U.S. Government and Civics / Unit 9: Political Parties, Elections and Interest Groups
9.1 Political Parties
Notes
A political party is a group that tries to win elections to control government and shape policy.
- Functions: recruit and nominate candidates, run campaigns, inform voters, write a platform (statement of goals), organize government and act as a "loyal opposition" when out of power.
- Parties are not mentioned in the Constitution. Washington warned against them in his Farewell Address, but they formed in the 1790s (Federalists and Democratic-Republicans).
- The U.S. has a two-party system, largely because of single-member districts with winner-take-all (plurality) elections: only the top vote-getter wins, so smaller parties rarely win seats.
- Third parties rarely win, but they can draw attention to issues that major parties later adopt, and can act as spoilers by pulling votes from a major candidate.
- Realignment: a lasting shift in which groups support which party, such as the New Deal coalition in the 1930s. Dealignment: voters drifting away from parties and calling themselves independents.
Practice
Which feature of U.S. elections most encourages a two-party system?
A candidate needs the most votes in a district to win, so smaller parties struggle to win seats.
A third-party candidate wins few votes, but a major party later adopts her main idea. This shows that third parties can:
Third parties often push new issues into national debate.
A party's written statement of its goals and positions is its:
Each plank in the platform describes a position on an issue.
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