DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
AND
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Posc 105
POLITICAL PARTIES
- THIS MORNING:
- Summaries campaign practices
- Political party organization
- Americans and political parties
- Ideal parties
- Parties in reality
- CAMPAIGNING:
- The film demonstrated (to me) the incredible lack of issue content in modern
American political campaigns.
- The candidates' preoccupation with raising money.
- The heavy use of television.
- But rather than informing citizens, television seems to reduce political
discussion to triviality.
- PROPOSITIONS ABOUT POLITICAL PARTIES:
- First, note this paradox:
- On the one hand, Americans by and large distrust political parties.
- This distrust is part of the classical liberalism aspect of our political
philosophy and culture that we discussed earlier.
- Bits of evidence: nearly half of the voters call themselves
"independent."
- Slogan "Voter for the person, not the party" is taken as gospel.
- On the other hand, one can argue that strong political parties are essential for
representative democracy.
- They are instruments for accountability and governance.
- Here's a major proposition: the stronger the party system, the stronger
the democracy.
- Weak parties have contributed to the stalemate that (many argue) characterizes
American national government.
- For a view about political capacity and stalemate that is much less
pessimistic than mine see David Mayhew, Divided We Govern.
- Weak parties especially disadvantage middle and lower classes.
- "STRONG PARTY SYSTEM" ON PAPER:
- What is a strong party system and why is it potentially useful for popular control of
democracy? The characteristics of a strong or disciplined party system:
- Functions of a political party system:
- Organize elections and educate and mobilize the voters (e.g., create
excitement, encourage turnout, etc.)
- "Aggregate" interests and demands.
- Search for common interests and stress them over "particular"
parochial demands.
- Offer meaningful choices by presenting a philosophy of government and a
general program of action.
- Develop and support a platform
- Recruit, train, and support legislative members committed to the party's
general philosophy and platform.
- Governance: If it wins control of government, run the government roughly
according to the platform.
- The organization of a strong party: a pyramid of power
- Leader and "lieutenants"
- Legislative members
- Party activists and workers
- "Party in the electorate"
- "Discipline": legislative members are required to support leaders and
platform after debate and discussion.
- Instruments of control: nomination, funding and support; favors
- Because a strong party "disciplines" legislative members voters can be
reasonably certain that it will govern according to the platform.
- Moreover, it can enact policy in a timely fashion.
- "Shadow government": the "loyal" opposition waits in the wings offering
the electorate an alternative program. It too has control over legislative
members.
- Thus it offers a meaningful choice to the governing party.
- APPROXIMATIONS OF STRONG PARTIES IN AMERICA:
- Is a strong party system desirable? possible? Consider two episodes in recent
American political history.
- The first Reagan administration
- Reagan economic policy and the 1980 elections.
- Republican capture the White House, the Senate, and practically
speaking had control of the House. Hence government was nearly
unified.
- The Reagan platform and reconciliation vote in the summer of
1981.
- Recession in 1981-1982
- The Democratic response and the 1982 election.
- Newt Gingrich and the "Contract with America"
- NEXT TIME:
- Political parties as they are organized and function in the United States.
- Reading:
- Patterson, We the People, Chapter 8. Skim pages 232 to 236 but read the
rest of the chapter, especially the section on party organization, carefully.
- Pages 255 to 261 briefly discuss candidate-centered campaigns, a
topic of great importance.
- Be sure to start Heilbroner and Bernstein, Debt and Deficits.
- To explore the philosophies and platforms of the two major political parties
go to:
Go to Notes page
Go to American Political System page
Go to H. T. Reynolds page