Civics Unit 2 Lesson 1 Political Parties. Homework n Research a minor party of your choosing. n Find out its basic beliefs and history. n Be prepared

Civics Unit 2 Lesson 1Political Parties

Homework

Research a minor party of your choosing.

Find out its basic beliefs and history. Be prepared to give a short, 1-2 minute

discussion in class regarding the party. Make sure that your discussion does

not include any profane language or topics.

Purpose

To provide students with an overview of why political parties are a significant part of the American political system

Political Parties A political party can be defined as a

group of persons who seek to control government through the winning of elections and the holding of public office

This definition includes all known political parties in the world.

Political Parties

2nd def: A group of people joined together on basis of

common principles, who seek to control government in order to affect certain public policies and programs.– this definition does not work for our own

Democratic and Republican Parties b/c they are not primarily issue or principle oriented.

Political Parties two major parties in the United States: the

Democratic Party and the Republican Party. political parties are coalitions of

people who have a variety of ideas and come from different backgrounds for the purpose of electing candidates

These Texas Democrats Do Not Agree on Every Issue.

Major Functions of Political Parties

1. Nominating Function

Nominating Function: Political parties nominate, or

name, candidates to run for political office.

In 2000 the Republican National Convention nominated George Bush as the Candidate for President of the United States.

2. The Informer-Stimulator 2. The Informer-Stimulator FunctionFunction

attempt to educate people (albeit not objectively) on the important subjects of the day. – rallies– buttons,– advertising,– pamphlets,.

engage voters motivate

This Green Party button attempts to educate the voter about who the Green Party candidates are and a little about what they believe.

3. The Seal of Approval Functionor Bonding Agent Function

Parties, promise to the people that a candidate is the right person for the job.

their choice is a qualified person with good character.

It is sometimes called the bonding agent function,

guarantor of their own politicians.

LIKE bail bondsman guarantees that an individual will appear in court on a certain date.

Parties look closely at a candidates’ Parties look closely at a candidates’ background, because they know they are background, because they know they are putting their seal of approval on this putting their seal of approval on this personperson

4.Governmental Function , parties are critical to running

government. the party in power controls the

committees and sub-committees in Congress.

The President’s nominees for the executive branch are heavily influenced by party affiliation.

When Presidents select their cabinet, virtually all of their nominees will inevitably be from

their own party

5. The Watchdog Function

act as protectors of the conduct of the public’s business.

party that is out of power. – criticizing the policies and behavior of the

party in power. Thus the party in power acts more

carefully, knowing the other party is watching their every move.

The party out of power is always watching and ready to pounce

The Two-Party System: Reasons for its existence

Historical Basis Constitution does not create parties its ratification did. The Federalists wanted ratification and

the Anti-Federalists did not. Thus, the American political party system

began as a two party system, not a one, three, or four-party system.


The Force of Tradition :Once the two-party system was

created…the system evolved around the idea.

Now, it is a self-retaining idea. is how it has always been.

Human beings, like rocks, do not change easily. The two-party system exists, in part,

because it exists.


Electoral System discourages more than two-parties, because the voters

enjoy a simple choice one party will win and one will lose. many states make it difficult for minor-party candidate to

get on a ballot.

single-member districts; that is, they are contests in which only a single candidate is elected.

discourages minor parties from trying to win many elections,

there is almost always at least one good candidate from one of the two major parties.

Single Candidate Districts Mean There is Usually One and Often Two Good Major Party Candidates Running For the Office


The American Ideological Consensus This simply means Americans think alike.

There have been times, such as the Civil War, when we have been divided, but these times have been rare.

We are pluralistic, but we tend to agree on major moral issues.

In the 1992 Presidential Race Ross Perot Made it On to the Ballots of All Fifty

States

Our differences are not so great as to support more than two major parties

The American Ideological Consensus(Continued)

The fact that there is a broad ideological consensus in the U.S. has led to two very similar major parties. As much as they attempt to point out each other’s differences, the fact is that they are both moderate, center parties. This reflects the political leanings of most Americans; they vote in the middle. If a party wants to win, they must govern and run from the center.

What does this mean?

This ends our discussion of reasons that we have a two-party system.

Let’s Move On

Multiparty System

Critics of our two-party system point to the fact that the two parties are so alike, which means many people really don’t have their views reflected by any serious politicians.

These critics advocate scraping the two-party system in favor of a multiparty system.

Multiparty systems usually have a number of major parties and many minor parties, most of which win some elections.

The Idle Toad is Tiny English Political Party; This Party is Based in a Specific Part of England and is Only

Concerned with Local Issues

Multiparty System

Many European nations have had a multiparty system for years.

In a multiparty system parties are usually based on a specific interest: economic class, religion, sectional/regional attachments, or one or more political beliefs.

People who favor this system argue that it simply provides more choice for voters.

