POLS 1101Week 7February 18-22, 2013Modern Institutions of Government- The Constitution begins with “We the People”o Three ideals: equality, consent, and rights- The founders feared the idea of factions.- They hoped that as a nation, we would all see things the same way since we all had things in commono Largely all from Europeo Americans were mainly farmers in an agrarian societyo All had opposition to the British government- Factions: breaking into smaller groups which led to competition between the twoo Founders wanted people to be unison but this did not happen- Even some of the leaders developed political parties, which did not exist at the time the Constitution was written- 2 parties developed because they disagreed on the power that should be given to the states andnational governmento Now there are many parties but only two that really ever win- If there are only two parties, you don’t necessarily have to be literate to learn what each side stands for and which side you lean towards- The founders did not anticipate thisHow did political parties develop?- HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLEo A group of settlers come to a new land. They are homogenous in terms of race, wealth, farming, etc. It is a new community with a lot in common. They govern by direct democracy (okay on a small scale). Once a month, all would talk and agree on specific issues. Someone suggests an irrigation system be built. It will take new taxes but in the long run, all will benefit from it. Not everyone agreed. Majority vote was for the system. The same thing happened the next month when someone suggested a new road to the next town for trading. o Over time, the same people were in favor or against these issues requiring taxes. This creates parties Progressive Party: in favor of spending programs Conservative Party: against spending Independent Party: don’t agree with eithero What about a different issue relating to morals, like building a bar? Now there are split decisions WITHIN a party.o Crosscutting: dividing a party internallyPOLS 1101Week 7February 18-22, 2013o What do politicians do when they don’t like an issue? Put it off to ‘learn more’o Realignment of the Party System: Sharp and lasting change in party loyalties of major voting groups. It must be a complete change in loyalty, not just voting different one time. Progressive Conservative- What causes realignment?o one or more realigning issue (like the bar in the hypothetical example) it divides the parties internally must be crosscutting Polarizing Issue- Either on one side or the other, there is no in between- like slavery Salient- Must be really important- After 9/11, terrorism was a salient issueEarly times of American Republic- The 1st presidential elections Washington was chosen unanimously- During his term, issues came up about the strength of the government that caused disagreement and led to a two-party system- Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson’s Party)- Federalists (John Adams’ Party)- This party system lasted from approximately 1800-1824- The Democratic Republicans were dominant but the Federalists would occasionally win- 1st Party System: 2 parties until 1824- 2nd Party System: late 1820’s to 1850’so Democratso Whigso The federalists had died out and the democratic republicans split into two parties (democrats and whigs). The Democrats were democratic.- Party systems that are relatively stable for a period of time, but then new issues come up, parties have to make new platforms and realign.Switch to ProgressiveSwitch to ConservativeLine of CleavageNew Line of CleavagePOLS 1101Week 7February 18-22, 2013Realignment as it actually happened- Not all political scientists agree on realignment- Political scientists agree that there are alignments, but there are specific places where they disagreeo Like was something a party change or actual realignment?1828 began the 2nd Party System (not exact dates because it happened gradually)- Democrats and whigs (lasted through the 1850’s- In 1850’s, the issue of slavery was salient (this was the main issue)- There were a lot of strong anti-slavery (mostly northerners)- Others were pro-slavery (mostly southerners)- It was polarizing and cross cutting- Democrats did not agree amongst themselves (same for the whigs as well)- Whigs were the smaller and weaker party, so when it divided among this issue, it wasn’t strong enough anymore and ended- Now there was a vacuum and an open spot for a party- There was also a third partyo They had one issue: to abolish slaveryo They had a lot of different names but one issue, slaveryo They all combined into one party and called themselves the Republicanso In the North, there was a single issue, anti-slavery- Democrats severely divided and the Republicans were on the rise- In 1860, the Democratic Party was extremely dividedo At their conventions, they nominated a northernero The southerners were so angry they nominated their own candidateo The Republicans ended up winning with only a 40% vote This was Abraham Lincoln- This is one realignment that we can pinpoint and agree on.o It was salient, crosscutting, and one party went out of existence and was replaced, the election could be pinpointedo This event is an agreement among political scientists- Republican became the dominant party3rd Party System (1860-1892)POLS 1101Week 7February 18-22, 2013- Republicans were dominant- Democrats- The Civil War started soon after. The North won and they were mainly Republican including Congress- The parties began to become more competitive in 1880.- Typically, a party system lasts 20-30 years because specific issues are no longer important and things change- In the 1890’s there was a major change in party systemso Political scientists do not agree about this. Is it a change or realignment?o After the Civil War, the South was in debt to the Northo A realigning issue at the time was support for either a gold or silver standardo After the Civil war, it was clearly North vs. Southo After the 1890’s, it was the Northeast vs. South and West because of economic issueso It ushered in a new party system4th Party System- Is it generational change? Every 9 elections it seems there is a party change. Some say it is a coincidence but others things it is inevitable.- There are new voters coming in and older voters died out.- Republicans were dominant- Later in the 4th party system, it became more dominant- Old issues become