Political Parties, Candidates, and Campaigns: Defining the Voters Choice

A political party is an ongoing coalition of interests joined together in an effort to get its
candidates for public office elected under a common label
US campaigns are party centered in the sense that the Republican and Democratic
parties compete across the country election after election
Yet campaigns are also candidate centered in the sense that individual candidates devise
their own strategies, choose their own issues, and form their own campaign
organizations
Party Competition and Majority Rule: The History of US Parties

Parties are linkage institutions; they serve to connect citizens with government

This party competition narrows voters options to two and in the process enables
people with different backgrounds and opinions to act together

The reason is simple: it is the competition among parties that gives popular
majorities a choice over how they will be governed

If there were no mechanism like the party to enable citizens to act as one, they
would be powerlesseach too weak to influence government

The First Parties

Many of Americas early leaders mistrusted parties: George Washington and
James Madison
Americas first parties originated in the rivalry between Alexander Hamilton
and Thomas Jefferson
During the Era of Good Feeling, when James Monroe ran unopposed in 1820
for a second presidential term, it appeared as if the political system ight
operate without competing parties
The dominant faction, under the leadership of Andrew Jackson, embraced
Jeffersons commitment to the common people and adopted the label
Democrats
Thus, the party of Jefferson is the forerunner of todays Democratic Party
rather than of todays Republican Party

Andrew Jackson and Grassroots Parties

Jacksons goal was to wrest political power from the established elite
Jackson saw a reorganized Democratic Party as the vehicle for change
Whereas Jeffersons party had operated largely at the leadership level, Jackson
sought a grassroots party
During the 1850s the slavery issue began to tear both parties apart
The Whig Party disintegrated, and a
northern-based new party, calling itself
Republican, emerged as the Democrats
main challenger
In the 1860 presidential election, the
Democratic Partys northern faction
nominated Stephen A. Douglas, while the
southern faction nominated John C.
Breckinridge
The result was that the Republican
nominee, Abraham Lincoln, won

Republicans versus Democrats:

Realignments and the Enduring Party
System
After the Civil War, the nation settled
into the pattern of competition between

the Republican and Democratic parties that has lasted through today
The durability of the two parties is due not to their ideological consistency but
to their remarkable ability to adapt during periods of crisis
These periods of extraordinary party change are known as party realignments.
A realignment involves three basic elements:

The emergence of unusually powerful and divisive issues

An election contest or contests in which the voters shift their partisan

support

An enduring change in the parties policies and coalitions

Four realignments since the 1850s

First:

Result of the Civil War

Republicans took control

Second:

1896 election

economic panic following a bank collapse had resulted the Democrat

Cleveland president being blamed, thus the Republicans gained
controlled

Third:

The Great Depression in the 1930s

Republican Herbert Hoover was president

The Democrats became the countrys majority party

Franklin D. Roosevelt
The Nature and Origins of Todays Party Alignment
A party realignment gradually loses strength as the issues that gave rise to it
decline in importance
By the late 1960s, the Democratic Party divided over the Vietnam War and civil
rights, it was apparent that the era of New Deal politics was ending
The change was most dramatic in the South
As southern conservatives came to dominate Republican politics, the partys
stands on social issues such as abortion and affirmative action shifted to the
right, cutting into the partys following in the Northeast
The GOP has gained the most from the change
In the decades following the 1930s Great Depression, the GOP was decidedly
the weaker party
Since the 1968, however, Republicans have held the presidency more often
than the Democrats, and have controlled one or both houses of Congress more
than a third of the time
After the 2000 election, the GOP for the first time in a half-century held the
presidency and both houses of Congress
However, George W. Bushs decision to invade Iraq in 2003 proved
increasingly unpopular, contributing to his partys loss of the House and
Senate in the 2006 midterm elections and its loss of the presidency in the 2008
election
The two parties are now rather evenly matched in terms of voters party
loyalties but that could easily change in the coming years
Some observers foresee a period of Republican resurgence if the GOP is able to
refocus the publics attention on the issues, such as taxes and smaller
government
Other observers foresee a period of Democratic dominance if the Democratic
Party continues to receive strong support from Hispanics and young adults

Parties and the Vote

Even independent voters are less independent than might be assumed
Less than 15% of all voters are true independents in the sense that party
loyalty plays little to no party in the votes they cast
The power of partisanship can be seen in the tendency of most voters to case a
straight ticketmeaning that they uniformly support their partys candidates
Less than 20% of voters cast a split-ticket, voting for one partys presidential
candidate and for the other partys congressional candidates
Electoral and Party Systems

