Political PartiesMichael P. Fix

What is a Political Party?

Political Parties Defined• There is no single definition of

political parties on which scholars can agree.

• Much of the debate on this has to do with party goals.

• In US, state governments largely control legal definition of parties

Political Parties DefinedPragmatic Party

Model

Parties are organizations that

sponsor candidates for political office

under the organization’s name

in hopes of controlling the apparatus of government

Responsible Party Model

Parties are organizations that run candidates to

shape the outcomes of government

Political Parties Defined

VS.

How do parties and interest groups differ?

Images from www.wikipedia.org

Political Parties Defined

How do parties and interest groups differ?

• Only Political Parties nominate and run candidates for office under their label.

• Political Parties focus on a platform – a broad range of issues over which they have a position.

• Political Parties are “quasi-public institution” and are accountable to state and local laws.

Party Functions

Party Functions

•Organizing the Election Process•Facilitating Voter Choice•Recruiting Candidates•Screening Candidates•Helping Candidates•Organizing a Complex Government

•Aggregating Interests•Educating Citizens•Ensuring Accountability•Social Functions•Promoting Civic Performance

Party Roles

The Components of Political Parties

Party-In-Government

Party-in-the-Electorate

Party Organization

The Tripartite View of Parties

Party-in-Government

All of the elected officials serving under

a party’s banner

Party-in-the-Electorate

Every citizen who attaches him or herself to

a political party

Party Identification and Voting • In some countries party membership

is formal (e.g. Great Britain):

• Members must officially join• Members must pay dues• Members must attend local party

meetings• Members get to vote on party leaders

and determine party platform

Party Identification and Voting• In the U.S. party membership is a

more ambiguous and fluid concept:

• No formal requirements to membership• No formal requirement to change

parties

Party Identification and Voting2 Ways of Measuring Party ID in the

U.S.

1. Self-Identification

2. Party enrollment

Party Identification and Voting

Party Identification and Voting

Straight-Ticket Voters

Voters who support candidates of the

same party in every election.

Split-Ticket Voters

Voters who support candidates of

different parties in the same election

or from one election to the next.

Primary Elections

Party-as-Organization

The formal apparatus of the party, including party headquarters, offices, and leaders

Layers of the Party System

National Party Committees

DNC Chair Tim Kaine

RNC Chair Michael Steele

Party Machines

Chicago Mayor Richard Daly, Jr. in front of an image of his father, one of the most powerful party boss in U.S. history.

Party Systems

Party Realignment

A “partisan realignment” takes place when a large number of

voters do not return to their party in the next election

Party Systems• 1st Party System (1790s-1824)

• 2nd Party System (1824-1860)

• 3rd Party System (1860-1896)

• 4th Party System (1896-1932)

• 5th Party System (1932-?)

Party Systems

1st Party System

(1790s-1824)

Federalists

(Gone by 1812)

Democratic-Republicans

1st Party System

The Whiskey Rebellion in 1784 was one of the key events that led to the development of the first two party system.

Party Systems

2nd Party System

(1824-1860)

Whigs

Democrats

2nd Party System

Image from userwww.sfsu.edu

Partisan Realignment over slavery and immigration led to the end of the 2nd party system.

Party Systems

3rd Party System

(1860-1896)

Democrats

Republicans

3rd Party System

Images from www2.ccs.k12.va.us

Party Systems

4th Party System

(1896-1932)

Democrats

Republicans

4th Party System

Images from www.tqnyc.org

Party Systems

5th Party System

(1932-?)

Democrats

Republicans

What about 1968?

Image from news.bbc.co.uk

Minor Parties

Third Parties in the U.S. System

Ideological Parties Protest Parties

Single-Issue Parties Splinter Parties

Ideological Parties

Ideological Party

Third party that exists to promote an ideology

rather than to win elections

In nearly every US presidential election this century the socialist parties have fielded a candidate.

Image from www.sp-usa.org

Protest Parties

Protest Parties

Third party that arises in response to issues of

popular concern which have not been addressed

by the major parties

William Jennings Bryan of the Populist Party did not win the

presidency in 1896, but he came very close

Single-Issue Parties

Single-Issue Party

Third party formed around one particular

causeImage from www.gp.org

Splinter Parties

Splinter Party

Third party formed by a dissatisfied faction of a

major party

Strom Thurmond (left) was a States’ Rights Democratic candidate for the

presidency in 1948. The party formed in protest to the civil rights plan in the

Democratic Party platform

Why Do Minor Parties Fail?

Winner-Take-All Electoral System

Legal Access to the Ballot

Why Do Minor Parties Fail?

Cultural Consensus

There is little support in the American political culture for avowedly fascist,

communist, authoritarian, or other antidemocratic parties

Twentieth-Century Third-Party Presidential Votes