American Government Unit III Assessment (CATHERINE OWENS ONLY)

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Chapter 8

8-2

Party Competition and Majority Rule:

The History of U.S. Parties  The first parties

 Federalists

 Republicans

 Republicans transform into Democrats

 Andrew Jackson and grassroots parties

 Dependent upon voter support

 Democrats versus Whigs

8-4

Party Competition and Majority Rule:

The History of U.S. Parties  Republicans versus Democrats: realignments

and the enduring party system

 Enduring two-party system since Civil War

 Partisan realignments during crises

8-5

Party Competition and Majority Rule:

The History of U.S. Parties  Republicans versus Democrats: realignments

and the enduring party system

 Realignment: four basic elements

 Divisive issues—disruption of existing political order

 Election—voters shift support strongly toward one party

 Major change in policy brought about by that party

 Enduring change in party coalitions to favor of dominant party

8-6

Party Competition and Majority Rule:

The History of U.S. Parties  Republicans versus Democrats: realignments

and the enduring party system

 History of realignments:

 Civil War—Republicans gain control

 1896—Republicans solidify control

 1932—Democrats gain control

8-7

Party Competition and Majority Rule:

The History of U.S. Parties  Today’s party alignment and its origins

 Republicans

 Dominant in South

 Controlled presidency twice as often as Democrats

since 1968

 Controlled both houses of Congress a third of the time since 1968

 Missteps of Nixon and George W. Bush weakened power

8-8

Party Competition and Majority Rule:

The History of U.S. Parties  Today’s party alignment and its origins

 Democrats

 Dominant in Northeast

 Civil rights stance caused loss of power in South

 Less dominant party since 1968

 Analysts divided on which party will have greater power

going forward

8-10

Party Competition and Majority Rule:

The History of U.S. Parties  Parties and the vote

 Strength of party identification

 Rarity of true independents

 Straight-ticket and split-ticket voting

8-11

Electoral and Party Systems  Plurality (single-member-district) system of election

 Contrast with multiparty system and proportional

representation

 Encourages two-party system

 Politics and coalitions in the two-party system

 Seeking the center: median voter theorem

 Party coalitions

 Broad and overlapping, but far from identical

 Gender gap

8-14

Electoral and Party Systems  Minor (third) parties

 Single-issue parties

 Factional parties

 Ideological parties

 Reform parties

8-15

Party Organizations  The weakening of party organizations

 Nominations

 Loss of party control to candidates

 Primary election/direct primary

 Hinder strong party organizations

 Loss of party power over patronage

8-16

Party Organizations  The structure and role of party organizations

 Local party organizations

 State party organizations

8-17

Party Organizations  The structure and role of party organizations

 National party organizations

 Structure of the national parties

 Major role in campaigns is raising and spending of money

 Hard money

 Soft money

8-19

The Candidate-Centered Campaign  Campaign funds: money chase

 Organization and strategy: political consultants

 Packaging: highlight aspects of candidate’s positions and

background thought to be attractive to voters

8-21

The Candidate-Centered Campaign  Voter contacts: pitched battles

 Air wars

 Main battleground: advertising through media

 Ground wars

 Web wars

 In retrospect: the consequences of the last war

 Prospective voting

 Retrospective voting

8-22

Parties, Candidates, and

the Public’s Influence  Stronger relationships between voters and representatives

 Weaker relationships between voters and representative

institutions

8-23

Parties, Candidates, and

the Public’s Influence  Candidate-centered campaigns add flexibility

 Candidate-centered campaigns decrease accountability