Throughout nearly all of its history, the US has had a two-party system

Most democracies have a multiparty system, in which three ore more parties have
the capacity to gain control of government, separately or in coalition

The Plurality (Single-Member-District) System of Election

Americas two-party
system is largely the
result of the nations
choosing its official
through plurality voting
in singe-member
districts
The plurality system
(sometimes called the
winner-take-all system)
discourages minor
parties by reducing their
chances of winning
anything, even if they
perform well by minor
party standards
By comparison, most
European democracies
use some form of a
proportional
representation system, in which seats in the legislature are allocated according
to a partys share of the popular vote

Politics and Coalition in the Two-Party System

The overriding goal of a major American party is to gain power by getting its
candidates elected to office
Only two major parties, the Republicans and the Democrats can win
consistently only by attracting majority support
In Europes multiparty systems, a party can hope for a share of power if it has
the firm backing of a minority faction
Seeking the Center, Without Losing the Support of the Party Faithful

The median voter theorem holds that, if there are two parties, the parties
can maximize their vote only if they position themselves at the location of
the median voterthe voter whose preferences are exactly in the
medium

The balance of power in American elections sometimes rests with the

moderate voters in the center rather than with those who hold more
extreme positions

However, bold politics do not always result in electoral defeat

The moderates shifted toward the presidents direction

Although parties risk a crushing defeat by straying too far from the center
during normal times, they may do so with some success during turbulent
times

The rising level of party polarization over the past two decades has
altered the parties electoral strategies somewhat

When the bulk of the electorate was clustered in the middle of the
political spectrum, the parties usually converged on the center

Bus as the voters themselves have moved away from the center, the
parties have also had to worry about keeping their regular voters happy
Party Coalitions

The groups of interests that support a party are collectively referred to as

the party collation

Only a few groups are tightly aligned with a party: African Americans are
the clearest example, whereas more than 80% of them regularly vote
Democrat

Although the Republican and democratic coalitions overlap, they are

hardly identity

Democratics

Social and economic problems: Each party has supported

government action to promote economic security and social equality,
but the Democrats have favored a greater level of government
involvement

Every major assistance program for the poor, the elderly, and
low-wage worderks since the 1930s has been initiated by the
Democrats

The Democratic Party also draws more support from women than
men, although the gender gap is characteristic of white voters only

White women hold opinions that are more liberal on average than
those held by white men

Republicans

The GOP has historically been the party of tax cuts and business
incentives

Supportive of traditional values

GOP is the strongest in the suburbs and in regions where belief of

traditional values and low taxes is prevalent

White fundamentalist Christians

A key to the future of both parties is the Hispanic vote

Polls show Hispanics to be relatively liberal on economic issues and

relatively conservative on social issues, providing both parties a basis for
appealing for their support

In the recent elections, however, Hispanics have sided heavily with the
Democratic Party, seeing it as more closely aligned with their interest

Starting in 2010, Republican-controlled state legislatures enacted laws

authorizing police to check for evidence of level status whenever in the
course of duty they stop a person for another reason

If the individual is an illegal alien, he or she is to be detained, charged

with a state crime, and then turned over to federal authorities for
deportation
Minor (third) parties
Although the US electoral system discourages the formation of third parties,

the nation has always had themmore than a thousand over its history
Only one minor party, the Republican Party, has achieved majority status
Promote policies that their followers believe are not being represented
adequately by either of the two major parties
If a minor party gains a following, one or both major parties typically awaken
to its issue, at which time the minor party begins to lose support
Many of these parties were single-issued parties formed around a lone issue of
overriding interest to their followers
Although single-issue parties exist today, they do not have large followings or
much influence
The role that single-issue parties played in the 19th
century is now played by
singe-issued interest groups
The most important minor party of the 20th
century were factional parties that
resulted from a split within one of the major parties
The most electorally successful of these factional parties was the Bull Moose
Party in 1912

After losing out of the nominating race, Roosevelt proceeded to form the
progressive Bull Moose Party
Other minor parties have been characterized by their ideological commitment
to a broad and no centrist ideological position, such as redistribution of
economic resources
The strongest of todays ideological parties is the Green Party
Some minor parties have been virtually antiparties in the sense that they
arose out of a belief that partisan politics is a corruption influence
The strongest of these reform parties was the Progressive Party
Party Organizations

The Democratic and Republican parties have organizational units at the national,
state, and local levels.

