POLS 207 1st Edition Exam 2 Study Guide Lectures 8 14 Lecture 8 POLITICAL PARTIES Political Parties In a Nutshell 3 Dimensions of Political Parties o 1 Party in the Government all elected officials who identify with a party o 2 Party in the Electorate all voters and supporters of a party o 3 Party as an Organization the employees who work to further the cause of the party The Responsible Party Model o 1 Parties should present clear policy choices and platforms to voters o 2 Voters should choose candidates based on the party policy and platform o 3 Parties thus should recruit candidates who agree with the party platform o 4 Parties should organize and direct candidate campaigns o 5 The winning party and candidate should carry out the platform once in office Factors that weakened party control in the US o 1 Politics are more candidate centered due to reliance on mass media o 2 Decreased party identification Increased number of independent voters Rise of split ticket voting pick different parties on voting day Decline of straight ticket voting vote completely for one party o 3 Candidates are now chosen through primaries by voters instead of party leaders at conventions o 4 Less patronage Greater use of merit system Patronage winning party rewards supporters with jobs Merit System handing jobs out based on education experience skills etc o 5 Candidates can get support from PACs Interest Groups rather than just parties Big Flaws in the Responsible Party Model o 1 Parties do not present clear policy choices when trying to appeal to majority of voters o 2 Most voters do not vote based on platforms issues but based on the candidate o 3 Parties cannot discipline their members in legislative votes because legislators just need primary votes to get reelected Party Competition in the States o Unimodal distribution when majority of voters are in the middle between liberal and conservative so parties try to be more moderate to appeal to most voters Parties have little impact on public policy o Bimodal distribution two peaks of voters one peak more liberal and one more conservative so greater distance between the two parties because they are appealing to different peaks Parties have a greater impact on public policy since voters are looking for different policy Role of Party Organizations in the States o Political Parties are actually decentralized organizations exist at state local level Instead of 2 large parties it is more like 50 state party organizations o Both parties do hold a national convention every 4 years to select presidential candidate Functions of State Party Elections Structuring Elections help narrow candidate choices Candidate Recruitment political parties help encourage leaders to run for office o Contested races more than 1 party has a candidate o Uncontested races only 1 party has a candidate so candidate recruitment failed Competitive district candidate recruitment is higher when districts are competitive Noncompetitive district know who is going to win so more likely to have an uncontested race with only 1 candidate Voter Registration encourage voters to register and target supportive communities Voter Mobilization remind voters about elections give transportation Campaign Resources mostly generic party advertising advice counseling not much financial help Lecture 9 TEXAS PARTY SYSTEMS Texas Party System Texas as a one party Democratic state o Texas was a Democratic state from the end of Reconstruction 1874 until 1960s 3 reasons 1 Founding of Republican Party as an anti slavery party following the Civil War 2 Union Leader Abraham Lincoln was a Republican 3 Republican Congress and President punished the South during Reconstruction and with only two parties to choose from Texas chose the Democratic Party Indications of Democratic Party Dominance o Democrats had lots of uncontested races during this period o For about 14 years no Republicans were elected to state legislature 150 House 2 Senate o For about 90 years no Republicans won a state office in Texas governor Lt Governor etc Third Party challenges to Democrats 1 Greenback Party of 1870s largely represented farmers but only challenged the Democrats some before emerged and fell away 2 Populist Party of 1890s presented a greater challenge because had politics that attracted the masses poor farmers working class and minorities Democratic reactions Poll Tax to combat the poor Populist members Divide the Coalition play on racial prejudice to make the poor white farmers against the poor African American minorities What reinforced the Democratic Party Loyalty o Great Depression 1930s Republican Hoover was blamed Democratic FDR reelected 4 terms for New Deal o Republican Cross Over Voters Republicans couldn t win so crossed over voted for conservative Democrats o Jokes about Republicans in Democratic campaigns Yankees Implications of One Party Dominance o Politics in TX revolves almost exclusively around personality economic issues liberal v conservative o So even if parties are eliminated TX will vote conservative Indications of Party Realignment in TEXAS o 1 1952 1956 Presidential Vote First major sign TX will shift to Republican since Democratic Governor Allan Shivers was endorsing Republican president Eisenhower Cross over voters were called shiver crats o 2 Republican John Tower elected to US Senate in 1961 o 3 Republican Bill Clements elected Governor First republican governor in over 100 years Appointment powers allows Clements to appoint some other Republicans o 4 Phil Gram Democrat House of Reps who resigns declares himself Republican and is reelected still o 5 1994 1998 2002 Elections More and more Republican elected until in 2002 Republicans have captured both House and Senate and almost all state wide offices Causes of Party Realignment in TEXAS o Growing liberalism of Democratic Party when TX is mostly conservative Southerners o Northerners migrating into Texas bring some Republican party loyalty o 1980s Republican Reagan drew a lot of southern support o Regional and National Trends of the south shifting to Republican Party realignment shift in power between parties Party dealignment shift to no party support just independent voters The national trend during this period Issue Orientation Comparisons Texas Republicans Laissez faire limit gov economy regulation Strong national defense Pro life Abortion Limit government regulation Anti union right to work laws smaller role in civil rights traditional family values
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