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| Not to be confused with a gangsta party ... |
Parties in the United States are distinctly different than most other nations. Political parties here are what we refer to as umbrella parties. These are political parties made up of several smaller groups who merely have enough in common to work together. Both Democrats and Republicans work to achieve their party goals, but are made up of a variety of groups.
Democrats Republicans
Union workers Cubans
Catholics conservative Christians
Gay rights advocates Business owners
Most Hispanic groups "Blue-dog" Democrats
African-Americans Anti-abortion advocates
Jews States' Righters
Environmentalists
The groups within the parties often have conflicting views, and it's important to realize that in an umbrella party, it's acceptable for a person to not believe in all of the stated party positions. Laborers from a steel workers' union might find it difficult to find themselves working with gay rights advocates, but the Democratic party sees that as acceptable to have differences in belief. When these groups pool their energy and resources, more can be accomplished. The same logic holds true for the Republicans.
Though the United States has umbrella parties, most other nations developed what are commonly called ideological parties, which center around a specific set of beliefs that all members are expected to believe and follow. When nations have ideological parties, there tends to be many different parties that compete in elections, whereas only two major parties exist in the United States.
Tasks of a political party
One of the more important tasks of the political party is that of candidate selection. Before the 20th century, the political party would choose the candidates would run for their group at a party convention. Typically, these party conventions were attended only by the party elite, resulting in candidates that represented a wealthier class of citizens. Democrats and Republicans typically put up candidates against one another and that often resulted in frustration for voters. The American voters didn't have much choice in the process.
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| What if your party nominated Mayor Quimby? |
At the turn of the 20th century, parties began to switch their method of choosing candidates from a party convention to a primary election. In these elections, any Democrat can run against an entire field of other Democrats for any office. The people within the Democratic Party select the candidate they want to represent them when running against the Republican candidate who has gone through the same process.
Parties also provide cues to voters. During the campaign process and in the voting booth, the label of Democrat or Republican can help voters understand what that candidate believes. While every voter should investigate the candidates to determine their specific views and policy positions, having the label from a party can tell someone a great deal about a candidate.
Like interest groups, political parties seek to affect policies of the government. When a candidate gets elected to public office, their political party has typically provided a great deal of assistance. In return, those candidates are expected to vote in a manner according to the party wishes. One of the best tools a party has to exert a measure of control over politicians is the threat of not providing help in their next bid for re-election. Specifically, parties will withhold campaign donations and encourage their other members to follow their example. The party's control does have some limitation however. Some members of Congress or the President know they will not be returning for another term, so they will not care about re-election.
Political parties also provide balanced competition in our governmental system. The Democrats and Republicans both provide an opposing force to the other, preventing either party from forcing unpopular policies through government. When new officials are elected into office, the opposing party refrains from criticizing while the new politician becomes accustomed to his or her position. This is referred to as a 'honeymoon period.'
Another task of parties includes the education and mobilization of voters. It's crucial that voters have the information necessary to make the right choices when it comes to choosing political representation, so parties want their policies well known. The one drawback to this is that both parties often distort the positions of their opposition. Parties have done a tremendous job at providing assistance to voters in helping them get to the polls so that they may vote. Finally, parties provide campaign funds to politicians, which allows them to have an element of influence over what policies are enacted.
Party Organization
It is important to recognize that political party activity takes place at national, state, and local levels, however, parties do not have a hierarchy that flows in a top-down fashion. The national party does not give out orders that are simply followed by the lower levels. Each level of the political party is fairly independent and responds to the needs and beliefs of the citizens in its given area.
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| Guess which party's convention this is ... |
At the national level of party activity, there is a national party convention every four years that coincides with the presidential elections. Several events take place at the national conventions, including:
- Official nomination of presidential and vice-presidential candidates (primaries have typically already decided who these people are, so this is normally just a formality)
- Potential changes to any party rules
- Adopting a platform, which are the official positions of the party. Each position in the platform is referred to as a 'plank.'
- A series of speeches are given to rally support for the party -- usually by the 'stars' of the party. Bill Clinton notably gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 2012.
Can you answer: what types of ideology do people who attend party conventions probably have?
Parties still operate in the four years between conventions, as each party has a national party committee led by a party chairperson. The members who hold these positions are responsible for setting the overall direction of the party and managing the day-to-day operation of the party. They also help raise campaign funds between elections.
Political parties at the state level operate on a similar structure. They have state party conventions, state committees, chairman, etc. County level party structure exists as well -- and they help promote candidates for smaller, more local offices like a counter commission or mayor of a city.
How candidates are nominated
The demand for a more democratic process helped end the old-fashioned party conventions of the 19th century where party elites selected the candidates that would run for office. As a result, most states turned to primary elections to allow the public to have more of a say in which candidates would represent the party. States, however, vary in the types of primary elections they have.