These party organizations concentrate on the contesting of elections

The weakening of Party Organization

A century ago, party organizations enjoyed nearly complete control of
elections
Todays party organizations perform al activities in which parties formerly
engagedcandidate recruitment, fundraising, policy development,
canvassingthey do not control these activities as fully as they once did

candidates have the lead role

Nomination refers to the selection of the individual who will run as the partys
candidate in the general election
A primary election (or direct primary) gives control of nominations to the
voters
The candidate who gets the most votes in a partys primary gets its nomination
for the general election
In some states, the nominees are chosen in closed primaries, in which
participation is limited to voters registered or declared at the polls as
members of the arty whose primary is being held
In contrast, some states use open primaries, which allow independents and
sometimes voters of the other party to vote in the partys primary
California, Louisiana, Nebraska, and Washington conduct top-two primaries.
Candidates are listed on the same ballot without regard to party; the top two
finishers become the general election candidates
Primaries hinder the building of strong party organizations

Candidates can seek office on their own and create a personal following that
places them beyond the partys direct control
Candidates also have more control over campaign money than do the parties
Today, most of the money goes to the candidates directly, without first passing
through the parties
Party organizations were also weakened by the decline of patronage
As government jobs in the early 20th
century shifted from patronage to the
merit system, the party organizations controlled many fewer positions
Because of the large size of government, thousands of patronage jobs still exist
In Europe, where there are no primary elections, the parties are stronger

The Structure and Role of Party Organizations

Although party organizations have lost influence, parties are in no danger of
extinction
US parties are organized at the national, state, and local levels, but there is no
chain of command that connects them
Local Party Organizations

In a sense, US parties are organized from the bottom up, not the top down

Only of few of them, including the Democratic organizations in

Philadelphia and Chicago, bear even a faint resemblance to the fabled
old-time party machines that, in return for jobs and even welfare services,
were able to deliver the vote on election day

Local parties take part in congressional, statewide, and presidential

contests, but in these cases, their role is typically secondary to that of the
candidates persona campaign organizations
State Party Organizations

Each party is headed by a central committee made up of members of local

party organizations and local and state officeholders

The state party organization engage in activities that can improve their
candidates chances of success

Concentration on statewide races, including those for governor and US

senator, and also focus on races for the state legislature

They play a smaller role in campaigns for national or local offices, and in
most states, they do not endorse candidates in their statewide primaries
National Party Organizations

The national Republican and Democratic party organizations, which are

located in Washington D.C., are structured much like those at the state
level: they have a national committee and a national party chairperson
The Candidate-Centered Campaign

Party committees have more of a service relationship than a power relationship

with their partys candidates

Accordingly, the party organizations tend to back whichever candidate wins the
primary

If the candidate then wins the general election, the party at least has denied the
office to the opposing party

Todays campaigns are largely controlled by the candidates, particularly in

congressional, statewide, and presidential
races

Campaign Funds: The Money Chase

Campaigns for high office are
expensive, and the costs keep raising
Because of the high cost of

campaigns, candidates spend much of their time raising fund , which come
primarily from individual contributors, interest groups, and political parties
The money chase is relentless
The money that political parties, individuals, and interest groups donate to an
individual candidate is subject to legal limits
These contributions are termed hard moneythe money is given directly to
the candidate and can be spent as he or she chooses
Candidates are also the beneficiaries, and sometimes the casualties, of
spending by super PACs
Super PACs are an outgrowth of the Supreme Courts decision in Citizen United
v. Federal Election Commission
The level of independent spending by super PACs skyrocketed in the 2012
elections
However, much of the money was spent in ways the candidates and parties
had not envisionedto tear down candidates of the same party
Organization and Strategy: Political Consultants
They key operatives in todays campaignscongressional as well as
presidentialare highly paid political consultants: campaign strategists,
pollsters, media producers, and fundraising and get-out-the-vote specialists
Campaign consultants are skilled at packaging a candidatehighlighting those
aspects of the candidates partisanship, policy positions, personal background,
and personality that are thought most attractive to voters
Over the course of a campaign, voters usually hear more about the candidates
weaknesses than about their strengths
Voter Contacts: Pitched Battle
Air Wars
Ground Wars
Web Wars
In Retrospect: The Consequence of the Last War