What is the key feature that makes american political parties different from interest groups?

American Political Parties

Political Party Functions
1) Express and aggregate interests
2) Formulate policy alternatives
3) Foster public participation
4) Recruit and train leaders
5) Organize government
6) Serve as loyal opposition

Characteristics of the American Party System
1) Two-party division
2) Decentralized
3) Diffused leadership
4) Lack of ideological commitment

Parties v. Interest Groups
1) Parties are heterogeneous; interest groups are homogeneous
2) Parties run candidates; interest groups endorse candidates
3) Parties seek to control government; interest groups seek to influence government

Why Two Parties?
1) Historical rejection of extreme positions
2) Issues tend to be for-against, yes-no, etc.
3) Constitutional arrangements - single-member districts , winner take all, electoral college for president

The Role of Third Parties
1) Between 1824 and 1960s over 1000 party names appeared on the nation's ballots
2) Only five times since the Civil War have minor party candidates received more than 7 percent of the popular vote: Populist Party 7.5% in 1892; Progressive Party 24.4% in 1912; Progressive Party 16.6% in 1924; American Independent Party 13.6% in 1968; and Ross Perot (Reform Party) 21% in 1992.
3) The anti-Masonic Party held the first presidential nomination convention in 1831.
4) Six typed of minor parties in American history:
Left-wing splinter ­ Communist, Socialist
One-issue obsessionists ­ Prohibition Party
One-state party ­ Liberals of New York, Progressives of Wisconsin
Personal following of the dissident hero ­ Theodore Roosevelt's Bull Moose party in 1912
Dissident wing of the major party ­ Dixiecrats in 1948
True minor party ­ Populist party of the elate 19th century

Party Membership structure
1) Members
2) Activists
3) Professionals
4) Officeholders

Motivations for Party Activity
1) Patronage, employment opportunity
2) Socioeconomic mobility
3) Social and psychological satisfactions
4) Ideological promotion
5) Party loyalty
6) Vanity

Party Organization
1) Each national political party is free to structure itself as it see fit
2) States have the power to control party affairs, particularly election procedures
3) The national political parties decide how many national convention delegates a state will have.   The state has the power to decide how those delegates will be selected -- by primary or   convention.
4) The degree of party organization will vary greatly from state to state.
5) Over 90 percent of all party work is voluntary.
6) Ninety percent of Americans will never be a part of of formal party organizational activity.
7) Only a few state have major parties that do not have organizational headquarters. State party   chairpersons may or may not be full time positions. Many state hire an executive director to carry   out day to day party management.
8) Republicans are in better financial shape than Democrats in most states and at the national   level.
9) Each national political party has campaign committees for each branch of Congress.
10) Each state party selects its own state chairperson. The national party chairpersons are selected by the respective national party conventions. Although the presidential nominee has much to say abut who that person will be.
11) Each political party determines its total number of national convention delegates. The Democrats have a much larger number of delegates.
12) Functions of state party executive committees include:
Recruit candidates
Help manage campaigns
Raise money
Call state convention
Appoint some delegates to national party conventions
Administer primary elections in some states
13) Party bosses
Individuals who control party organizations and voting blocs and deliver their political influence to those who they favor
May operate at either the state or local level, particularly big cities.
Have basically disappeared due to changes in American culture
Often held power due to ability to hand out patronage jobs.
Outstanding examples were Tammany Hall in New York City in late 18th century; the Tweed Ring in New York City in 1860-70s; Ed Crump in Memphis; Huey Long in Louisiana and Richard Daly in Chicago.
14)Factors leading to end of political bosses
Civil service reforms
State welfare
The Australian ballot
Non-partisan primaries
The popular initiative
Modern campaigning techniques

Dr. C's Course Links

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