2.2 Political Parties, Socialization, and Polling - Lecture Outline

 

Political Parties

  1. Political Party-Organized effort to purse their common interests by gaining and exercising power through the electoral process.
    1. Government Party-the office holders who pursue the political objective.
    2. Organizational Party-the formal organization of the party.
    3. Party in the Electorate-The voters
  2. Parties here and abroad
    1. European Parties: Centralized with a hierarchical structure of order
    2. United States: Decentralized
      1. A party is a group that seeks to elect candidates to public office by supplying them with a label.
      2. Arenas
        1. A label in the minds of the voters
        2. Set of leaders in government
        3. Organization recruiting and campaigning
      3. American parties have become weaker in all three arenas
        1. As labels: more independents
        2. As organizations: much weaker since the 1960s
        3. As sets of leaders: the organization of Congress less under their control
    3. Reasons for differences from European parties
      1. United States Federal system decentralizes power
        1. Early on, most people with political jobs worked for state and local government.
        2. National parties were coalitions of local parties.
        3. As political power becomes more centralized, parties become weaker still
      2. Parties closely regulated by state and federal laws
      3. Candidates chosen through primaries, not by party leaders
      4. President elected separately from Congress
        1. Parliament and Prime Minister- % of popular vote
      5. Political culture
        1. Parties unimportant in life; Americans do not join or pay dues
        2. Parties separate from other aspects of life
  3. Political Party Eras
    1. First Party System- The control of the nation by the Federalists and Democratic Republicans from 1792 to 1824. The First Party System ended during the Era of Good Feelings Links to an external site.. The Democratic-Republican Party split into the Jacksonian Links to an external site. faction, which became the modern Democratic Party Links to an external site. in the 1830s, and the Henry Clay Links to an external site. faction, which was absorbed by Clay's Whig Party Links to an external site..
    2. Second Party System (1828 to 1854). The system was characterized by rapidly rising levels of voter interest beginning in 1828, as demonstrated by election day turnout, rallies, partisan newspapers, and a high degree of personal loyalty to party. The major parties were the Democratic Party Links to an external site., led by Andrew Jackson Links to an external site., and the Whig Party Links to an external site., assembled by Henry Clay Links to an external site. from the National Republicans Links to an external site. and other opponents of Jackson. Minor parties included the Anti-Masonic Party Links to an external site., which was an important innovator from 1827–34; the abolitionist Liberty Party Links to an external site. in 1840; and the anti-slavery Free Soil Party Links to an external site. in 1848 and 1852. The Second Party System reflected and shaped the political, social, economic and cultural currents of the Jacksonian Era Links to an external site..
    3. Third Party System (1854-1896) It was dominated by the new Republican Party Links to an external site., which claimed success in saving the Union, abolishing slavery and enfranchising the freedmen, while adopting many Whiggish Links to an external site. modernization programs such as national banks, railroads, high tariffs, homesteads and aid to land grant colleges.
    4. Fourth Party System (1896-1932) dominated by the Republican Party Links to an external site.. The period includes the Progressive Era Links to an external site., World War I Links to an external site., and the start of the Great Depression Links to an external site.. The central domestic issues concerned government regulation of railroads and large corporations ("trusts Links to an external site."), protective tariffs, labor unions, child labor, a new banking system, corruption in party politics, primary elections, direct election of senators, racial segregation, efficiency in government, women's suffrage, and control of immigration. The Great Depression caused a realignment that was dominated by the Democratic New Deal Coalition Links to an external site..

 