The Common Good is a Northern Irish Party Whose Political Beliefs are Based on Christianity

Multiparty System

The multiparty system can produce problems. In many elections there are too many candidates running for too many parties for any one person to obtain a majority. Often within national and provincial assemblies no party obtains a majority. Thus, coalitions are formed.

A coalition is formed when two or more parties temporarily ban together to form a working majority and control government.

The problem with coalitions is that they are not stable. As soon as one of the parties becomes upset, they pull out of the coalition and the government collapses. This forces a new election or formation of a new coalition.

In Italy this is such a problem that it has had an average of one new government every year since World War II.

Five Star Movement is A Small Italian Political Party, which focuses on Environmental Issues and Anti-Corruption

Multiparty System

Whether one thinks that a multiparty system is good or bad, the fact is that the American people seem to like the two-party system. Indeed, at present a multiparty system is not a realistic possibility in the United States.

The Two-Party SystemIs Here to Stay!

One-Party Systems

Virtually all dictatorships in the present use a one-party system. Why?

This is because the party is always the party of the person in power, and the dictator wants to make sure that it stays that way.

The United States is certainly not a one-party system; all parties are free to attempt to run for any office. However, there are areas of the country in which people favor the Democratic Party or the Republican Party to such a degree that the other party has no realistic chance of winning an election in the region.

About one third of states in the U.S. are solidly Democratic or Republican.

Membership of the PartiesMembership of the Parties

Needless to say, membership in a political party is optional. You do not have to belong to a party in order to vote

The membership of both major parties is broadly based; that is, each party has members of all ethnic groups, religions, and socioeconomic clusters.

Nevertheless, some groups have tended to belong to one party or another.

For example, African Americans, Catholics, Jews, and union members have tended to belong to the Democratic Party. However, that is not to say there are not thousands of people from these groups who are members of the Republican Party.

Why People Choose a Certain Party

1. Family (this is the single biggest determiner of party affiliation). Whatever your family was, you probably will be. Two out of three Americans follow the party allegiance of their parents.

2. Region 3. Major events (collective or individual) 4. Economic status (poorer move toward Democrats) 5. Age (older mover toward Republican) 6. Level of education (more education move toward Democrats)

Activity

Create a cartoon that demonstrates which type of system you favor: two-party or multiparty.

Historic Issues

The Democrats and Republicans have not always been the two major parties.

In the early 1800s, the two parties were the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. Eventually the Democratic-Republicans became known as the Democrats and the Federalists gave way to the Whigs.

Historic Issues

We shall briefly consider these four periods.

First Period of Party Dominance

1800-1860 the Democratic-Republicans (Democrats) dominated politics.

1800-1860 the Democrats won 13 of 15 presidential elections.

election of 1800 Thomas Jefferson, Democratic–Republicans won a crushing defeat against John Adams

Sig: The Federalists quickly fell apart– disappearing from the political landscape completely

by 1816.


Democratic-Republicans got along and were unchallenged.

by the mid-1820s, the party had split into factions.

1830s a new party asserted itself, although it never displaced the Democratic-Republicans from their place of dominance.


1830s the Democrats were run by Andrew Jackson. party of

– farmers, frontier pioneers, and slaveholders. 3 major changes occurred during this period:

1. voting rights for all adult, white males;2. a huge increase in the number of elected offices in the

country, 3. spread of the spoils system.

The Whig Party, which challenged the Democrats in the 1830s and 1840s (bankers, merchants, and industrialists)

The Whigs opposed the tenets of Jacksonian democracy, especially high tariffs.

the Whigs won few elections.

Both Whig Presidents Died in Office

Zachary Taylor William Henry Harrison


1850s the issue of slavery had split the Democratic and Whig parties.

The Whigs were leaderless and fell apart. The Democrats were divided sharply between North

and South. a new party made up of old Whigs and anti-slavery

Democrats was formed: the Republican Party. the Republicans lost the election of 1856 1860 with the election of Abraham Lincoln the

Republicans became the first and only third party in American history to rise to the level of a major party.

AbrahamLincoln

Second Period of Dominance 1860-1932 led by the Republicans. This era lasted from 1860-1932 Republicans won 14 of

18 presidential elections. The Civil War began the era of Republican dominance. Republicans were supported by many people in the

North, freed slaves, farmers, laborers, and various business interests.

The Democrats continued to exist for decades with the votes from the South.

Many southerners held a grudge against the Republican Party as a result of the Civil War.

THERE WERE SOUTHERN FAMILIES THAT REFUSED TO CONSIDER VOTING REPUBLICAN FOR THREE OR

FOUR GENERATIONS AS A RESULT OF THE CIVIL WAR

Second Period of Dominance

William Jennings Bryan was the Democratic candidate in 1896.

lost– he began to move the Democratic Party away from the

divisions of sectionalism and toward economic issues.– supported the little man, the working man, the

poor farmer. – More people in the North stopped thinking of the

Democrats as the party of the South, and, instead, began to see it as the party of the working man.

This attitude was key when Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1932, ending the Republican’s seventy-five-year dominance of American politics.

