Brief overview of the U.S. political parties.

1. CIVICS & ECONOMICS
UNIT 4

2. American’s are divided by their
Political Ideology - basic political beliefs.
“Liberal” “Conservative”
Democrats Republicans
Political Spectrum

3. Political Parties - a group of citizens with
similar views on public issues who work to
put their ideas into effective government action.
WHAT DO PARTIES DO?
*Recruit candidates & support campaigns
*Help organize elections and inform voters
*Organize the government
*Unite diverse interests and make collective action
possible

4. WHO ARE
THE
REPUBLICANS?
Known as Conservatives
More likely to be white, male, and relatively affluent
Favor limiting the size of the nt’l gov. - more power to the states
Broad-based tax cuts
Oppose excessive business regulation by the government
Tend to favor prayer in public schools, while opposing abortion and
gun control laws
Tend to oppose minimum wage laws as unnecessary economic
regulation

5. WHO ARE
THE DEMOCRATS?
*Known as Liberals
*More likely to be a member of a
minority group, female, and less affluent
*Strong federal government to solve a variety of problems
*Tax cuts for the poor, higher taxes for the affluent to support social programs
*Gov. regulation of business to protect consumers, workers, or the environment
*Democrats are more likely to support abortion rights and gun control laws, while
opposing school prayer
*Favor regular increases in minimum wage to support poor families

6. THIRD PARTIES
EXAMPLES FROM
TYPE OF PARTY
U.S. HISTORY
National Woman’s Party (1913-1920)
Single-issue party Promoted voting rights for women
Formed to oppose or promote
Right to Life Party (1970-present)
1 issue
Opposes legalized abortion
Economic protest party Greenback Party (1874-1884)
Formed to promote “better times” Promoted use of paper $, silver coinage,
and the 8 hour workday
Ideological party Libertarian Party (1971-Present)
Formed by people committed to a set of Favors reducing the role of gvn’t in citizens’
beliefs lives
Progressive “Bull Moose” Party (1912-1952)
Splinter party Separated from the Republicans to promote
Formed by people unhappy with a major
progressive reforms
party
Third parties have limited success in the two-party system in the
U.S. Smaller parties find it hard to raise $$$ and get the media
coverage needed to challenge the 2 major parties.

7. IN THE
MIDDLE

8. How do we form our Political Opinions?
Family - 95% of high school seniors id the same party as
their parents.
School - the more educated Americans are, the more
Political likely they are to participate in politics.
Socialization
the process by Religion - Religious teaching help shape political values.
which you acquire
your political beliefs Peer Groups - Our friends, co-workers and the groups
& attitudes we join influence our political views.
Gender & Ethnicity - effect our political loyalties.
News Media - shapes opinion by the information given
to us about our world

9. SPECIAL-INTEREST
GROUPS
when a group seeks to influence government
at any level
the term special interest refers to a particular
goal or set of goals that unite the members of
a group
why join an interest group?
offer information and benefits
agree with the group’s goals and want to
join others that feel the same

10. SPECIAL-INTEREST
GROUPS

11. SPECIAL-INTEREST
GROUPS
*One way that interest groups try to influence
government is by contributing $$$ to political parties
and candidates during elections.
*Political Action Committees (PACs) $$- private
funding groups sponsored by corporations, unions, or
other interest groups
*Do interest groups buy elected officials??