Download Section 2 - Steilacoom School District

Essential Question
Section 1: Development of
Parties
Section 2: Party
Organization
Section 3: Nominating
Candidates
Chapter Summary
How do political parties
play a large role in the
decisions made by
government? By answering
this question, it may also
help you identify your own
political beliefs.
Content Vocabulary
• political party
• third party
• theocracy
• single-member
district
• ideologies
• coalition government
• proportional
representation
Academic Vocabulary
• thereby
• revolution
• range
Reading Strategy
As you read the section, create a table
similar to the one below to help you take
notes on the role of minor political parties.
What type of third party do you think has
the best chance for success in an election?
B
A
A. A
B. B
C. C0%
0%
0%
C
A. single-issue party
B. ideological party
C. splinter party
Parties and Party Systems
• A political party is a group of people with
broad common interests who organize to win
elections, control government, and influence
government policies.
• In a one-party system, the party is the
government and party leaders set
government.
• A government run by religious officials is
known as a theocracy.
Parties and Party Systems (cont.)
• In nations that allow more than one
political party, the most common political
system today is the multiparty system.
• The parties in a multiparty system often
represent widely differing ideologies, or
basic beliefs about government.
• A coalition government is a group of
parties that combine forces to obtain a
majority.
Parties and Party Systems (cont.)
• In two-party systems, two major parties
compete for power, although minor parties
exist.
A group of parties that combine forces to
obtain a majority is called
A. a splinter party.
B. a theocracy.
C. a coalition
government.
D. a two-party
government.
A. A
B. B
C. C
0%
0%
D. D
A
B
0%
C
0%
D
Rise of American Parties
• After the Federalists elected John Adams,
their power quickly declined.
• The Democratic-Republicans dominated
politics in the 1820s before being split over
banking, tariffs and slavery into the
Democrats and the National Republicans—
or the Whigs
Political Party Identification
Rise of American Parties (cont.)
• The debate over slavery split Democrats
into Northern and Southern factions while
many Whigs joined the Republican Party.
• By the end of the Civil War the Republicans
and the Democrats dominated the national
political scene.
• For most of the 60 years following 1932, the
Democratic Party was the majority party.
Political Party Identification
The Democratic-Republicans dominated
politics in the 1820s before being split over
banking, tariffs and slavery into the
Democrats and the:
A. Whigs.
B. RepublicanDemocrats.
C. Green Party.
D. Federalists.
A. A
B. B
C. C
0%
0%
D. D
A
B
0%
C
0%
D
The Role of Minor Parties
• A third party is any party other than one
of the two major parties.
• Third parties generally fall into three
categories:
– The single-issue party focuses exclusively
on one major social, economic, or moral
issue.
American Political Parties Since 1789
The Role of Minor Parties (cont.)
– The ideological party has a particular set
of ideas about how to change society
overall rather than focusing on a single
issue.
– The splinter party splits away from one
of the major parties because of some
disagreement.
American Political Parties Since 1789
The Role of Minor Parties (cont.)
• Third parties can influence the outcome of
national elections by drawing votes from
one party and often influence politics by
promoting new ideas.
• Difficulties for minor parties include:
– They must obtain a large number of voter
signatures in a short time to appear on a
ballot.
American Political Parties Since 1789
The Role of Minor Parties (cont.)
– Nearly all elected officials in the U.S. are
selected by single-member districts.
– Many nations use an election system
based on proportional representation in
which several officials are elected to
represent voters in an area.
American Political Parties Since 1789
The Role of Minor Parties (cont.)
– They often have problems with financing
and appealing to a broad cross section
of voters.
American Political Parties Since 1789
What type of third party has a particular set
of ideas about how to change society overall
rather than focusing on a single issue?
B
A
A. A
B. B
C. C0%
0%
0%
C
A. the splinter party
B. the single-issue party
C. the ideological party
Content Vocabulary
• independent
• state central committee
• precinct
• national convention
• precinct captain
• national committee
• ward
• patronage
Academic Vocabulary
• cooperate
• compromise
• stability
Reading Strategy
As you read, create a graphic organizer similar
to the one below to identify several important
functions that political parties perform.
Which is the most important function of the
political parties?