Some states have what's called an open primary, where anyone can vote in the primary of their choice. There is no requirement to be a party member to vote in a certain primary, which means Democrats could vote in the Republican primary instead of their own, and vice versa.
Can you answer: why would an open primary potentially be a problem?
Other states use a closed primary, where only members of a party can vote in their specific primaries. Though West Virginia has a closed primary, the state allows independents to choose if they want to vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary.
A select few states use a blanket primary, where every voter receives a ballot with all candidates from all parties on it. Each voter selects one candidate for each office, but they may be of any party. So, a voter might choose a Republican in the presidential primary race, but a Democrat for the governor's office.
While most states use some type of primary election, there are states that use a more informal system to choose candidates, called a caucus. These informal meetings take place in schools, churches, and other public gathering areas and allow citizens to openly engage in debate and discussion and then make choices about what candidates they will support. People stand in certain locations that are designated for specific candidates. After initial rounds of voting, the people are given an opportunity to persuade people to support a different candidate. The caucus is better explained by watching one in action.
Can you answer: what are the pros and cons of a caucus system?
Two party system vs. multi-party system
The United States' elections work in such a way that created and sustained a two-party system, where two major political parties dominate the government. The elections in the United States are candidate centered, and use a "winner-take-all" principle, where the candidate with the plurality of votes wins an election. Candidates who still gather large percentages of the vote receive nothing. This often discourages the development of third parties because they have little chance at winning anything in an election against the two major parties. The small groups that make up the 'umbrellas' of Demcrats and Republicans feel like they have to be part of a major party if they want to have a chance at winning an election.
Other nations used a multi-party system where their elections are not candidate centered, but party centered. In these elections, citizens actually cast a vote for a political party, and the law-making body has a proportional representation. The percetange of votes a party receives determines the percentage of members of the law-making body it will have. If Party X receives 35% of the votes from the nation, they will have 35% of the members in the law-making body. This system is seen as more representative of what the voters want, and provides a voice to smaller parties.
First, every region of the country is represented with one of its own citizens because the American system uses what are called single member plurality districts, where every part of the nation is broken into districts where the representatives are people from that area. In a proportional system, the representatives that a party puts into office may not represent the interests of all regions of the nation.
In our two party system, one of the advantages is that one party always holds a numerical advantage in the law making body. This means that the law-making body tend to be more productive because one party will almost always hold a majority of the votes. In a multi-party system, there are so many varying interests, the possibility of gridlock seems far greater.
Another benefit of the two-party system is that third parties can still influence in our political system. They bring up issues to the American public that the major parties often ignore. They can also affect the outcome of close elections.
Having a two-party system also forces the majority parties to reach out to the moderate voters. Because people want to vote and must choose between the two major parties, then those two parties will work to expand the number of citizens it appeals to.
However, there are a few disadvantages to the two-party system ...
The two-party system prevents third parties from having much chance at success in winning elections. Because only the winner is rewarded in our elections, third parties never have any chance of building support. In a proportional system, if a party wins 5% of the vote, they receive representation in the law-making body and they can build on that success.
Two-party systems also tend to see more negative campaigning. Because the two major parties only have one opponent that will seriously contend with them in an election, it's easier to focus their resources on tearing down one opponent. In a multi-party system, there are too many other groups to contend with, so parties focus on promoting their positive traits instead of attempting bash others.
This system also isn't indicative of what the people want. Imagine if Republicans won every single seat in the United States Congress, and every election was decided by a vote count of 51% to 49%. We would have an entire Congress of Republicans and yet this would not take into account that nearly half of the nation voted Democrat. Hardly seems fair, does it?
A two-party system also presents the danger that one party could become too powerful and implement bad law into place.
What about third parties?
Do third parties really have a chance at winning elections at the federal level? The answer is almost always a resounding 'no.' This does not mean that third parties don't have a place in our political system, or don't sometimes do actually succeed in their goals. Third parties don't often succeed at the federal level, but often have success at state and local levels.
What can parties do to contribute to the political system? Third parties offer a place for the discontented Americans to voice their opinions and frustrations. They also force the major political parties to take stances on issues they have often ignored. These minor political parties also provide a platform for 'fringe' candidates to express views of alienation.
How do third parties tend to develop? Political parties usually develop in one of two capacities. The party is either centered around a single charasmatic individual, or the party is centered around a set of issues. Some parties also develop into what are called splinter parties, where a new political party breaks away from an already existing party.
What is the fate of most third parties? Unfortunately, most political parties die off when one of the two major parties absorbs their issues. Members of a party will migrate to one of the major parties when one of those takes on the key issues they care about. These people realize their level of success in getting policies changed will be far greater if they are supported by the major parties.
On a rare occasion, a third party will supplant one of the two major parties and take its place. This is how the modern Republican Party became one of our two current major political parties. During the 1850s, the Republicans formed to take the place of the dying Whig Party. They've been annoying the Democrats ever since.