    1. The Fifth Party System (1833-presents) This era began with the New Deal Links to an external site. in 1933. This era emerged from the realignment of the voting blocs Links to an external site. and interest groups Links to an external site. supporting the Democratic Party Links to an external site. into the New Deal Coalition Links to an external site. following the Great Depression Links to an external site.. New Deal Party System or New Deal Democrats.
  1. The rise and decline of the political party
    1. The Founding (to the 1820s)
      1. Founders' dislike of factions
        1. Federalist #10 addresses the question of how to guard against "factions Links to an external site.," or groups of citizens, with interests contrary to the rights of others or the interests of the whole community. In today's discourse the term advocacy group Links to an external site. or special interest group often carries the same denotation.
        2. There were NO political parties at the Constitutional Convention.
        3. Federalists v. Anti-Federalists were not organized.
      2. Emergence of Republicans, Federalists: Jefferson versus Hamilton
        1. Loose caucuses of political notables
        2. Republicans' success and Federalists' demise
      3. No representation of clear economic interests
      4. Washington’s Farwell Address: The Dangers of Political Parties
        1. Hamilton’s Federalist Party
        2. Jefferson’s Democratic Republicans
      5. Election of 1796
        1. Federalist Adams President
        2. Democratic-Republican Jefferson Vice President
        3. More tension-Sectional and class conflicts
        4. Election of 1800-Revolution of 1800
          1. Democratic-Republics win
    2. Era of Good Feelings (1817-1825)
      1. Federalists dissolved
      2. 1820-1840 growth of parties at the state level-westward expansion
    3. The Jacksonians (1828-Civil War)
      1. Political participation a mass phenomenon-Response to Election 1824
        1. Andrew Jackson won a plurality of electoral votes in the Election of 1824 Links to an external site. but still lost to John Quincy Adams when the election was deferred to the House of Representatives. Henry Clay Links to an external site., unsuccessful candidate and Speaker of the House Links to an external site., despised Jackson, in part due to their fight for Western votes during the election and supported Adams, leading to Adams being elected President. A few days after the election, Adams named Clay his Secretary of State, a position which at that time often led to the presidency. Jackson and his followers immediately labeled Clay and Adams as striking a “corrupt bargain Links to an external site.", and they continued to lambast the President until the 1828 election. In a prelude to the presidential election, the Jacksonians bolstered their numbers in Congress in the 1826 Congressional elections; 
        2. Party built from the bottom up
        3. Abandonment of presidential caucuses
        4. Beginning of national conventions to allow local control
    4. The Civil War and sectionalism
      1. Republican Party formed around the issue of slavery
      2. New Republicans become dominant because of
        1. Civil War and Republicans on Union side
        2. Lincoln’s 1860 Election a “referendum on slavery”
        3. Civil War “Radical Republicans” dominate US as Democrats leave US to join the Confederacy.
    5. The Golden Age (184-1912)
      1. Post-Civil War-Influx of immigrants from Europe
      2. Establishment of “Machine Politics” in the cities.
      3. Machines sometimes have a political boss Links to an external site., often rely on patronage Links to an external site., the spoils system Links to an external site., "behind-the-scenes" control, and longstanding political ties within the structure of a representative democracy Links to an external site.. Machines typically are organized on a permanent basis instead of for a single election or event.
      4. A single political party dominated city government.
    6. The era of reform-a response to corruption
      1. In most states one party predominates
        1. Party professionals, Machines,or "stalwarts," one faction in GOP
        2. Mugwumps, Progressives, or "reformers" –Civil Service Reform
      2. Progressive push measures to curtail party politics and power
        1. Direct Primary elections to select candidates
          1. No more “backroom” selection by party leaders
        2. Nonpartisan elections
        3. No party-business alliances
        4. Strict voter registration requirements
        5. Civil service reform-Limit Patronage
        6. Initiative and referendum elections
      3. Effects
        1. Reduction in worst forms of political corruption
        2. Weakening of ALL political parties
        3. Rise of issue oriented politics-Focus on individual rather than group
        4. Rise of Interest Groups and Lobbyists
          1. Candidates now work for Groups, Issues, and Lobbys
        5. Ticket Splitting (no more Party Line voting)
        6. Rise of Candidate Centered Politics
          1. Party does not direct the candidate
  2. Party Realignments
    1. Definition: sharp, lasting shift in the popular coalition supporting one or both parties
    2. Critical Elections precede a Major Realignment.
