Political Parties in America

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Political Parties in America

• Re admin questions, I need to see
• Taylor Sims
• Jonathan Lin

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For tomorrow . . .

• www.3pc.net - party matchmaker

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Madisons Factions

• By a faction I understand a number of citizens,
  whether amounting to a majority or minority of
  the whole, who are united and actuated by some
  common impulse of passion, or of interest,
  adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to
  the permanent and aggregate interests of the
  community.
• Complaints are everywhere heard . . . That the
  public good is disregarded in the conflicts of
  rival parties . . .

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What are political parties?

• Remember political participation
• Influence government policy by
• Affecting choice of government personnel and/or
• Affecting choices made by those personnel
• Parties
• Organized groups
• Affect choice of government personnel by fielding
  candidates
• Affect choices made by those personnel by
  creating norms of reciprocity and group
  identification

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Three meanings of parties

• Party organizations
• Parties in government
• Parties in the electorate

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Parties as linkage institutions
Govt. Officials
Party Organization
Electorate
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Party Myths
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Myth 1 Parties are monolithic

• Reality Party membership is quite diverse
• Example 1850s, Republican party catered to
  anti-slavery interests and commercial interests
  (focus on transportation infrastructure, etc.)
• Example Modern Republican party draws from
  socially conservative Christian population and
  economically conservative business interests

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Myth 2 Parties are static

• Reality Parties vary over time, in terms of
  issue positions and membership
• Example Democratic party dominated the white
  south until the middle of the 20th century, when
  civil rights issues drove white southerners to
  the Republican party
• Example 19th century Democrats emphasized
  states rights, limited federal spending, and
  literal interpretation of Constitution

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Origins of political parties

• Madisons fear of factions
• BUT, weve had parties from the beginning why?
• People naturally form groups (The latent causes
  of faction are thus sown in the nature of man . .
  . .)
• Parties are useful
• To us
• To elites

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What Do Parties Do?
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Parties as linkage institutions

• Act as a bridge between electorate and elites
• Provide benefits to both groups

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Candidate Benefits From Party Organizations

• Campaign resources
• Information
• Issues
• Electorate
• Guidance
• Money

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Candidate/Leader Benefits From Parties in
Government

• Signal of similarity
• Group loyalty/trust
• Shorthand for talking to voters
• Voting on issues cue
• Issue support

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What do we, the voters, get from parties?
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Benefits to Voters

• Cue to candidate positions heuristics
• Reliable information about issues
• Easy way to give money
• Participation clearinghouse

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What is party identification?

• Individual voters psychological ties to one
  party (I am a __________)
• NOT the same as ideology
• Formed early (often inherited from parents),
  rarely changes in later life
• Strength of party identification
• Name only
• Loyal voter
• Party activists

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Importance of party in the electorate

• Parties draw their strength from mobilization of
  voters
• Shifts in electorate support (electoral
  realignment)
• Identity of major parties
• Issue focus of major parties
• Decline in party identification (dealignment)
• may reduce government efficiency
• lead to divided government

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In sum . . .

• Parties and party labels provide information to
  candidates, politicians, and voters
• Not surprising, then, that parties have endured
• What has changed?
• Identities and positions of parties
• Strength of parties

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Party Strength and Americas Two Party System
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Parties as Linkage Institutions How Strong Is
the Bond?
Govt. Officials
Party Organization
Electorate
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Strong Parties

• Have a lot of control over candidates and
  officials claiming the party identity
• steering their policy positions
• fostering a sense of mutual obligation and unity
  among the party in the government
• Directly and powerfully involved in mobilizing
  the electorate

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Weak Parties

• Candidates who ally themselves with the party
• do not necessarily share any common policy
  objectives or ideological values
• do not necessarily feel a sense of obligation and
  loyalty to one another
• Political parties have very little influence over
  the electorate
• unable to mobilize voters
• not able to get voters to vote down party lines

