AP Political Parties

AP Political Parties

1. Political Parties
AP UNIT THREE

2. Defining Party
•political party-a group of
people with similar political
beliefs who seek to control
gov’t by getting elected to
public office
•is another linkage institution
between the people and the
government

3. Purposes of Parties
1.) Choose candidates
2.) Run campaigns
3.) Cue voters about candidates
4.) Support specific policies and
political agendas
5.) Coordinate policymaking

4. Parties and Rational Choice
•Rational-choice theory-
individuals carefully make choices
to best benefit their interests
•it is in the best interests:
•of parties to appeal to as many
people as possible (in order to win)
•of voters to support a party that
reflects their interests and will
accomplish their goals

5. Parties and Ideology
•Party beliefs/goals are tied to
political ideologies
•Their challenge: maintaining a
centrist/moderate (“middle”)
stance while appealing to their
party bases on the left or right

8. Core Beliefs of Democrats (Liberal
Ideology -Generalized)
•More gun control
•Pro-choice (pro-abortion)
•Clean / green energy solutions
•More gov’t control of business and
economy
•Higher taxes for rich people
•Gov’t should provide for the people in
times of need
•Marriage equality
•Amnesty (forgiveness) for illegal
immigrants
•Anti-death penalty

9. Core Beliefs of Republicans
(Conservative Ideology -
Generalized)
•Less gun control
•Pro-life (anti-abortion)
•Use of natural resources for energy
•Less gov’t control of economy / business
•Lower taxes on rich will help economy
•People shouldn’t rely on gov’t and
programs should be more limited
•Tradition marriage
•Strict border control of immigration /no
amnesty
•Pro-death penalty

10. •3 roles of political parties in
society:
•1.) Party as part of the
electorate (population that
votes)
•2.) Party as part of an
organization
•3.) Party as a part of gov’t

11. I. Party and the Electorate
•party identification-an individual’s
preference of a political party
•individuals tend to favor parties
that align with their political
beliefs
•In U.S., party identification is
psychological (you think, you are)
•party image-a voter’s perception
of a political party; what they believe
the party stands for

12. II. Party Organization
•U.S. political party
organization is decentralized
(power moved from one
national authority to several
local authorities)
•broken up across national,
state, and local levels

13. City-Level Corruption
•party machines-
a type of party
organization that
uses incentives to
gain party loyalty,
win elections, and
govern
•patronage-gov’t
jobs given to
individuals in
exchange for
votes/political
support (not
based on merit)
Since the fall of party machines,
party organization has focused
more on the county level

14. State Level
•Above county/local parties,
each state runs its own
organizations of political
parties
•Since states control elections,
they have substantial influence
over party activities

15. National Level
•national convention-highest
party authority; a party
meeting every four years to
elect a party’s presidential
candidates and edit/adopt the
party platform

16. •national committee-highest
party authority between party
conventions (led by committee
chairman who coordinates daily
activities of the party)
•works to get its party candidates
elected, raise money for
campaigns, etc.
•Ex: DNC, RNC

17. III. Party and Government
•Parties in control of gov’t control
the direction of public policymaking
(what direction the country goes in)
•Voters expect parties to follow
through on their campaign goals
and political promises
•coalition-individuals who have
common interests and support a
particular party as a result (think
“voting base”)

18. Party Eras in U.S. History
•party era-time period in which
most voters identified with the
party in power (which then won a
majority of elections)
•party realignment-majority party
in power is ousted by the minority
party
•people change from voting for one
party to the other in a given election
•Voting coalitions/bases change

19. •critical election-election in
which party realignment
occurs; new issues emerge,
party coalitions (supporters)
change/break, party and
electorate are both divided
•allows for minority party to take
over office
•starts a new party era

20. I. The First Party System
(1796-1828)
•Federalists become the nation’s
first political party (ex: Adams)
•their coalition: supporters of strong
national gov’t, national bank, business
•died out quickly after 1800
VS.
•Democratic-Republicans (former Anti-
Federalists) (ex: Jefferson, Madison)
•their coalition: supporters of strong
state gov’ts, farmers, rural populations
•dominate for most of this era

21. II. The Democratic Era (1828-
1860)
•The Democrats form in 1828 under
Jackson (ex: Jackson, Van Buren,
Polk)
•their coalition: Southerners,
Westerners, immigrants, “common
people”
VS
•The Whigs (ex: W.H. Harrison,
Taylor, Tyler, Fillmore)
•their coalition: anti-Jacksonians,
businesses, supporters of national
reform, labor, universal education,
etc.

22. III. The Republican Era (1860-
1932)
•The Republican party formed in
1854 (initially anti-slavery party)
(ex: Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, T.
Roosevelt, Coolidge, Hoover)
•their coalition: abolitionists, left-over
Whig coalitions
•1896 -realigning election focused on
gold standard
VS the Democrats (ex: A. Johnson,
Cleveland, Wilson)
*Democrats vs. Republicans from now
on*

23. IV. The New Deal Coalition
(1932-1968)
•party realignment back to
Democrats (ex: FDR, Truman, LBJ,
Kennedy)
•FDR passed New Deal programs to
ease Great Depression; LBJ: Great
Society
•Their coalition: city dwellers, labor
unions, the poor, Southerners,
Catholics and Jews, African
Americans

24. V. Era of Divided Government
(1968-Present)
•Southerners realigned with
Republican party over
social/economic issues (started
with Nixon)
•Era characterized by one party
holding the presidency and the
other party holding one or both
houses of Congress
•No more stretches of time with one
party in continuous control
•party dealignment-people disengaging
from both parties (lower party identification)

25. Third Parties
•Smaller parties operating outside
the main two parties
•TYPES:
•Ideological -supports certain belief
system about gov’t
•Single-issue -focuses on one issue
•Splinter -breaks off from one of the
main two parties
•Economic Protest -advocates for
economic reform

26. Effects of Third Parties
•Serve as a “watchdog” on
main two parties
•Champion fresh political ideas
•Offer other options for voters
•Split major parties in elections

31. A Few Party Terms
•partisan-favoring only one
political party
•bipartisan-supported by both
parties (working together)
•nonpartisan-not biased
toward either political party

32. Our Two Party System
•Dominated by Democrats and
Republicans (GOP) because:
•Tradition (U.S. has had 2 parties
since 1796)
•Winner-take-all system -(ex:
Congress) party with the most votes
in district wins election; other parties
get nothing
•small parties cannot compete so
will join one of larger two parties to
win