Hundreds of third parties exist in the United States, but only a few are relevant enough to mention. Perhaps the most notable of third parties is the Green Party, which formed as a group based on protecting the environment. They've also expanded to include other issues, including a more peaceful, diplomatic foreign policy, gender and racial equality, and non-violence.
The Green Party has seen moderate levels of success in forcing the two major parties to reach out to unhappy voters. As a result, the Democrats have taken on many of the environmental issues that made the Green Party popular. That fact has caused many members of the Green Party to move under the 'umbrella' of the Democrats.
Another somewhat successful minor group is the Libertarian Party, which emphasizes allowing individuals more personal freedom to choose their own path in life. They wish to see less government regulation in all areas of life and tend to exhibit liberal social values mixed with conservative economic principles.
History of Political Party Eras
Though the United States has always had only two major political parties, they haven't always been the same two parties. There's a distinct history to the political parties of our nation and we need to examine the five distinct party eras. These party eras are divided by what political scientists refer to as realigning elections, where the groups under the 'umbrellas' of the two major parties shift from one group to another. These realignments cause a change in the political landscape and impact the outcomes of elections and the policies implemented by government.
The first two political parties developed out of the argument for ratification of the Constitution. The Federalists morphed into the Federalist Party, while the Anti-Federalists decided on the name Democratic-Republicans (not to be confused with either of today's major parties).
The Federalists supported a strong centralized government, but also they represented the interests of the elite members of society. They envisioned an America that pushed for stronger reliance on developing industry and urban areas. The Democratic-Republicans believed in more strength being allotted to state governments and represented the interests more of the common man. Their goal was to create an America as more of an agricultural society with not as heavy of an emphasis on urban development of industry.
This party system stayed in place until the Federalist Party slowly faded away, giving Democratic-Republicans a great deal of control in developing whatever policies they wanted. This system would see its end in the Election of 1824, considered to be the first realigning election. In this election, the four candidates for vying for the presidency were all Democratic-Republicans, ensuring that they would win the race. However, the vote was greatly divided and the negative campaigning that had taken place between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson (the top two vote getters) greatly divided the party. The controversial outcome of the election saw Adams winning the presidency through a political alliance with Henry Clay, and angered Jackson enough to cause a permanent split in the party.
Jackson and his supporters became the modern roots of the Democrats, with the overwhelming support coming from the commoners in the United States. Adams and his supporters of the wealthy elite of society formed the National Republicans. Unfortunately for the National Republicans, their party did not last long. The number of common citizens who supported Jackson created a strong voting base for future elections.
When the National Republicans quickly ended two major elections, the wealthy citizens of the nation formed a new party -- the Whig Party -- made up of northern industrialists and southern plantation owners. This seems like a strange alliance, but both of these groups were interested in maintaining their wealth and keeping their positions of prominence.
The Whigs had some success in electing members to Congress and even elected two presidents (William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor). However, this party could not survive for more than a few decades. The national turmoil over the issue of slavery drove a wedge into the Whigs and permanently split the group in 1860, which represented the second realigning election.
The Election of 1860 was the next realigning election, where slavery divided the Whigs and the Democrats. The anti-slavery Americans formed a new political party, the Republicans, who replaced the Whigs. After the Civil War ended, the Republicans dominated the government until the 1930s in what was called the Two-Republican Era.
The first of these Republican eras lasted from 1860 to 1896, which saw Republicans dominate the White House and Congress because of the association of Democrats with the South. During this time, Democats only elected one president and could not control Congress.
The Election of 1896 represented another critical election, which saw the nation divided over the issue of how to back the nation's currency. Republicans believed a gold only standard was the best option to back paper money while Democrats wanted a gold and silver basis for backing the dollar. The Republicans won out and would dominate again in a second era. Over the next 30 years, Republicans controlled government and would not relinquish control until 1932.
The Election of 1932 brought the Democrats back into control of the government for the first time since before the Civil War. The onset of the Great Depression turned the American public against Republican leadership, whom they blamed for the economic troubles of the time. President Franklin Roosevelt also brought a large number of groups under the Democratic Party umbrella, including some groups who traditionally had not associated together, including Jews, African-Americans, union workers, and women.
During the New Deal Era, Democrats were credited with ending the Great Depression and implemented their policies with little problem until 1968. That particular year provided Americans with a great deal of controversy with the ongoing Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. As such, the American people began to mistrust both political parties, leading into a new era. This time also saw the realignment of Southerners, who shifted from supporting Democrats to Republicans.
The Era of Divided Government has seen a change in the way Americans vote. They began to vote less on straight ticket for a party, and instead, started to vote more for specific individuals. Voters took up split-ticket voting, which resulted in divided government more often than had occurred previously. Since 1968, Americans have a strong distrust in both parties, thanks to numerous problems manufactured by both major parties.
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