      1. 1800: Jeffersonians defeated Federalists (Alien and Sedition Acts)
      2. 1828: Jacksonian Democrats came to power (Corrupt Bargain -1824)
      3. 1860: Whigs collapsed; Republicans won (Slavery divides country)
      4. 1896: Republicans defeated Bryan (Beginning of the Progressive Era of Reform)
      5. 1932: FDR Democrats came to power (Great Depression-New Deal)
    3. Kinds of realignments
      1. Major party disappears and is replaced (1800, 1860)
      2. Voters shift from one party to another (1896, 1932)
    4. Clearest cases
      1. 1860: slavery
      2. 1896: economics-regulation
      3. 1932: depression
    5. 1980 Ronald Reagan and the Reagan Revolution was NOT a realignment
      1. Expressed dissatisfaction with Carter
      2. Also left Congress Democratic
    6. 1972-1988: Secular Realignment in the South
      1. Fewer Democrats, more Republicans, more independents
      2. Independents vote Republican
      3. Now close to fifty-fifty Democratic, Republican
      4. Party dealignment, not realignment-Loss of identification in both parties.
  3. Political Party Functions
    1. Mobilization
      1. Bringing the voters together
    2. Stability
      1. In periods of issue change, parties keep continuity.
      2. With the party, elements can move to extremes (Tea Party) yet the party stays central.
    3. Unity, Linkage, Accountability
      1. Parties are the glue that holds together the disparate elements of the US governmental and political apparatus.
      2. They link the branches and counter the separation of powers.
      3. Party Identification –communication between voter and candidate/officeholder
    4. Electioneering
      1. Performing the functions of carrying out an election
    5. Informing the Voter
      1. Parties state to members HOW they should vote
    6. Policy Formulation and Promotion
      1. Establish the Party Platform
  4. The two-party system
    1. European system- Proportional representation. Seats in Parliament = % of vote
    2. Two Party System-Rarity among nations today
      1. Why such a permanent feature?
        1. Electoral system: winner-take-all and plurality system
      2. Opinions of voters: two broad coalitions
    3. Minor parties
      1. Ideological parties: comprehensive, radical view; most enduring
        Examples: Socialist, Communist, Libertarian
      2. One-issue parties: address one concern, avoid others
        Examples: Free Soil, Know-Nothing, Prohibition
      3. Economic protest parties: regional, oppose depressions
        Examples: Greenback, Populist
      4. Factional parties: from split in a major party
        Examples: Bull Moose, George Wallace, American Independent 1968
      5. Movements not producing parties; either slim chance of success or major parties accommodate
        Examples: civil rights, antiwar, labor
      6. Factional parties have had greatest influence
  5. The national party structure today
    1. Parties similar on paper
      1. National convention ultimate power; nominates presidential candidate
      2. National committee composed of delegates from states
      3. Congressional campaign committees
      4. National chair manages daily work
      5. Party Leadership
    2. Party structure diverges in the late 1960s
      1. RNC moves to bureaucratic structure; a well-financed party devoted to electing its candidates
      2. Democrats move to factionalized structure to distribute power
      3. RNC and DNC use computerized mailing lists to raise money
        1. Money used to run political consulting firm
        2. Democrats still manage to outspend GOP
        3. Public opinion polls used to find issues and to get voter response to issues and candidates
      4. RNC now tries to help state and local organizations
      5. Democrats remain a collection of feuding factions
    3. Think Tanks to establish policy
      1. Republicans: Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute.
      2. Democrats: Brookings Institute
    4. Fundraising
      1. Hard Money-$ given directly to a candidate
      2. Soft Money-$ given to the party.
    5. National conventions-Candidate Selection- Party Platform
      1. National committee sets time and place; issues call setting number of delegates for each state.
      2. Democratic Party Links to an external site. and the Republican Party Links to an external site. - officially nominate their candidate for President at their respective national conventions Links to an external site., usually held during the summer before the federal election. Depending on state law and state party rules, when voters cast ballots for a candidate in a presidential caucus or primary, they may actually be voting to award delegates Links to an external site. "bound" to vote for a candidate at the state or national convention, or they may simply be expressing an opinion that the state party is not bound to follow in selecting delegates to the national convention. In addition to delegates chosen during primaries and caucuses, state delegations to both the Democratic and Republican conventions also include "unpledged" delegates. For Republicans, these include top party officials. Democrats have a more expansive group of unpledged delegates called "super-delegates Links to an external site.", who are party leaders and elected officials.

