out of an ideological debate about the nature of government:

• Hamilton: strong gov./promote econ. dev.• Jefferson: weak gov./let the common man flourish• Hamilton: pro-bank, anti-France.• Jefferson: anti-bank, pro-France.

Why America Has Only TwoDominant Parties

The Stability of Two:

It just so happened that two major factions emerged in our early years. However, once this happened, it became difficult for any third faction to for a third party to survive. This is because a third group would steal votes from one of the other existing parties, thus splitting the votes and dooming both of them. Thus, new groups usually merged into one of the two existing factions.

Why America Has Only TwoDominant Parties

• Informal Institutional Supports:

– Media Coverage

– Voter Loyalty

– Ability to Raise Cash– Public Perception (third parties are just for wackos)

Why America Has Only TwoDominant Parties

• Laws that Preserve the Two Party Monopoly:

– Single member districts/winner take all

– Vs. a proportional system

Two Party System

- Either party has genuine chance to win office; elections truly competitive.

- Additional parties not outlawed but have serious difficulty winning because of electoral

system.- Parties tend to be umbrella parties.- Offers stability.- Disadvantage: Voters limited to two choices.

Multi-Party System

• Multi-party – several major and many lesser parties exist, compete for, and win public offices

• Give more choice to voters• Harder to come to a consensus• Unstable because power is shared by many parties• Competitive elections with multiple parties ensure

that no one party can dominate for long. • Parties tend to be more distinctive, giving voters

more choice.

Multi-Party System

In Multi-party states, it’s difficult for any one party to win a majority. Coalitions with similar parties become necessary. But coalition partners may resign over particular government policies, so this system is less stable.

Example of government instability: Italy, from 1945 to 1995, had 44 different coalition governments.

Example: Israeli Elections 2006

• March 2006

Election outcome:

Kadima Party

wins the most with

28 seats in the

Knesset. The new

Prime Minister

must form a coalition

government.

Single Member Plurality (SMP)

The candidate who wins a plurality of the vote prevails; a majority is not needed. Only one seat per district. No way for voters to designate their 2nd choice. Tends to produce a two-party system unless a small party’s voters are concentrated in a district.

• Used in the U.S., Canada, India, Britain, New Zealand, Germany.

Single Member Plurality (SMP) system

Electoral College: Presidential candidates must win 270 electors (out of 538) to win office.

Example: Ross Perot & Reform Party in 1992 won 19% of the popular vote but not one elector.

Proportional Representation (PR).

Each district has multiple seats. Each political party wins the same proportion of seats as the vote it wins.

Favors the development of multiple political parties.

Assume the following vote distribution ina district with 10 parliamentary seats:

Quisenberry Party wins 50% Wiggins Party wins 30%Baker Party wins 20%

How many seats does each party win?

Wiggins Party wins 50% Quisenberry Party wins 30%Baker Party wins 20%

SO:Wigginistas gain 5 seatsQuisenberries win 3 seatsBakerites gain 2 seats

Would the U.S. be better off

with a multi-party or two party system?

Two Party vs. MultipartySystems

• Both systems, being democratic, rest on compromise.

– In a two party system, compromise takes place prior to elections as parties select moderate candidates who they believe can win a majority.

– In multiparty systems, ideologically pure parties are forced to compromise after elections in order to form a majority coalition to pass laws (and often select a prime minister).

Two Party vs. MultipartySystem

pros and cons

• Two party systems tend to be more stable.• Multi-party systems offer voters more choice.• Having only two choices may dampen voter turnout.• Two Party Systems narrow legislative debate:

– Even if outvoted, small parties if represented are likely to raise issues the other parties wouldn’t otherwise discuss.

• Two Party Systems may be more polarizing:– Parties in multiparty systems must work together and form coalitions which forces members to reach across party lines.

One-Party Systems

• Dictatorships• Areas dominated by a party

– Government & party closely linked. No opposition parties permitted.