Political Parties

1. Political Parties Artemus Ward Dept. of Political Science Northern Illinois University aeward@niu.edu

2. Political Parties • Party = A group that seeks to gain control of government by running candidates for office under the group’s label. • This definition helps distinguish parties from other kinds of political groups.

3. Three Elements of Parties • Party-in-government • Party organization • Party-in-the-electorate

4. Parties are Coalitions • Parties are coalitions of various voter groups. • no party is homogenous. • every party has factional groups. • particularly true of a two-party system.

5. American Political Parties • A two-party system with cyclical change. • Since 1860 – Republicans and Democrats. • But this is misleading. The names stay the same but the parties change dramatically.

6. Consider, for example, the Republican Party – the “Party of Lincoln”: -- Based in the North -- Competed against pro-slavery Democrats in the South 1896

7. 2004: What has happened to the “party of Lincoln?” = Republican = Democrat

8. Party Realignment • What had taken place in American politics over time is called “party realignment.” • parties change their issue positions • voters change their party loyalties • for example, the above chart shows that southern voters are increasingly voting Republican over time. Why?

9. Political Parties: What are They Good For? • In the U.S. they are not mentioned in the Constitution; not appreciated by founding fathers. • Yet, parties perform important functions in all democratic systems. • In general, they help organize the democratic process; they bring coherence to it.

10. Political Parties: What are They Good For? • Function 1: Parties help create meaningful • choices for voters during elections Without parties, voters would confront a bewildering array of self-nominated candidates.

11. John McCain Rudy Giuliani Mitt Romney Sam Brownback Mike Huckabee Tommy Thompson Hillary Clinton Barack Obama John Edwards Mike Gravel Dennis Kucinich Chris Dodd Joe Biden Bill Richardson Candidates for President, 2008: “A bewildering array of choices?” Duncan Hunter Ron Paul Fred Thompson Chuck Hagel Tom Tancredo

12. In effect we hold a kind of tournament. Consider the 2008 presidential contest: John McCain Duncan Hunter Rudy Giuliani Ron Paul Mitt Romney Chuck Hagel Sam Brownback Fred Thompson Mike Huckabee Tom Tancredo Tommy Thompson Republican Presidential Primaries John McCain Barack Obama Hillary Clinton Chris Dodd Barack Obama Joe Biden John Edwards Bill Richardson Mike Gravel Al Gore Dennis Kucinich Democratic Presidential Primaries

13. Function 2: Parties help the government get • organized after elections are held -- the President selects fellow party members to help run the Executive Branch -- Congress organizes along party lines to conduct business (as do all legislatures around the world) -- party linkages help the President and Congress work together (and help the British Prime Minister deal with Parliament)

14. Function 3: Promoting democracy Voters can control government by installing a party team that shares their policy goals “Responsible Party Theory” of democracy

15. A “responsible” party … 1. Has sincere policy goals 2. If elected, tries hard to fulfill its campaign promises Thus, parties enable like-minded people to work together to effect policy change.