Third Party System (1854-1896) It was dominated by the new Republican PartyLinks to an external site., which claimed success in saving the Union, abolishing slavery and enfranchising the freedmen, while adopting many WhiggishLinks to an external site. modernization programs such as national banks, railroads, high tariffs, homesteads and aid to land grant colleges.
Federalist #10 addresses the question of how to guard against "factionsLinks 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 groupLinks to an external site. or special interest group often carries the same denotation.
There were NO political parties at the Constitutional Convention.
Federalists v. Anti-Federalists were not organized.
Emergence of Republicans, Federalists: Jefferson versus Hamilton
Loose caucuses of political notables
Republicans' success and Federalists' demise
No representation of clear economic interests
Washington’s Farwell Address: The Dangers of Political Parties
Hamilton’s Federalist Party
Jefferson’s Democratic Republicans
Election of 1796
Federalist Adams President
Democratic-Republican Jefferson Vice President
More tension-Sectional and class conflicts
Election of 1800-Revolution of 1800
Democratic-Republics win
Era of Good Feelings (1817-1825)
Federalists dissolved
1820-1840 growth of parties at the state level-westward expansion
The Jacksonians (1828-Civil War)
Political participation a mass phenomenon-Response to Election 1824
Andrew Jackson won a plurality of electoral votes in the Election of 1824Links to an external site. but still lost to John Quincy Adams when the election was deferred to the House of Representatives. Henry ClayLinks to an external site., unsuccessful candidate and Speaker of the HouseLinks 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 bargainLinks 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;
Party built from the bottom up
Abandonment of presidential caucuses
Beginning of national conventions to allow local control
The Civil War and sectionalism
Republican Party formed around the issue of slavery
New Republicans become dominant because of
Civil War and Republicans on Union side
Lincoln’s 1860 Election a “referendum on slavery”
Civil War “Radical Republicans” dominate US as Democrats leave US to join the Confederacy.
The Golden Age (184-1912)
Post-Civil War-Influx of immigrants from Europe
Establishment of “Machine Politics” in the cities.
Factional parties: from split in a major party Examples: Bull Moose, George Wallace, American Independent 1968
Movements not producing parties; either slim chance of success or major parties accommodate Examples: civil rights, antiwar, labor
Factional parties have had greatest influence
The national party structure today
Parties similar on paper
National convention ultimate power; nominates presidential candidate
National committee composed of delegates from states
Congressional campaign committees
National chair manages daily work
Party Leadership
Party structure diverges in the late 1960s
RNC moves to bureaucratic structure; a well-financed party devoted to electing its candidates
Democrats move to factionalized structure to distribute power
RNC and DNC use computerized mailing lists to raise money
Money used to run political consulting firm
Democrats still manage to outspend GOP
Public opinion polls used to find issues and to get voter response to issues and candidates
RNC now tries to help state and local organizations
Democrats remain a collection of feuding factions
Think Tanks to establish policy
Republicans: Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute.
Democrats: Brookings Institute
Fundraising
Hard Money-$ given directly to a candidate
Soft Money-$ given to the party.
National conventions-Candidate Selection- Party Platform
National committee sets time and place; issues call setting number of delegates for each state.
Democratic PartyLinks to an external site. and the Republican PartyLinks to an external site. - officially nominate their candidate for President at their respective national conventionsLinks 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 delegatesLinks 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-delegatesLinks to an external site.", who are party leaders and elected officials.
Formulas used to allocate delegates
Democrats shift the formula away from the South to the North and West
Republicans shift the formula away from the East to the South and Southwest
Result: Democrats move left, Republicans right
Democratic formula rewards large states and Republican-loyal states
Democrats set new rules
In the 1970s the rules changed to weaken party leaders and increase the influence of special interests.
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.
states that violate rules are penalized
Conventions today only ratify choices made in primaries.
Nominating a president
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
Are the delegates representative of the voters?
Democratic delegates much more liberal
Republican delegates much more conservative
Closed Primary v. Open Primary
Who votes in primaries?
Primaries now more numerous and more decisive
Stevenson and Humphrey never entered a primary
By 1992: forty primaries and twenty caucuses
Little ideological difference between primary voters and rank-and-file party voters
Caucus: meeting of party followers at which delegates are picked
Only most-dedicated partisans attend
Often choose most ideological candidate: Jackson, Robertson in 1988
Parties versus voters (Ideas v. winning elections)
Democrats: win congressional elections but lose presidential contests
Candidates are out of step with average voters on social and tax issues
So are delegates, and there's a connection
Republicans had the same problem with Goldwater (1964)
Rank-and-file Democrats and Republicans differ on many political issues, but the differences are usually small
Delegates from two parties differ widely on these same issues
1996 conventions
Few conservatives at Democratic convention
Few liberals at Republican convention
Formula for winning president
Nominate candidates with views closer to the average citizen (e.g., 1996 election)
Fight campaign over issues agreed on by delegates and voters (e.g., 1992 election)
Party Identification- why does a citizen become associated with the views of a political party?
