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A History of Political Parties in the US

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A History of Political Parties in

the US

What is a Political Party? A Political Party is a group of persons who seek to control

government through the winning of elections and the holding of

public office

Usually have like-minded beliefs and philosophies on government’s purpose

and specific policies

3 Parts of a Political Party:

The Party Organization – the leaders, activists, and donors who “run” the party

at the national, state, and local levels

The Party in Government – Those who run for or hold elected or appointed offices in government (thousands at the national, state, and local levels)

The Party in the Electorate – The millions of voting citizens who identify with a

certain party and will cast their votes based on party affiliation (loyal to their

party)

The 2 Party System 2 Party system begins with the Federalists and the Democratic

Republicans

Federalists – favored wealthy/elite class and big govt. – led by Alexander Hamilton

Democratic-Republicans – Favored “Yeoman” farmers and small govt., led by

Thomas Jefferson

Party Platform – formal set of principle goals, objectives, or

agenda of a Political Party/Candidate

Both the Federalist and Democratic-Republican Parties had

platforms based around issues on the start of the US

Notable Political Party History

1815 – the once powerful Federalist Party crumbles after being perceived

as traitors and anti-American, leaving only the Democratic Republican

Party and the “era of good feelings”

1824-The Democratic-Republican Party splits into two parties

John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay start the “National Republican Party”

based on their idea to build up the nations resources after the War of 1812

Andrew Jackson founds the “Democratic Party” with his supporters,

maintained a strong belief in democracy “by the common man”

Notable Political Party History

The National Republican Party changes their name to the Whig Party

Changed name so it was the same as the British Political Party that favors Government Reform

The boiling issue over Slavery prior to the Civil War destroyed the Whig Party

Turned into the “Free Soil Party” which included citizens against expansion of Slavery

Free Soil Party changes its name to the “National Union Party” which gained even more popularity in the North

Notable Political Party History

Abraham Lincoln is the first President elected as a member of the

National Union Party, which is starting to be referred to as the new

“Republican Party”

National Union Party officially changes its name to Republican Party after

the Civil War

Ever since Civil War, the 2 Major parties have been the Democratic Party

and the Republican Party, though their platforms have evolved over time

The Political Spectrum

Things to Consider

Political Spectrum can be very complicated to decipher personally,

people may take many different points of view across the spectrum

At its most basic, the political spectrum is essentially a difference in

viewing how much Government involvement there should be in

society

A more complicated world has made the Political Spectrum more

complicated

The Political Spectrum

Different aspects to consider on Political Spectrum

Many different types of issues to consider

Economic Aspects (Govt. Regulation of business, taxation, etc.)

Social Aspects (welfare, immigration, civil rights, etc.)

Political (Govt. structure and regulations, type of Govt., etc.)

Other (Religion, Education, Etc.)

Video about the Political Spectrum

Primary Elections

What do you think a Primary is?

What is the purpose of the Presidential Primary Elections?

How did Political Parties choose their candidates before Primaries existed? (still done this way in other countries)

Are Primaries held for other elected offices, both National, State, and Local?

The Primary Process

The idea of the Primary is to identify the candidate who should be the “main

candidate” of a certain Political Party

This prevents the “splitting of votes” between two candidates

Imagine if Candidate A and B were from the same party and both received 30%

of the votes, meanwhile Candidate C from a different Party received the 40% of

the votes and thus won because the other 2 split votes

Helps Political Party identify which person should receive Party Campaign Funds

Remember that the Constitution says nothing about Primary elections nor

about Political Parties, Primary Elections are run exclusively by the parties

and are not subject to the Constitution

During the Primary Process….

Members of the Political Party campaign against each other

Though in the same Political Parties, often have different ideas for how to solve the same issue

Also show different personalities

Allow people to get to know the Candidates for the first time

Usually have televised debates and discussions during this time

Primary elections take place at the national, state, and local levels

The Primary Process

The Primary Process works slightly differently for the Democratic and

Republican Parties

Much like the Electoral College where you vote for an elector, in primaries

you are voting for “delegates” who will vote in the National Convention

Not a winner take all system however, delegate votes are proportioned based

on proportion of votes in the state they are from

The delegates must vote with a certain candidate based on the results of their

state election, they are called “pledged delegates”

The Democratic party also allows for certain “unpledged” delegates who

may vote for who they want without regard to the state primaries.. These

are called superdelegates

Types of Primaries

Remember that all Primary Elections are run by the Political Parties, not the

government –

The Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee run

national level primaries

Different States have different types of laws with how Primaries will work

Typically primaries are NOT a winner take all system, instead the number of

delegates that will support a candidate at a National Convention is based on

the proportion of votes received in that state

Caucus

A Caucus Primary is where people will meet together, sometimes even in someone’s

house or a local school gymnasium, a church, etc.

People are able to openly debate and discuss the Candidates, at the end of this,

they take a vote on which Candidate they want, this vote is required and the

majority decision becomes the final Caucus decision

Used especially in New England to determine primary local candidates

Also used in Presidential Primaries in some way for several states, best known is Iowa

Open Primary In an Open Primary anyone is able to vote for candidates of either

party

Do not need to be registered with a certain party to vote in that party’s

primary

Closed Primary An election process, in a Closed Primary only those who are

registered members of a Political Party may vote in the Primary

Can only vote for their own Party

You can register for your Preferred Party when you register to vote, and can change your affiliation any time

Model Caucus/Primary

Register to Vote! Make up your own Registration Card on a piece of paper

Luzerne County Voter Registration Webpage

Luzerne County Voter Registration Form (DO NOT fill out until you are of voting

age [18])

Parties for the Simulation

Chocolate Party

Peanut Butter Party

Independent

Candidates

Peanut Butter Party

Candidate A – Free Reeses Cups for Everyone!

Candidate B – Free Peanut Butter Smidgeons for Everyone!

Candidate C – Free Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches!

Chocolate Party

Candidate D – Free Kit Kats for Everyone!

Candidate E – Free Hershey’s Chocolate for Everyone!

Candidate F – Free Twix for Everyone!

Campaign Finances

A very controversial aspect of elections – Finances! Why Controversial?

Possible Conflict of Interest – a person or business can benefit from donating by receiving favorable govt. jobs or influencing laws/regulations, etc.

Campaigns are very expensive, the 2012 Presidential Election totaled 2.5 billion in combined spending from all Candidates

Funding can come from several different sources

Individual Donors – some are small contributors, some very wealthy, the candidate themselves will usually spend some personal money

Fundraising – dinners, picnics, and other events to raise money for candidate

Political Action Committees – usually part of an interest group or a business/corporation, they are allowed to make campaign donations

Campaign Funding Regulations

FECA – Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

BCRA – Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002

Further Regulations may exist at the state level

Candidates required to publicly report any funds they receive

Businesses/Corporations not allowed to directly donate to a candidate

Individuals cannot give more than $2,500 to one federal candidate

Individuals can contribute up to $117,000 for campaigns every 2 years

PACs (some that represent corporations) may not give more than $5,000 to any

one candidate and up to $15,000 a year to a political party

Citizens United vs. FEC

Previously corporations and businesses could only donate to a

campaign or candidate through a Political Action Committee

This changed in the 2010 Supreme Court Case Citizens United vs.

FEC

Supreme Court ruled that corporations/businesses could not give

directly to a candidate, but could spend unlimited money to

campaign on their behalf

This is based on the idea of free speech

Who pays for the ad is an important distinction