A. recruiting candidates
B. educating the public
C. helping to run and
staff the government
D. dispensing
patronage
A. A
B. B
C. C
0%
0%
D. D
A
B
0%
C
0%
D
Membership and Organization
• Local, state, and national parties select their
own officers and raise their own funds.
• The national party cannot give orders to
the state or local parties.
• In many states, citizens must declare
their party preference when they
register to vote or when they vote
in certain kinds of elections.
Political Party Organization
Membership and Organization (cont.)
• A voter may declare that he or she is an
independent, not supporting any
particular party.
• The basic local unit is the precinct, a
voting district ranging in size from just a
few voters to more than 1,000 voters, all of
whom cast their ballots at the same polling
place.
Political Party Organization
Membership and Organization (cont.)
• In a precinct, each party has a volunteer
precinct captain, who organizes party
workers to distribute information about the
party and its candidates to attract voters to
the polls.
• Several adjoining precincts comprise a
larger district called a ward.
Political Party Organization
Membership and Organization (cont.)
• In each state, the most important part of a
party is the state central committee,
which usually is comprised largely of
representatives from the party’s county
organizations.
Political Party Organization
Membership and Organization (cont.)
• The national party organization has two
main parts:
– The national convention is a gathering
of party members and local and state
party officials that meets every four
years to nominate the party’s
presidential candidates.
Political Party Organization
Membership and Organization (cont.)
– The national committee is a large
group, comprised mainly of
representatives from the 50 state party
organizations, that runs the party.
• Both the Democrats and the Republicans
also have independent campaign
committees for Congress.
Political Party Organization
A volunteer in a precinct who works to
distribute information about the party and its
candidates in order to attract voters to the
polls is called the
B
A
A. A
B. B
C. C0%
0%
0%
C
A. ward.
B. precinct captain.
C. poll captain.
Political Party Functions
• Political parties perform several important
functions:
– Political parties recruit candidates by
seeking men and women who appear to
have a good chance of being elected.
– They educate the public by publishing its
position on important issues facing voters.
Political Party Functions (cont.)
– Political parties play a key role in running
and staffing the government because
Congress and the state legislatures are
organized and carry on their work on the
basis of party affiliation.
– Political parties also dispense
patronage—favors given to reward
party loyalty—to their members.
Political Party Functions (cont.)
• The party that is out of power in the
legislative or executive branch assumes the
role of “watchdog” over the government.
Special favors given to party members to
reward party loyalty are called
A. patronage.
B. reward incentives.
C. party affiliations.
D. party gifting.
A. A
B. B
C. C
0%
0%
D. D
A
B
0%
C
0%
D
Content Vocabulary
• caucus
• plurality
• nominating convention
• runoff primary
• boss
• ticket
• direct primary
• platform
• closed primary
• planks
• open primary
Academic Vocabulary
• vary
• file
• eliminate
Reading Strategy
As you read, create a graphic organizer like
the one below to list the ways that candidates
are selected to run for office.
Do you think the presidential primary
system is a fair and effective system for
choosing candidates?
A. A
B. B
0%
B
0%
A
A. yes
B. no
Selecting Candidates
• Early in our nation’s history, caucuses—
private meetings of party leaders—chose
nearly all candidates for office.
• In modern caucuses, party rules require
openness with the selection process
starting at the local level.
• As political caucuses came under attack,
the nominating convention, an official
public meeting of a party to choose
candidates for office, became popular.
Selecting Candidates (cont.)
• As the convention system developed,
powerful party leaders, called bosses, began
to choose the delegates and take control of
the conventions.
• The method most commonly used today to
nominate candidates is the direct primary,
an election in which party members select
people to run in the general election.
Selecting Candidates (cont.)
• Two types of primary elections that are held
are:
– the closed primary—in which only
members of a political party can vote; and
– the open primary—in which all voters may
participate, even if they do not belong to
the party, but they can vote in only one
party’s primary.
Selecting Candidates (cont.)
• In most states a primary candidate does not
need a majority to win, but only a plurality, or
more votes than any other candidate.
• In a few states, if no one receives a
majority, a runoff primary is held.
• In most states today, candidates for
governor and for the House, Senate, other
state offices, and most local offices are
selected in primary elections.
