Political Parties

17 October, 2011

What is a political party? An organization whose purpose is to monopolize

government. Power. One definition: “A coalition of people who seek to control

government by contesting elections and winning office” A party differs from a single candidate’s campaign

because a party runs an entire slate of candidates for a wide range of offices.

A party differs from an interest group because a party seeks to win offices rather than to influence those in office.

Parties are made up of ordinary voters, officeholders, office seekers, and activists

What do parties do?

Organization organize people by bring people under one tent.

Provide information, propagandize party ideology for the average citizen they simplify the political world

Parties recruit candidates (more commonly, politicians are self-starters) But

candidates need the party label to get elected. Contest elections

Parties mobilize the electorate

Consequences of Party Action Form governments Form organizations: committee/party leadership

-inter-branch coalitions: between executive and leg.; senate/house

legislatures of 49 states and the US Congress are organized along party lines.

Provide accountability provide a set of people to reward or blame Dispersal of power destroys political responsibility

Why only two parties? The rules of our political system play a large role in

determining how voters and parties behave. The U.S. electoral system is based on “winner take all”. It is

referred to as a single member plurality system (SMD). Also referred to (in the UK) as “first past the post”.

Under such a system, voters are discouraged from voting for smaller parties that have no chance of winning.

Smaller parties are discouraged from contesting elections

Multi-party Systems Most modern democracies have an electoral system that

is based on proportional representation. The system gives a party a share of seats in the

legislature matching the share of votes it wins on election day.

In most cases, parties put forth a list of candidates and citizens vote for the list. Thus voters choose among parties, not individual candidates.

Voters have less of an incentive to defect (from their sincere preference) and smaller parties have a greater incentive to contest elections.

U.S. Sample Ballot4 Nov, 2008

Party List System (PR)

Ireland

Single Transferable Vote (STV)

Voters select candidates based on their preference, i.e Mark 1 in the box for your first choice, mark 2 beside the candidate for your second choice…

Australia (Alternative Vote)

Implications of a Two Party System Encourages parties to converge toward the “median

voter”. Parties adopt moderate platforms to appeal to the broadest

possible audience Difficult for voters to recognize differences

Example of Spatial Competition

Median Voter

Party A Party BParty C

Num

ber

of

Vote

rs

Disadvantages with Having Only Two Parties Normative concerns (what is lost) Fairness

Should 50% of participating voters make govt.? Should incumbent parties draw districts?

Trust If voters are not aligned with major party, and their vote

is “wasted” on a third party, will they trust government? Participation

US has one of the lowest rates of participation Why show up if vote will be wasted?

Competition

Competition Consider the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election Competition focused largely in the “battleground” states See where the candidates travelled during the campaign

Advantages of Two Party System Stability

Multi-party democracy said to be unstable Must form coalition governments Evidence is that coalition governments are less stable

than single party government Illusion of Majority Rule Accountability

“responsible party” thesis

How Could a Third US Party Form? Institutional Change

Prospects slim for US Congress to act State Legislatures Citizen’s initiative

Major split in existing party Rise of regional conflict Example: The Tea Party

The Tea Party

In 2010 Tea Party-endorsed candidates upset establishment Democrats in several primaries, such as Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Utah, Nevada, and South Carolina, giving a new momentum to the conservative cause in the 2010 elections.

On January 19, 2010, support from the Tea Party Patriots in Boston helped elect Scott Brown the U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, in the special election held after Ted Kennedy's death

Tea-party supporters now make up 35% of the voters likely to turn out Nov. 2. Among that group, Republicans lead 84% to 10%. See WSJ article on October 20, 2010 for details.

Strength of Parties in the US Generally “weak” as compared to parties elsewhere Lack of recruitment (most candidates are usually self

starters) Lack of funding (most candidates have to raise the bulk of

their funds independently) Lack of party discipline

Should Parties be Strengthened? Strong parties would:

Promote party discipline Provision of a clear choice Concentration of power in hands of winning party

How Can Parties be Strengthened?

Campaign Finance Reform Allow soft money? Limit contributions from interest groups…

Reform primary system Closed primaries