Geographic
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.
Gender
Gender GAP- based upon party issues
Democrats-Females
Republicans- Males
Republicans need to attract more women without alienating their male base.
Democrats fail to attract men based upon social issues and military.
Race and Ethnicity
African Americans vote Democratic. When African Americans vote, Democrats win.
Hispanics vote Democratic.-57% are Democrats
Cuban American’s vote Republican (Castro issues)
Republicans have made efforts to attract Hispanic voters- Bush appointments
Age
Great Depression Era- New Deal Democrats
Young and Old- Democrats
Middle Age-Republican
Social and Economic Factors
Republicans-executives, professionals, white collar workers
Democrats-trial lawyers, educators, blue collar workers, -Union members
Define how each of the following influence political socialization
Family
School and peers
Mass Media
Religion
Race and Ethnicity
Gender
Age
Geographic Region
Understand the history of polling
What is a straw poll
i. Define its three flaws: sample, timing, self selection
Construct a Poll
The content and phrasing of the questions
Selecting the Sample
Random Sample
Stratified Sample
Contact Respondents-Phone Polls
Political Polls
Push Polls
Tracking Polls
Exit Polls
Problems with Polling
Margin of Error
Sampling Error
Limited Respondents
Lack of Information
Difficulty Measuring Intensity
Political Participation
Roots of Voting Behavior
Conventional political participation-accepted practices of influencing the political process: writing letters, voting, $$ contributions
Unconventional political participation-extreme or unusual behavior to influence the process: protests, boycotts, picketing. Boston Tea Party, Shay’s Rebellion.
The rise of the American electorate
From state to federal control
Initially, states decided nearly everything
This led to wide variation in federal elections
Congress has since reduced state prerogatives
1842 law: House members elected by district
Suffrage to women (19th Amendment -1920)
Suffrage to blacks (15 Amendment -1870)
Suffrage to eighteen- to twenty-year-olds (26th Amendment -1971)
Direct popular election of U.S. senators (17th Amendment -1913)
Black voting rights
Fifteenth Amendment gutted by Supreme Court as not conferring a right to vote
Southern states then use evasive strategies
Literacy test
Poll tax
White primaries
Grandfather clauses
Intimidation of black voters
Most of these strategies ruled out by Supreme Court
Major change with 1965 Voting Rights Act; black vote increases
Women's voting rights
Western states permit women to vote
Nineteenth Amendment ratified 1920
No dramatic changes in outcomes
Youth vote
Voting Rights Act of 1970
Twenty-sixth Amendment ratified 1971
Lower turnout; no particular party
National standards now govern most aspects
Voter Turnout- Who Votes (Why is it important to know who votes?)
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.
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.
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.
Race and Ethnicity
Whites have a strong tendency to vote
African Americans and Hispanics vote less often
Positive- Income and Education
Negative- Barriers to voting-registration,
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, CongressLinks to an external site. intended the Act to outlaw the practice of requiring otherwise qualified voters to pass literacy testsLinks 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.
Group Membership- Members of Unions, Churches, Civic Organizations , etc tend to vote.
Issues-
Prospective voting
Know the issues and vote for the best candidate
Retrospective voting
Judge the incumbent's performance and vote accordingly
Most elections decided by retrospective votes
Midterm election: voters turn against president's party
Non-Voting
Common explanation: voter apathy on election day, but the real problem is low registration rates
Proposed solution: get-out-the-vote drives, but this will not help those who are not registered
Apathy not the only cause of non-registration
European countries where registration is automatic
Motor-voter law of 1993 (which took effect in 1995)
Did not create a general boom in vote turnout
Did increase registration among eligible voters
Did not change the two party balance of registrants
Did increase the number of independent registrants
May actually add registrants who are less likely to vote.
Elections in the US
Initiative, Referendum, Recall- See California Handouts
Primary Elections-states choose candidate by party-pledge Delegates
Closed v. Open
Closed- can only vote for registered party
Open- crossover- can vote for anyone- CA recently passed this issue.
Invisible Primary- Candidate who raises the most money before the primary.
General Election – Select winner from parties
Presidential Election-Delegate selection
Primary Election- voters choose candidates and pledge delegates
Democrats- proportional distribution
Republicans- winner take all
See 2008 Delegate Distribution
Caucus-meeting of party leaders to select and pledge delegate
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.
Modern Era- Candidate selected before the election
Electoral College-Winner Take All
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 electionLinks 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.
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.
The number of electors is determined by the federal representation for each state.
California has 53 members of the House of Representatives
California hast two Senators
A total of 55 electoral votes.
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.
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.