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Unit V, Part A: Political Parties
What the Parties are Supposed to Do
Democrat or Republican? What's the Difference?
A) Nominate Candidates- Pick candidates for
public office.
Primary Elections- When members of a
political party vote for a candidate to run against the other party in the General Election (Election held every even year in November between Democrats & Republicans to win control of seats in Congress or the Presidency.)
B) Informing the Public About Vital Issues-
Threats to the country & so on.
The Democratic Party & the Republican
Party dominate US politics.
Democrats tend to be more liberal (wanting
to use the government to fix society’s problems); Republicans tend to be more conservative (wanting to keep things the way they have always been.)
In theory, both parties represent very
different points of view on a number of issues…view the political spectrum at right for details,
Why Join a Political Party?
What is a Political Party?
Why a Two Party System?
There are many factors in a person’s political socialization (how a person develops their political views.)
1. Family
2. Schools
3. Economic status- Rich/Republican
4. Race- Blacks/Democrat
5. Religion-Christian/Republican
6. Historic events (Civil War, Great Depression)-
7. Age- Young/Democrat
8. Education level- College/Democrat
9. Where you live- South/Republican; Northeast Democrat
Political Party- A group of people w/ similar ideas
& principles who seek to control government by winning elections & holding public office.
Major Party- Political party whose only focus is
winning elections. Made up of…
Coalitions- Alliances of people w/ diverse
interests who join together to get candidates elected to office.
Two Party System- When a country’s political
system is controlled by two political parties…the Republicans & Democrats.
Unlike most democracies that have Multi-Party Systems (When coalitions of major & minor parties run a government), the US has a Two-Party System. Why?
1. History- This goes back to the Federalist & the Anti-
Federalists.
2. Our Electoral System- Whether it’s a presidential
election that requires a majority of electoral votes or passing a bill in Congress which requires a majority, two parties just works better.
3. Tradition- Since it has always been that way, why
change?
How the Parties Have Failed Some More
What About the Other Parties?
How the Parties Have Failed
What the Parties are Supposed to Do
While there are other parties in the
US, they never gain any traction in major elections.
In Congress and the Senate though
you can find Independents, politicians who do not side with one party or another. The current favorite being now Democratic Candidate Burnie "burn down for what" Sanders.
Third Parties, parties with platforms
that differ from Dem or Rep include the: Green Party, Libertarian Party, Justice Party, Tea Party.
4. The parties helped fill in the blanks of the
Constitution, but now the government can’t run w/out them.
5. Both parties are so corrupt & owned by
big money that they can’t be watchdogs…they both have too much dirty laundry.
In the end, there is no difference between
the Democrats & Republicans. Getting rid of them may be the only solution.
How that can occur, however, is an even
more difficult question to answer.
Despite having those official duties, the parties
have failed miserably in
1. The parties, not the people, choose the
candidates for us to vote for; they have a power monopoly!
2. Our leaders talk about steroids in baseball
while our economy fell apart & both parties gave almost $1 trillion to bankers in 2008.
3. The seal of approval from either party
hardly ensures good conduct…just look at Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon, or Donald Trump!
C) Seal of Approval- Making party
members live up to party standards.
D) Running the Government- The
Constitution is vague about how the government actually runs…the parties have filled in the blanks (I.E. Floor Leaders, Party Whips, & Executive Orders)
E) Watchdog- The party out of power
is supposed to keep the party in power honest.