Government Chapter 7

• Aim: Why are Political Parties Essential to Democracy?

• Do Now: Name the 2 Political parties of Cardinal Spellman High School.

• What political party is currently in power @ CSHS?

Function of Political Parties

• American political parties have a variety of political & Social functions.

• Organize the competition –choose candidates . Recruit & nominate candidates for office, register & activate voters, train candidates, raise $, provide research , voter lists, & enlist volunteers.

Patronage

• Dispensing of government jobs to persons who belong to winning political party.

• Example : would Obama appoint Republicans or Democrats to his cabinet?

PATRONAGE

• Who did Obama run against in order to win the Democratic nomination?

• Who is the Sectary of State & what party did she represent?

What is a 2 party tradition?

• in 1788 and 1792, when every elector had cast one of his ballots for Washington. But by 1796, something unforeseen by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention had occurred; men of different points of view had begun to form themselves into political parties.

Two Party Tradition

• The first signs of such factionalism appeared early in Washington's presidency. On one side were the Federalists who yearned for an American society and national government established on the British model.

2 party tradition

• Skeptical of the growing democratization of the new nation, the Federalists desired a centralized national government that would have the strength both to aid merchants and manufacturers and to safeguard America's traditional hierarchical society.

2 party tradition

• By 1792, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and Congressman James Madison–both, like Washington, from Virginia–had taken steps to fashion an opposition party. Jefferson became the acknowledged leader of the new Anti-Federalists, a group soon known as the Democratic-Republican Party because of its empathy for the struggling republic that had emerged from the French Revolution of 1789.

Describe a party platform-1956 Republican

• Stimulate improved job safety of our workers, through assistance to the States, employees and employers; Continue and further perfect its programs of assistance to the millions of workers with special employment problems, such as older workers, handicapped workers, members of minority groups, and migratory workers;

Republican 1956

• Strengthen and improve the Federal-State Employment Service and improve the effectiveness of the unemployment insurance system;...

• Assure equal pay for equal work regardless of Sex;

• Clarify and strengthen the eight-hour laws for the benefit of workers who are subject to federal wage standards

1956 Republican platform

• Extend the protection of the Federal minimum wage laws to as many more workers as is possible and practicable;

• Continue to fight for the elimination of discrimination in employment because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry or sex;

Republican 1956

• Provide assistance to improve the economic conditions of areas faced with persistent and substantial unemployment;

• Revise and improve the Taft-Hartley Act so as to protect more effectively the rights of labor unions, management, the individual worker, and the public.

• Anyone have the 1956 Democratic Party platform handy? Would be interesting to see what it says about these things.

Precinct----What is it?

• A precinct is generally the lowest-level governmentally-related division in the United States, and in that context is also known in some places as an election district. Precincts usually do not have separate governmental authorities.

• (called "local option elections").

Precinct----What is it?

• For purposes of conducting elections, an entity such as a county or township is typically subdivided into precincts and each address is assigned to a specific precinct. Each precinct has a specific location where its residents go to vote

Primaries

• The general definition of the term primary means preliminary, first. Which is the preliminary step in the process of electing a candidate running for office in the United States.

Primaries

• But a primary election is held in the U.S. to see who will receive the nomination from his or her political party during the convention. The candidate who receives the nomination, will run against the candidate nominated by the other party - or parties as the case may be.

Types of Primaries

• There are four basic types of primaries, two of which are the open primary election and the closed. An open primary election means anyone can vote, despite his or her political party affiliation.

Types of Primaries

• Conversely, a closed primary allows only those registered with the party to vote for its candidate.

Types of Primaries

• A third type of primary election is the semi-open, which still allows people of all political persuasions to vote in it. However, the semi-open structure limits each voter to a single primary and the voter must state in advance which one he or she will vote in.

Democratic Party

• he Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous operation in the United States. The party contains the most registered voters of any political organization in the world as of 2004,

Democratic Party platform

• The Democratic Party is committed to keeping our nation safe and expanding opportunity for every American.

Democratic

• That commitment is reflected in an agenda that emphasizes the strong economic growth, affordable health care for all Americans, retirement security, open, honest and accountable government, and securing our nation while protecting our civil rights and liberties.

Democratic

Republican Party

• The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties.

Republican Party

Republican Party platform

• Number one: let families and businesses buy health insurance across state lines.

• Number two: allow individuals, small businesses, and trade associations to pool together and acquire health insurance at lower prices, the same way large corporations and labor unions do.

Republican Party

• Number three: give states the tools to create their own innovative reforms that lower health care costs.

• Number four: end junk lawsuits that contribute to higher health care costs by increasing the number of tests and procedures that physicians sometimes order not because they think it's good medicine, but because they are afraid of being sued.

THIRD PARTY

• The term third party is used in the United States for a political party other than one of the two major parties (Democratic Party and Republican Party). It can also include independents and write in candidates.

TEA PARTY

• The Libertarian theme of the "tea party" began with Republican Congressman Ron Paul supporters as a fund raising event during the 2008 presidential primaries to emphasize Paul's fiscal conservatism, which laid the groundwork for the modern-day Tea Party movement.

TEA PARTY

• On December 16, 2007, the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, Ron Paul supporters raised 6 million dollars in 24 hours in individual donations.[

TEA PARTY PLATFORM

• Conservative activists backed by “tea party” groups have rejected the Maine Republican Party’s proposed platform, replacing it with a document praising the tea-party movement and calling for a number of potentially radical changes, such as the sealing of borders.

POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

• In the United States, a Political Action Committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation.[1] Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a matter of state and federal law. Under the Federal Election Campaign Act, an organization becomes a "political committee" by receiving contributions or making expenditures in excess of $1,000 for the purpose of influencing a federal election.

PAC

• Political Action Committees (PACs) are an important aspect of American politics and the American electoral system. Political Action Committees exist legally as a means for corporations, trade unions etc. to make donations to candidates for Federal office - something that they cannot do directly. 

• . 

PAC

• An organization will establish a Political Action Committee for which they solicit financial support. In 1974, 608 Political Action Committees  were registered with the FEC (Federal Election Committee). By December 1995, there were more than 4,000 of them. There are more corporate Political Action Committees than any other type

PAC

• When an interest group, union, or corporation wants to contribute to federal candidates or parties, it must do so through a PAC.

PAC

• The PAC may then make donations to political campaigns. PACs and individuals are the only entities allowed to contribute funds to candidates for federal office. Contributions from corporate or labor union treasuries are illegal