Political parties in the United States are decentralized organizations with national, state, and local components. At the national level, each party has a national committee led by a chairperson that oversees the national convention, campaign committees, and fundraising efforts. While the President nominally leads their party, control is diffuse. Parties must satisfy a wide range of voters due to federalism and the decentralized nature of the American political system.

1. Political Parties
Chapter 5

2. PARTIES AND WHAT THEY DO
Section 1

3. Introduction
• What are political parties, and how do
they function in our two-party system?
• A party is a group of people who try to control
government by winning elections and holding
public office.
• Political Parties:
• Nominate candidates
• Inform and inspire supporters
• Encourage good behavior among members
• Govern once in office
• Perform oversight on government actions

4. Three Elements of a Political Party
• The party organization is the party
professionals who run the party at all levels
by contributing time, money, and skill.
• The party in government includes the
candidates and officeholders who serve at all
levels of government.
• The party in the electorate are the
millions of voters who identify strongly with
a particular party and support its policies.

5. What Parties Do
• Parties express the will of the people in
government. They can also encourage unity by
modifying conflicting views and encouraging
compromise.
• Parties nominate—find, recruit, prepare, and
gather public support for—qualified political
candidates.
• Parties inform the public and try to shape public
opinion, using all forms of media to campaign for
or against opposing candidates and policy issues.

6. Roles of Parties
• Parties act as a “bonding agent” to
encourage accountability among their
candidates and office holders.
• Parties play a key roles in governing at all
levels.
• Legislatures are organized along party lines and
parties shape the electoral process.
• Partisanship guides many legislative votes and
appointments to public office.
• Parties provide channels of communication
between the branches of government.

7. Parties as “Watchdogs”
• In particular, the minority party keeps a
close eye on the actions of the party that
controls the executive branch to make sure
that it does not abuse its power or violate
the public trust.

8. The Two-Party System
• The Republican and Democratic parties
dominate American politics.
• Only the candidates from the two major
parties have a chance to win most
elections.
• Why is this the case?
• The Framers opposed political parties.
• They saw parties as “factions” that caused
disunity and conflict. George Washington
warned against the dangers of parties.

9. Tradition
• Once established, parties became part of
tradition.
• The nature of the election process supports
the two-party system.
• Nearly all American elections take place in single-
member districts--only the one candidate who wins
the largest number of votes gets elected to office.
• This works against third-party candidates, who have
little chance of finishing in the top two.

10. Tradition
• The two major parties write election rules
that discourage non-major parties.
• For example, it is very difficult for a third
party candidate to get on the ballot in all 50
states.

11. Ideological Consensus
• Americans tend to share a
broad ideological
consensus.
• The United States is made
up of many different
cultural groups.
• While Americans don’t
agree on every issue, they
do support the same basic
freedoms.
• Strongly divisive issues
have tended not to last for
generations.

12. Building Consensus
• Both major parties try to be moderate and
build consensus.
• Both parties tend to have a few major areas of
policy differences while being rather similar in
other areas.
• The similarities between parties arises because
both parties are after a majority of voters in any
given election. Both parties must compete for the
many voters in the middle of the political
spectrum.

13. Political Spectrum
Radical Favors extreme change to create an altered
or entirely new social system.
Liberal Believes that government must take action to
change economic, political, and ideological
policies thought to be unfair.
Moderate Holds beliefs that fall between liberal and
conservative views, usually including some
of each.
Conservative Seeks to keep in place the economic,
political, and social structures of society.
Reactionary Favors extreme change to restore society to
an earlier, more conservative state.

14. Multiparty Systems
• Multiparty systems are used by many
democracies.
• They have several major and many smaller
parties.
• Each party is based on a particular interest.
• These interests can include economic class,
religion, or political ideology.

15. Multiparty Systems
• Multiparty systems tend to represent a
more diverse group of citizens.
• Supporters admire this feature, arguing
that it gives voters many more choices
among candidates and policies.
• However, this diversity often makes
multiparty systems less stable. The power
to govern must usually be shared by
several parties who join in a coalition.

16. One Party Systems
• Only one political party
exists, offering no real
choice.
• Some U.S. states and
districts are “modified
one-party systems.”
• In these places, one party
repeatedly wins most of the
elections and dominates
government.

17. TWO PARTY SYSTEM IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
Section 2

18. Introduction
• How has the two-party system affected
the history of American government?
• During different periods in American
history, either the Democratic or
Republican Party has dominated national
politics and the branches of the federal
government.
• Recent history has seen the federal
government divided between two parties.

19. The Nation’s First Parties
• The battle over ratification of the Constitution led to
the rise of the first major parties.
• The Federalist Party was formed by supporters of
the Constitution.
• They wanted a stronger national government and
policies that helped financial, commercial, and
manufacturing interests.
• Alexander Hamilton and John Adams
were key representatives.

20. Democratic-Republican Party
• Opposing the Federalists was the Democratic-
Republican Party.
• They wanted a more limited national government,
with policies aimed at helping farmers, planters, labor,
and small business.
• Key leaders such as
Thomas Jefferson and
James Madison favored
a strict interpretation
of the Constitution.