 

      1. Formulas used to allocate delegates
        1. Democrats shift the formula away from the South to the North and West
        2. Republicans shift the formula away from the East to the South and Southwest
        3. Result: Democrats move left, Republicans right
      2. Democratic formula rewards large states and Republican-loyal states
      3. Democrats set new rules
        1. In the 1970s the rules changed to weaken party leaders and increase the influence of special interests.
        2. Hunt commission in 1981 reverses 1970s rules by increasing the influence of elected officials and by making convention more deliberative. Superdelegates are 20% of total delegates.
        3. states that violate rules are penalized
      4. Conventions today only ratify choices made in primaries.
  1. Nominating a president
    1. Two contrary forces: party's desire to win motivates it to seek an appealing candidate, but its desire to keep dissidents in party forces a compromise to more extreme views
    2. Are the delegates representative of the voters?
      1. Democratic delegates much more liberal
      2. Republican delegates much more conservative
    3. Closed Primary v. Open Primary
    4. Who votes in primaries?
      1. Primaries now more numerous and more decisive
        1. Stevenson and Humphrey never entered a primary
        2. By 1992: forty primaries and twenty caucuses
      2. Little ideological difference between primary voters and rank-and-file party voters
      3. Caucus: meeting of party followers at which delegates are picked
        1. Only most-dedicated partisans attend
        2. Often choose most ideological candidate: Jackson, Robertson in 1988
  2. Parties versus voters (Ideas v. winning elections)
    1. Democrats: win congressional elections but lose presidential contests
      1. Candidates are out of step with average voters on social and tax issues
      2. So are delegates, and there's a connection
    2. Republicans had the same problem with Goldwater (1964)
    3. Rank-and-file Democrats and Republicans differ on many political issues, but the differences are usually small
    4. Delegates from two parties differ widely on these same issues
      1. 1996 conventions
        1. Few conservatives at Democratic convention
        2. Few liberals at Republican convention
      2. Formula for winning president
        1. Nominate candidates with views closer to the average citizen (e.g., 1996 election)
        2. Fight campaign over issues agreed on by delegates and voters (e.g., 1992 election)
  3. Party Identification- why does a citizen become associated with the views of a political party?
    1. Geographic
      1. The Solid South voted Democratic: political culture of the Civil War Era. They opposed the Republicans of the North. Since 1994, the South has elected Republicans to federal offices.          
    2. Gender
      1. Gender GAP- based upon party issues
        1. Democrats-Females
        2. Republicans- Males
          1. Republicans need to attract more women without alienating their male base.
          2. Democrats fail to attract men based upon social issues and military.
    3. Race and Ethnicity
      1. African Americans vote Democratic. When African Americans vote, Democrats win.
      2. Hispanics vote Democratic.-57% are Democrats
        1. Cuban American’s vote Republican (Castro issues)
        2. Republicans have made efforts to attract Hispanic voters- Bush appointments
    4. Age
      1. Great Depression Era- New Deal Democrats
      2. Young and Old- Democrats
      3. Middle Age-Republican
    5. Social and Economic Factors
      1. Republicans-executives, professionals, white collar workers
      2. Democrats-trial lawyers, educators, blue collar workers, -Union members
    6. Religion
      1. Republicans-White Protestants- Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians
      2. Democrats-Catholics, Jews
    7. Marital Status
      1. Republicans- Single
      2. Democrats-Married

 

Political Socialization-Polling-

 

  1. Define how each of the following influence political socialization
    1. Family
    2. School and peers
    3. Mass Media
    4. Religion
    5. Race and Ethnicity
    6. Gender
    7. Age
    8. Geographic Region
  2. Understand the history of polling
    1. What is a straw poll

                                               i.     Define its three flaws: sample, timing, self selection

  1. Construct a Poll
    1. The content and phrasing of the questions
  2. Selecting the Sample
    1. Random Sample
    2. Stratified Sample
  3. Contact Respondents-Phone Polls
  4. Political Polls
    1. Push Polls
    2. Tracking Polls
    3. Exit Polls
  5. Problems with Polling
    1. Margin of Error
    2. Sampling Error
    3. Limited Respondents
    4. Lack of Information
    5. Difficulty Measuring Intensity

 

