Political Parties – Three Key Terms

●De-alignmentAbandonment of citizens from identifying with the two

political parties.

●Critical electionAn electoral “earthquake” in which the election

results produce surprising change.

●RealignmentChange in the political party that occurs after a

“critical election”. Change includes platform, demographic support, & change in majority. Change is national as well as local and has permanence.

The issues

Democrats●Liberal●Pro spending on social programs●Pro choice●Gay rights●Secular●Relax immigration rules●Gun control●Affirmative Action●Campaign regulations●Anti death penalty●Federal government power●Proactive on environment

Embrace change

Republicans●Conservative●Pro spending on military●Pro life●Pro traditional marriage●Allow religion in public life●Border control●Second Amendment rights●Individualism●Economic freedom on campaigns●Pro Death Penalty●State government power●Environmental regs hurt businesses

●EmbraceTradition

The issues

Voting Coalitions of the Two Parties:

Democrats

●Young (18-21)●Women●African American●Jewish●North Eastern & Western Regions●Urban●Union

Republicans

●Upper Income●Protestant/church going●Military families●South●Midwest●Rural

Dealignment

Party Realignments

●Why are these a big deal?

1.1800 Federalists and Anti Federalists2.1828 Jacksonian Democrats vs. Whigs3.1860 Two Republican Eras4.1932 The New Deal Coalition

Today – the era of “Divided Government”

Political Party Organizations

Decentralized why?

National Party Committee- In charge of National Convention

State Party Committee- In charge of holding primaries/caucuses and sending delegates to the National Convention

The two party system (Unit III)

Obstacles to Third Parties (Unit III)

● What is a “third party”?

● Cite examples of third parties

● Identify and describe major challenges to third party success in the United States today

• Ballot access• Debate access• Proportional access

Role of the Party in Presidential Elections

● Define: plurality election

● Define: majority election

● Define: winner take all election

● Define primary, caucus, convention. What are some of the different types of primaries?

What does it mean to have a “big tent” party?

Obama attempts to build a big tent:●http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LweI9U6ePPU

Glenn Beck Criticizes the big tent:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/20/glenn-beck-cpac-2010-spee_n_470356.html

●Blue Dog Democrat (Democrats who are conservative on social issues)

●RINO (Republican In Name Only)●Tea Party

Impact of Tea Party onRecent Republican Primaries

●Tea-party backed Republicans have beaten “RINO” Republicans in Primaries, sometimes to lose in the General Election.●Example: Christine O’Donnell who ran for US Senate in Delaware, won in Republican primary against Mike Castle (RINO) but lost in general election to Democrat Chris Coons.

Was the election of 1994 a realignment?

(1) President Clinton began his presidency with a Democratic controlled Congress. Democrats had controlled Congress for 40 years.

Was the election of 1994 a realignment?

(2) In 1994 the mid-term election Republicans took control of Congress, with Newt Gingrich as the Republican Speaker of the House, promising to implement a “Contract with America” or a series of conservative policies.

Nominating Presidential Candidates

-More democracy now or less?

CHANGES IN PROCESS

Then: PARTY LEADERS CHOSE NOMINEES

Now:CITIZENS VOTE AT THE STATE LEVEL TO CHOOSE NOMINEES

Presidential Nominations-Review

Voters Delegates nominee

PARTIES HOLD NOMINATING ELECTIONS IN EACH STATE

● PRIMARY ● closed● Open

● CAUCUS ● IOWA HAS FIRST CAUCUS● Howard Dean after losing Iowa:● http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5FzCeV0ZFc

● NEW HAMPSHIRE HAS FIRST PRIMARY● SUPER TUESDAY

Primaries/Caucuses an overview of the vote count

● THE NATIONAL PARTY GIVES A CERTAIN NUMBER OF DELEGATE VOTES TO EACH STATE (similar to electors being allowed to represent each state)

● THE STATE COUNTS THE VOTE AND SENDS DELEGATES TO THE NATIONAL CONVENTION BY ONE OF TWO FORMULAS:

● WINNER TAKE ALL (Republicans)● PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

(Democrats)

Checking for understanding…

State of Oceana has 100 delegates to both conventions 10% of vote goes to candidate A 40% of vote goes to candidate B 50% of votes goes to candidate C

●How many delegates to the Democratic national convention does A,B, and C receive? ●How many delegates to the Republican national convention does A,B, and C receive?

And sometimes not !

● During the 2008 Democratic Primaries, Florida and Michigan were stripped of their delegates by the national party!

THE NATIONAL CONVENTIONShttp://www.demconvention.com/; http://www.gopconvention2012.com/

● ONCE A TIME OF SUSPENSE, NOW JUST A BIG POLITICAL STAGE SHOW

● DELEGATE VOTES COUNTED, NOMINEE OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED

● RUNNING MATE ANNOUNCED● SPEECHES AND RATIFICATION OF

PARTY PLATFORM● A BIG POLITICAL PEP RALLY

1968 Democratic Convention – Chicago – A Turning Point

● George McGovern initiated changes to the rules to prevent another convention disaster

● Quota for female and minority delegates was established

● proportional representation was mandated and a requirement to vote by state rule

McGovern Reforms - Democrats

con’t● Due to the great debate within

Democratic party about changes

● Compromise was made – SUPERDELEGATES

● How important are superdelegates

In 2008 the Superdelegate vote made a difference for the

Democrats!

Observations:

1.What is the difference between Democrats and Republicans in how they nominate candidates?

2.Is there more democracy or less now and what are your arguments?

3.How has the movement to primaries since the 60s altered our presidental race?