21. The Democratic Party
• The election of 1796 was
the first time two parties
fought for the presidency.
• The Federalists won, but
faded from power after
losing the 1800 election.
• The Democratic-Republicans
later split apart and gave
rise to the Democratic Party.

23. The Era of the Democrats
• The Democratic Party won 13 of 15
presidential elections from 1800 to 1860.
• In the 1830s, President Andrew Jackson
began a period of so-called Jacksonian
democracy, marked by three major political
changes:
• Voting rights were expanded to include all white
males, not just those with property.
• A huge increase in the number of elected offices
around the country.
• The spread of the spoils system.

24. Democrats versus Whigs
• The Democrats drew
much of their support
from small farmers,
pioneers, and
slaveholders in the
South and West.
• Their greatest rivals
were the Whigs, who
were supported by
wealthier merchant
and industrial interests
in the East.

25. Democrats versus Whigs
• The debate over slavery split the
Whigs and the Democrats apart in the
1850s.
• The Democrats were split between
northern and southern factions.
• Many Whigs and antislavery Democrats
joined the new Republican Party in 1854.

26. Era of the Republicans
• The Republican Party won 14 of 18 presidential
elections from 1860 to 1932.
• The Civil War crippled the Democrats.
• All their powers was concentrated in the South,
which they controlled for roughly 100 years after
Reconstruction ended.
• The Republican dominated nationally.
• They had the support of farmers, laborers, business
and financial interests, and freed African Americans.
• The Republicans benefited from years of economic
prosperity.

27. Economic Turmoil
• An economic downturn made the
election of 1896 critical.
• Labor unions joined small farmers and
small business owners to back the
Democrats.
• The Republicans won by appealing to a
wider range of voters, but the Democrats
gained new support outside the South.

28. End of the Republican Era
• The Republicans lost the presidency in
1912 largely due to a third party
candidate.
• Former Republican Theodore Roosevelt
ran as a member of the new Progressive
Party and split the Republican vote,
helping Democrat Woodrow Wilson win.

29. Party Identity: Past & Present
• Cartoonist Thomas Nast has been credited with
creating the party symbols in is 1874 cartoon for
the magazine Harper’s Weekly.
• Originally, neither
party adopted his
ideas. Over time,
each party assumed
and revised the
symbols, which have
become synonymous
with party identity.

30. Return of the Democrats
• The Democrats won 7 out of
9 presidential elections from
1932 to 1968.
• The Great Depression
sparked the comeback of the
Democrats.
• With the economy in ruins,
the Democrats gained the
support of southerners,
small farmers, big-city
political organizations, labor
unions, and minority groups.

31. Era of Divided Government
• The Republicans won 7 out of 10 presidential
elections from 1968 to 2004.
• The Democrats controlled Congress for most
of this period.
• Republicans controlled Congress from 1995 to
2000 while Democrat Bill Clinton was President.
• This division of power meant that neither
party could easily control the agenda of the
government without making compromises.

32. Republicans in the 1980s
• The Republicans made major changes to
U.S. foreign trade and domestic policies
during the 1980s.
• Republican candidates Ronald Reagan and
George H.W. Bush won three landslide victories
during this period.

33. Political Parties Today
• In recent years, control of Congress,
particularly the Senate, has shifted
back and forth between the major
parties.
• Typically newly elected Presidents has a
“coattail” effect that brings other
candidates from their party to Congress.
In recent years, this has not been the
case.

34. THE MINOR PARTIES
Section 3

35. Introduction
• What role have minor parties played in
American politics?
• American minor parties have fallen into four
broad categories: ideological parties, single-
issue parties, economic protest parties, and
splinter parties.
• Minor parties can play a spoiler role in elections
by taking critical votes from a major party.
• They can also be the first to bring key issues to
public attention with their campaigns.

36. Ideological Parties
• Ideological parties are based on a
particular set of beliefs that usually
involve society, politics, and the
economy.
• Most of these parties have involved
Marxist ideas, such as Socialist, Socialist
Labor, Socialist Worker, and
Communist parties.

37. Ideological Parties
• The Libertarian Party promotes the
opposite view, calling for the
elimination of most government
functions and programs.
• Ideological parties rarely win many
votes, but can last for many years.

38. Single Party Issues
• Single issue parties
emphasize one public
policy issue.
• For example, the Free
Soil Party opposed the
spread of slavery to the
West.
• Most single issue parties
fade away when their
issue is resolved or no
longer attracts public
interest.

39. Economic Protest Parties
• Economic protest parties arise in periods
of economic trouble.
• They call for economic reforms.
• The Populist Party of the 1890s arose
from the Greenbacks. They demanded
public ownership of railroads, telephone,
and telegraph companies along with
political reforms.
• These parties disappear when the hard
economic times end.

