political parties. what is a political party? definition- – a group of people who seek to control...
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Political Parties
What is a Political Party?
• Definition-– A group of people who seek to control
the government through winning elections.
What do PARTIES do?
1) Nominate – or name, candidates for public office
What do PARTIES do?
2) Inform- the people and stimulate their interests and participation in public affairs
What do PARTIES do?
3) Approve- its candidates to ensure the good performance of its people by seeing that they are qualified and of good character.
What do PARTIES do?
4) Govern- conduct the business of government
What do PARTIES do?
5) Act as Watchdogs- over the conduct of the government, particularly criticizing the party in power.
The Two-Party System• Definition- a system where only
two parties have a reasonable chance of
winning public office (democrats and
republicans).
• Why?- Historical basis: Parties grew out of
the first political factions in this country; Federalists and Anti-Federalists.
Tradition: most Americans accept the idea of a two-party system because there has always been one.
Existence of the Electoral System: Our method of electing the President, the electoral system, and the rules therein supports this. http://www.duke.edu/web/poli/classes/proprep/withouttext.htm
American Ideological Consensus: Americans in general have a shared ideals, principles and patterns of belief.
The Two-Party System• Other Systems-
1)Multi-Party: several major
and many lesser parties exist Positives- may better represent needs
and concerns of the people (some say Democrats and Republicans are not so different… remember Americans tend to share an ideological consensus!)
Negatives- tends to lead to instability, difficult to win the support of a majority
(a problem in a democracy)
2)One-Party: really means “No Party.”
The Minor Parties
• Definition: There are numerous, less politically reliable, parties in the U.S., other than Democrats and Republicans. These are called Minor or Third Parties.
• Types:1)Ideological- those based on a
particular set of beliefs (ex.-Libertarian party emphasizes individualism).
2)Single-Issue- those concentratingon a single public policy matter (ex.-the Right to Life Party opposes abortion).
3)Economic Protest- those rooted in periods of economic discontent.
4)Splinter- those that have split away from one of the major parties.
DEMOCRAT REPUBLICAN
Income/Occupation
Lower income / Lower Status Occupations & union workers
Wealthy / Higher Status Occupations & members of the business community
EducationLess education More Education
Gender/age Women / 18-30 year olds
Men / 55 years+
ReligionJews and Catholicshttp://www.catholicdigest.com/article/the-elusive-catholic-voter
Protestants
EthnicityBlack White
GeographyNortheast Midwest &
increasingly the South
Party Membership Patterns(These are tendencies… there are many who do not “follow these rules”!!!)
Other information about PARTIES…• Strong adherence to a party, their beliefs, and/or
candidates is called partisanship. • When the two major parties work together on an
issue, we call this cooperation bipartisanship. • Despite their differences the two major parties
share an ideological consensus, that is they share a general agreement on fundamental issues.
• Each of the parties writes out it’s formal stance on major issues. This is called the party’s platform.
• People who chose no party affiliation are called independents.