William Jennings Bryan

Third Period of Dominance 1932 -1968 Democrats Democrats won seven of nine presidential elections. The Great Depression drastically changed American

politics. President Hoover believed that government should

interfere as little as possible in economics, no matter how serious the economic circumstances.

This attitude did not play well with many Americans in the very early 1930s as people were loosing jobs, homes, and farms in record numbers.

Democrat, Franklin Roosevelt ran for President in 1932 with the philosophy that government could help ease the suffering that had been brought on by the Great Depression.

FRANKLINROOSEVELT

Franklin Roosevelt helped oversee and begin the Democratic Party’s domination of American politics in the middle of the twentieth century

Third Period of Dominance

The Democrats had a new party base: small farmers, southerners, organized labor, and big-city political machines.

Roosevelt’s New Deal programs and World War II helped the Democrats win five elections in a row.

the Kennedy/Johnson era of the 1960s spelled the end of a thirty-six-year period of political control by the Democratic Party.

The Last Democratic President in the 1932-1968 Era Was Lyndon Johnson

Fourth Period of Dominance 1968- 2011 The Republicans have won seven

presidential elections since 1968. The era began with the election of

Richard Nixon in 1968. election was more about Vietnam, civil

rights, and a strong third-party candidate George Wallace, who split the Democrat’s

votes.

Fourth Period of Dominance

One of the keys to this new Republican dominance has been a change in attitudes among southerners.

hatred of the Republican Party due to the Civil War faded with successive generations. Southerners began to feel comfortable voting for Republicans, whose conservative leanings reflected the attitude of many southerners.

this any other single element, has led to the period of Republican domination.


One of the characteristics of this period has been divided government, – meaning that Congress has been

controlled by one party and the presidency by another.

Some political scientists have argued that Americans actually favor divided government.


In the present, the Democratic Party controls the presidency and the Senate

Only time will tell if this is the beginning of a new period of dominance, just an anomaly and the Republican era will continue, or an era in which neither party will be dominant.

Only Time Will Tell if President Obama’s Election is the Beginning of a New Era

Minor Parties

Just in the United States there are more minor parties than can be named.

Some are formed one day and gone the next.

Indeed, few minor parties ever even make into the minds of average Americans.

Nevertheless, there are four distinct types of minor parties.

Minor Parties: Types

1. Ideological Parties: These are based on a particular set of beliefs. Most of these have been socialist and have met with little success. – An exception is today’s Libertarian Party. This

party advocates doing away with most of government’s oversight over personal behavior.

Very few of these parties have ever been able to gather many votes.

Libertarian Party is Unusual

Quote from the Libertarian Party platform: As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty; a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others.

2. Single-Issue Parties: These are parties that focus on a single public policy matter. Their names often indicate their stance. For example, a recent party was the Right to Life Party.

Most of these parties have faded into history as the issue that was their focus became less important to the public in general.



3. Economic Protest Parties: These are rooted in periods of economic

disaster in the United States. There themes have been throw out both major parties and bring back better times. For example the Populist Party of the late nineteenth century demanded public ownership of railroads, telegraphs, and telephone companies.

Minor Parties: Types 4. Splinter Parties: These are parties that have broken away from

one of the major parties. The most important minor parties have been of this type.

An example was Theodore Roosevelt’s “Bull Moose” Progressive Party.

Usually these form around a strong personality, who has failed to gain his party’s nomination for President

Minor Parties: Those That Don’t Fit the Mold

Other: Ross Perot’s Reform Party does not fit into any of these labels. It came out of a media interview on the Larry King Show.

Minor Parties: Those That Don’t Fit the Mold

The Green Party is another example of a party that doesn’t fit the mold.

It started as a single-issue environmentalist party, but now it takes a stand on a wide variety of topics.

Green Party

Calls for nonviolence, decentralization of power, respect for diversity, along with many other ideas.

Why Are Minor Parties Important?

Minor parties sometimes bring ideas that catch on with mainstream America and the major parties.

For example, the idea of party conventions was a product of the Anti-Masons Party. Conventions are still used in the United States.

A popular minor-party candidate can play a spoiler role. He/she can draw so many votes away from one of the major parties that it causes that party to lose. Why is this ironic?

This happened in 2000. The Green Party took so many votes away from the Democrats it led to a Republican victory.

Why Are Minor Parties Important?

Minor parties draw attention to controversial issues the major parties were ignoring.

Unfortunately, if the minor parties are successful and get the public to respond to a particular issue, one or both of the major parties will usually co-opt it into their platform.

Homework/Activity

Research a minor party of your choosing.

Find out its basic beliefs and history. Be prepared to give a short, 1-2 minute

discussion in class regarding the party. Make sure that your discussion does

not include any profane language or topics.

End

Documents

Civics Unit 2 Lesson 1 Political Parties. Homework n Research a minor party of your choosing. n Find out its basic beliefs and history. n Be prepared