Political Participation

  1. Roots of Voting Behavior
    1. Conventional political participation-accepted practices of influencing the political process: writing letters, voting, $$ contributions
    2. Unconventional political participation-extreme or unusual behavior to influence the process: protests, boycotts, picketing.         Boston Tea Party, Shay’s Rebellion.
  2. The rise of the American electorate
    1. From state to federal control
      1. Initially, states decided nearly everything
      2. This led to wide variation in federal elections
      3. Congress has since reduced state prerogatives
        1. 1842 law: House members elected by district
        2. Suffrage to women (19th Amendment -1920)
        3. Suffrage to blacks (15 Amendment -1870)
        4. Suffrage to eighteen- to twenty-year-olds (26th Amendment -1971)
        5. Direct popular election of U.S. senators (17th Amendment -1913)
      4. Black voting rights
        1. Fifteenth Amendment gutted by Supreme Court as not conferring a right to vote
        2. Southern states then use evasive strategies
          1. Literacy test
          2. Poll tax
          3. White primaries
          4. Grandfather clauses
          5. Intimidation of black voters
        3. Most of these strategies ruled out by Supreme Court
        4. Major change with 1965 Voting Rights Act; black vote increases
      5. Women's voting rights
        1. Western states permit women to vote
        2. Nineteenth Amendment ratified 1920
        3. No dramatic changes in outcomes
      6. Youth vote
        1. Voting Rights Act of 1970
        2. Twenty-sixth Amendment ratified 1971
        3. Lower turnout; no particular party
      7. National standards now govern most aspects
  3. Voter Turnout- Who Votes (Why is it important to know who votes?)
    1. Education and Income-“the more you have…the more likely you will vote.” Higher education and income levels are a strong indicator that an individual will vote.         Lower income citizens feel alienated from politics and tend not to vote.
    2. Age-Strong correlation between age and voting. 26 Amendment lowers voting age to 18, yet young people do not vote.         Citizens age 30+ are much more likely to vote and below 30.
    3. Gender-Split.         Women vote at the same rate as men and sometimes higher. Since women are more than 50% of the US population, they are a larger voting bloc.
    4. Race and Ethnicity
      1. Whites have a strong tendency to vote
      2. African Americans and Hispanics vote less often
      3. Positive- Income and Education
      4. Negative- Barriers to voting-registration,
        1. South- Voting Rights Act 1965- the Act prohibits states from imposing any "voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure ... to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color." Specifically, Congress Links to an external site. intended the Act to outlaw the practice of requiring otherwise qualified voters to pass literacy tests Links to an external site. in order to register to vote, a principal means by which Southern states had prevented African-Americans from exercising the franchise. The Act established extensive federal oversight of elections administration, providing that states with a history of discriminatory voting practices.
    5. Group Membership- Members of Unions, Churches, Civic Organizations , etc tend to vote.
    6. Issues- 
      1. Prospective voting
        1. Know the issues and vote for the best candidate
      2. Retrospective voting
        1. Judge the incumbent's performance and vote accordingly
        2. Most elections decided by retrospective votes
        3. Midterm election: voters turn against president's party
  4. Non-Voting
    1. Common explanation: voter apathy on election day, but the real problem is low registration rates
    2. Proposed solution: get-out-the-vote drives, but this will not help those who are not registered
    3. Apathy not the only cause of non-registration
      1. European countries where registration is automatic
      2. Motor-voter law of 1993 (which took effect in 1995)
        1. Did not create a general boom in vote turnout
        2. Did increase registration among eligible voters
        3. Did not change the two party balance of registrants
        4. Did increase the number of independent registrants
        5. May actually add registrants who are less likely to vote.
  5. Elections in the US
    1. Initiative, Referendum, Recall- See California Handouts
    2. Primary Elections-states choose candidate by party-pledge Delegates
      1. Closed v. Open
      2. Closed- can only vote for registered party
      3. Open- crossover- can vote for anyone- CA recently passed this issue.
      4. Invisible Primary- Candidate who raises the most money before the primary.
    3. General Election – Select winner from parties
    4. Presidential Election-Delegate selection
      1. Primary Election- voters choose candidates and pledge delegates
        1. Democrats- proportional distribution
        2. Republicans- winner take all
        3. See 2008 Delegate Distribution
      2. Caucus-meeting of party leaders to select and pledge delegate
      3. Front-Loading- A state will move its primary ahead in election season to have its state issues become more dominant in the selection of the president.
        1. Front-loading benefits Front-Runner Candidates
        2. Benefits candidate who wins the Invisible Primary
      4. Convention- Pledged Delegates
        1. Democrats: 2118 to win
          1. Superdelegates (823 -20% of delegates)
        2. Republicans: 1191 to win
        3. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/democratic_delegate_count.html Links to an external site.
        4. Modern Era- Candidate selected before the election
    5. Electoral College-Winner Take All
      1. The object of the presidential election is to win a majority in the Electoral College. This is a unique institution created by the Framers to ensure that the president was chosen intelligently and with the input of the states. The Electoral College is the result of compromise between those who wanted direct popular election of the president and those who wanted Congress to choose the president. The constitutional theory behind the indirect election Links to an external site. of both the President and Vice President of the United States is that while the Congress is popularly elected by the people,[27] Links to an external site. the President and Vice President are elected to be executives of a federation of independent states.
      2. The election of 1800 revealed a serious flaw in the Electoral College: between Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson because electors were not allowed to designate their choice of president and vice president. Twelfth Amendment that provides for separate elections for president and vice president and the newly elected House of Representatives resolves the issue of a failure of a candidate to gain a majority of the electors.
      3. The number of electors is determined by the federal representation for each state.
        1. California has 53 members of the House of Representatives
        2. California hast two Senators
        3. A total of 55 electoral votes.
      4. There are a total of 538 electoral votes (535 members of Congress and three for the District of Columbia), a majority of 270 wins the presidency.
      5. Despite the Twelfth Amendment, the process is still not perfect. Third parties could potentially throw the election into the House of Representatives as happened in the 2000 election, where a candidate won a majority of electoral votes but a minority of popular votes.

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