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History of Party Strength

• Late 1800s Birth of Political Machines
• Patronage
• Emphasis on strength of party organizations
• Progressive Movement Reforms
• Literacy tests
• Direct primary
• Civil Service
• Undermined patronage system

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History of Party Strength

• Mid 1900s Decline of Party Organizations
• Party in electorate and parties in government
  still strong
• Parties divided along natural social cleavages

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History of Party Strength

• Modern era Parties relatively weak
• Party organizations not as strong
• Party loyalties in government and electorate
  slipping, too
• More split-ticket voting
• BUT maybe rallying
• Finding a new niche
• Shifting emphasis from putting politicians and
  voters together, to putting politicians and money
  together

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Arguments for a weak party system

• Graft and corruption
• Censoring political agenda
• Party loyalties may detract from the job of
  representation

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Arguments for a strong party system

• Better voter heuristic
• Limit finger pointing gt Group accountability
• Longer-term view of politics

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Americas Two-Party System
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Overview

• Why do we have a two party system in the U.S.?
• If they cannot win national offices, what roles
  do third parties play in our system?

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Why a two party system?

• Sociological explanation
• Parties reflect underlying social cleavages
• Not satisfactory
• Why dont U.S. parties reflect various
  combinations of social issues?
• Why dont U.S. parties reflect diverse economic
  and ethnic interests?
• Institutional explanation
• Electoral laws determine how many parties can be
  viable
• Social cleavages only lead to splintering of
  parties when electoral laws are sufficiently
  permissive

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Electoral laws the geography of voting

• Single-member districts
• Electorate is divided up so that each seat in
  government is associated with a particular
  district
• That district elects only one representative
• Multiple-member districts
• Electorate may or may not be divided into
  districts
• Even if electorate is divided into districts, the
  districts elect more than one representative

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Single-Member Districts in Quadria
1
1
1
1
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Multiple-Member Districts in Quadria
4 Reps
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Electoral laws three systems for choosing
winners in elections

• Plurality system (also called first past the
  post)
• Run-off majority voting
• Proportional representation

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Multiple-Member District w/ Proportional
Representation

• Four representatives for district
• Single election for parties
• Example
• Greens win 50 of vote
• Communists win 25 of vote
• Socialists win 25 of vote

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What we have in the U.S.

• Single-member districts
• Plurality elections (first past the post)

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Duvergers Law

• Election systems that rely on single-member
  districts and plurality (or first past the post)
  voting systems favor a two party system
• Why?
• People are strategic
• The real competition is between the top two
  candidates, so voting for anyone else is a waste

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Spatial Model of Duvergers Law
ME
Reps
Green Party
Dems
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Duvergers Law

• Election systems that rely on single-member
  districts and plurality (or first past the post)
  voting systems favor a two party system
• Election systems with multi-member districts and
  proportional representation allow for multiple
  parties to thrive

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BUT

• Some countries have single-member plurality
  electoral systems but multiple parties (Canada,
  India)
• Some countries have multi-member districts and
  proportional representation but very little party
  competition (Australia, Austria)

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Melding Sociological and Institutional
Explanations

• Two party systems arise from either
• Single-member plurality systems OR
• Homogenous population (like Australia and
  Austria)
• Multi-party systems arise under these
  circumstances
• When the electoral system is multiple-member/propo
  rtional AND the populace is fragmented
• When the two parties become too removed from the
  electorate so people start voting in expressive
  ways
• When the heterogeneity in electorate is
  geographically defined, so you have a whole bunch
  of small two-party systems (Canada)

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Bottom Line

• Social factors and election rules both matter
• Given our social structure (social cleavages not
  tied to geography) and our rules, U.S. tends to
  have a two-party system

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But people still vote for third parties . . .

• People who vote for third parties often look
  like people who dont vote at all
• Alienation
• Indifference
• Except that third-party voters have stronger
  sense of civic responsibility
• Third party voting is expressive

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What do third parties do?

• Win local and state office
• Force the major parties to move to capture the
  lost votes
• Get issues on the agenda through media coverage
  and public awareness