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The Two-Party System in American Politics
Chapter 5, Section 2
5 Functions of political parties:1. Govern2. Nominate candidates3. “Inform and Activate”4. Create a “Bonding Agent”5. Act as the public’s “Watchdog”
What we covered last time…
1. Why does the United States have a two-party system?
2. The difference between one-party, two-party and multi-party systems.
3. Party membership trends in the United States.
Objectives for Today
1. Forces throughout history 2. Tradition in the United States3. The American Electoral System4. The “American Ideological Consensus”
Why does the United States have a two-party system?
Historical Forces in the Creation of the Two-Party System
How do you think the Founding Fathers felt
about political parties?
Founding Fathers did not desire the existence of political parties…
Viewed them as "factions" dangerous to public interest…
If the political community broke into small groups committed to their own narrow interests, the search for the common good would be compromised!
Historical Forces
republican ideology = subordination of narrow interests to the general welfare of the community…
Politics was supposed to be rational and collaborative, NOT competitive!
Can you even imagine this concept today? (HA!)
Historical Forces
“Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the Spirit of Party…”
Federalists (Hamilton) vs. Anti-Federalists (Jefferson)
Alexander Hamilton: …associated with the aristocracy, industry over
agriculture, Great Britain over France and stronger central government over stronger individual states.
Thomas Jefferson: …weak central government, common man and the
addition of the Bill of Rights.
Historical Forces
Tradition and the Two-Party System
From the beginning, our country has had a two-party system…
So, we have always had this system…
Has this system ever failed us? No, not really.
Basically, America has a two-party system because we have ALWAYS had a two-party system!
Tradition
The American Electoral System the
Two-Party System
The prevalence of “Single-member districts”…
One candidate is elected to office “Winner-take-all” elections
Discourages third parties… Typically, people vote for incumbent, or next “most
reliable alternative” – which is usually who?
What mentality does this breed?
The American Electoral System
Is a vote for a third party a wasted vote?
American election law creates obstacles for third-parties…
“Ballot access” laws - % of previous races Democratic and Republican state legislatures pass
restrictive laws that make it difficult for third parties to get on the ballot in many states!
“Write-in” vs. “Ballot access”
The American Electoral System
Examples…
The American Ideological
Consensus and the Two-Party System
90% of Americans
The American Ideological Consensus
Although we have a pluralistic society, there is a broad consensus on fundamental issues in the country!
Two major parties are very similar… “moderate”
In order to win elections, parties tend to take
moderate stances on issues to appeal to the
largest number of people!
Now, let’s look at the difference between
our system and others…
One-party system: typically produces an autocratic or dictatorial power…
aka “Single-Party” state
One-party, two-party and multi-party systems
United States… Single party State?
Multi-party system: system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition…
Coalition: alliance of parties who come together to control a government
Most Western European Countries, Brazil, Canada, India, Israel, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Taiwan…
One-party, two-party and multi-party systems
Now, let’s look at Party Membership
Patterns in the United States…
Trends in Political Parties Democrats
Blacks, Hispanics Catholics Jews Union members Lower income
Republicans (GOP) White males, Cubans Protestants Businessmen Higher income