Selecting Candidates (cont.)
• Under the petition method, a person
announces his or her candidacy and files
petitions that a specified number of voters
have signed in order to be placed on the
ballot.
Private meetings of party leaders where
candidates for office are chosen are called
A. open primaries.
B. nominating
conventions.
C. closed primaries.
D. caucuses.
A. A
B. B
C. C
0%
0%
D. D
A
B
0%
C
0%
D
Presidential Nominations
• The task of delegates is to select a ticket—
candidates for president and vice president.
• For years, when citizens voted in a
presidential primary, they really were
choosing among groups of party members
who pledged to support specific candidates.
• In the 1970s both major parties provided a
more democratic nomination process,
encouraging that women, minorities, and
young people be included as convention
delegates.
Presidential Nominations (cont.)
• Three generalizations can be made about
presidential primaries today:
– They may be a delegate selection
process or a presidential preference poll,
or both.
– Either the candidate who wins the
primary gets all the state’s convention
delegates, or each candidate gets
delegates based on how many popular
votes he or she receives in the primary.
Presidential Nominations (cont.)
– Delegates selected on the basis of the
popular vote may be required to support a
certain candidate at the national
convention, or they may be uncommitted.
Presidential Nominations (cont.)
• Criticisms of the presidential primary system
include:
– Primaries extend too long in an election
year.
– Primaries seem to make the image of
the candidates more important than the
issues.
– Relatively few people vote in primaries.
When delegates pick their candidates for
president and vice president they have
decided their party’s
A. prime candidates.
B. caucus.
C. ticket.
D. party leaders.
A. A
B. B
C. C
0%
0%
D. D
A
B
0%
C
0%
D
The National Convention
• The national committee of each major party
chooses the site and dates for the national
convention, which is held in late summer.
• Thousands of delegates assemble in the
convention city, accompanied by a mass of
spectators, protestors, and news media
representatives.
• Each party’s rules committee governs the
way its convention is run.
The National Convention (cont.)
• The committee proposes rules for procedure
and sets the convention’s order of business.
• The committee selects the permanent
chairperson and other officials for the
convention.
• The credentials committee must approve the
delegations from each state.
• Candidates who trail in delegate support may
challenge the credentials of their opponents’
delegates.
The National Convention (cont.)
• The platform committee writes the party’s
platform, a statement of its principles,
beliefs, and positions on vital issues.
• Part of the difficulty in getting platforms
accepted is that individual parts of the
platform—planks—may divide the delegates.
• Because the party’s presidential candidate
must support the party platform, all
contenders try to get their points of view into
the platform.
The National Convention (cont.)
• To nominate the candidates, the convention
chairperson instructs the clerk to read an
alphabetical roll call of the states, and the
chairperson of each state delegation calls out
the delegates’ votes.
• The candidate who receives a majority
becomes the nominee.
A party’s statement of its principles, beliefs,
and positions on vital issues is called its
A. plank.
B. ideology.
C. ticket.
D. platform.
A. A
B. B
C. C
0%
0%
D. D
A
B
0%
C
0%
D
Party Development
• Late 1700s: Despite Washington’s warnings,
two political parties—Federalists and
Democratic-Republicans—form
• Pre-Civil War: Conflicts over issues such as
slavery cause divisions within the nation’s
political parties; Democratic-Republicans split
into Democrats and the Whigs
Party Development
• Post-Civil War: Republicans and Democrats
emerge as the two dominant political parties
• Third Parties: Continue to impact the political
scene, despite obstacles presented by the
two-party tradition
Party Organization and Functions
• Political parties are organized at the local,
state, and national levels
• Functions of political parties include recruiting
candidates for public office, educating the
public about issues, running and staffing the
government, rewarding party loyalists with
favors, watching over the party in power, and
encouraging compromise and moderate
government policies
Party Nominations
• Caucuses—private meetings of party leaders;
used early in our nation’s history and in some
states today
• Nominating conventions—official public
meetings of a party to choose candidates for
office
Party Nominations
• Primary elections—party members select
people to run in the general election; method
most commonly used today
• Petitions—candidate is placed on the ballot if
a certain number of voters signs a petition
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