40. Splinter Parties
• Splinter parties split away from one of the
major parties.
• They are often centered on a particular candidate
who fails to win his or her major party
nomination, or arise from a strong disagreement
within a major party

41. Splinter Parties
• The Dixiecrat and
American Independent
parties split from the
Democratic Party over
states’ rights and civil
rights issues.
• George C. Wallace, governor
of Alabama campaigned for
President in 1968 as a
member of the American
Independent Party

42. The Bull Moose Party
• The Progressive parties
of Theodore Roosevelt
and Robert La Follette
split from the Republican
Party.
• Roosevelt’s party was
nicknamed the Bull
Moose Party.
• Splinter parties tend to
break up when their
leaders step aside.

43. Minor Party Influence
• Minor parties can also play a spoiler role.
• By winning electoral votes or even enough
popular votes to affect the outcome in a key
state, a minor party can affect the outcome of an
election.

44. Affecting Presidential Elections
• It is not common for a minor party
candidacy to shift the outcome of a
presidential election.
• Theodore Roosevelt’s candidacy as a
Progressive Party member most likely cost
Republican William Taft the presidential
election of 1912.
• Ralph Nader’s Green Party may have cost
Democrat Al Gore the very close presidential
election of 2000 by gaining votes in swing
states such as Florida.

45. Raising Public Awareness
• The most important role of minor parties is to
raise public awareness of controversial issues.
• Women’s suffrage, income tax, and regulation of
banking and railroads were all first championed by
minor parties.
• Minor parties challenge the major parties to take action
on issues, often accusing them of being part of the
problem.
• The more successful minor parties’ efforts are to raise
awareness of an issue, the more likely it is that major
parties will put the idea into their own campaign
platforms.

46. Minor Party Candidates
• In 2008 there were seventeen minor
party presidential candidates appearing
on the ballot of at least one state.
• More than 1,000 minor party
candidates also sought seats in
Congress or offices in various state and
local elections.

47. PARTY ORGANIZATION
Section 4

48. Introduction
• How are political parties organized at the
federal, State, and local levels?
• Parties are decentralized.
• National Committees represent each
party’s interests at the national level.
• Most states have a central party
committee.
• Local party structures vary quite widely
from place to place.

49. A Decentralized Structure
• Neither party has an unbroken chain of
command running through all levels of
government.
• The President is the nominal leader of his or her
party.
• This means that the party of the President is
typically better organized than its rival party.
• The President’s media exposure and power to make
appointments is valuable, but does not give him or
her complete authority over all party activities.

50. Federalism
• The federal system is
decentralized.
• There are more than half
a million elective offices
in the United States
spread across federal,
state, and local
governments.
• The parties must satisfy
a very wide range of
voters, which makes it
hard to have a unified
party message.
How does this cartoon illustrate the
decentralized nature of political
parties?

51. The Nominating Process
• The nominating process can lead to
competition within the parties.
• Nominations are made within the
party and can divide party members
if there is a dispute over nominees.

52. The National Convention
• The national convention is held every
presidential election year.
• The convention names the party’s
presidential and vice-presidential
candidates, adopts the party’s rules,
and writes the official party platform.
• The convention does not name
candidates for other offices and has no
control over the actual policies
supported by candidates.

53. National Committee
• The national committee handles party
issues in between conventions.
• Each party’s national committee includes a
committee member from each state.
• The Republican National Committee
(RNC) now seats the party chairperson for
each state as well as representatives from
various Republican groups and the U.S.
territories.

54. National Committee
• The Democratic National
Committee (DNC) is even larger. It
includes the party chair and vice
chairperson from each state, additional
party members from the larger states,
and up to 75 at large members chosen
by the DNC.

55. National Chairperson
• The national
chairperson leads the
national committee.
• The chairperson is
chosen after the
national convention by
the presidential
nominee.
• Howard Dean (right)
served as the
Democratic Party’s
national chairperson in
the 2008 election.

56. National Chairperson
• The national chairperson directs the work of
the party headquarters and professional
staff in Washington, D.C.
• In presidential election years, the national
chairperson’s work involves the presidential
campaign.
• In other years, the chairperson concentrates
on building party unity, raising money, and
recruiting new voters for the next election.

57. Campaign Committees
• Each party also has a campaign
committee for each house of Congress.
• These committees work to get party
members elected or reelected to
Congress.

58. Raising Funds
•Both parties spend a
great deal of effort to
make sure the
party’s officeholders
stay in power.
• What does the chart
show about spending
over the last several
years?
• Why might well-
known party
members be invited
to speak at dinners?

59. State Party Organization
• State law largely determines party organization
at the state level.
• Most states have a central party committee
headed by a chairperson.
• The committee members choose the chairperson, who
often has a great deal of independence in conducting
party affairs.
• Committee members are chosen by a variety of
methods: primaries, caucuses, or state conventions.
• These officials try to promote party unity, find
candidates, and raise funds.

60. Local Party Organization
• Local party structure
varies a great deal.
• In some places local
party organizations are
active year-round, but
usually they focus their
efforts on the few
months before an
election.
• What kind of party jobs do
you think exist at each
level of organization?