Week 9 -  Political Parties

Here are some key terms from your text to focus on for this chapter:

Political party
Party identification
Independents
Interest group
Single issue interest group
PACs (political action committee)
Lobbying

Where's the Party?

All democracies have political parties . England has two major, stable parties (like in the U.S.), but France's party structure keeps changing. Japan just had a major change in the early nineties when the long ruling (since the end of WWII) LDP party split into many factions. Now, the LDP was in a loose coalition of several parties.

Are You a MUGWUMP?

A hundred years ago, in the U.S., most adults, even women who could not vote at the time, identified themselves with one political party or another. Today, people seem to shy away from party identification. They call themselves "independents…I'm in the middle…" A hundred years ago these people would be called " MUGWUMPS ." It was a pejorative term meaning a gutless fool who wants it both ways ("has his mug on one side of the fence and his wump on the other").

DEALIGNMENT

Our culture has changed and today most people see less value in party identification. Both parties seem less important today than ever before. This is known as De-alignment: both parties losing power, influence, and importance in the political system.

Re-alignment is when one party goes up in power, influence, and importance in the system for a decade or so and the other declines (like a flip/flop). This change has happened five or six times in our history (historians argue about this all the time). Re-alignment is not that important compared to De-alignment.

De-alignment has occurred throughout the 1900's to today. There are many reasons for De-alignment. The civil service exam and the merit principle replaced the older patronage system (also called "the spoils system"). " Party Machines " ran most big cities 100 years ago and the progressive reforms sought to lessen the power of the parties and they have.

Primary elections also have taken power from the party bosses and given it to voters.

TV, and it's cost, have changed the way elections are conducted. Parties don't have much money compared to Interest Groups, PACs and other corporate interests. Many state parties have more money than the national party organization.

Also, re-elected candidates can compile "war chests" of money that they know will be spent (by PACs) on their campaigns. PACs give almost all of their money to incumbents. When they do give to challengers, often they also give to the incumbent.

"The parties are too much alike..."

Many people complain that the political parties are so much alike. Our culture doesn't support radical change. The people who vote are not radicals at all. They vote for the status quo. Corporations, too, wish to support the status quo.

More to the point, voters are now mostly Mugwumps (in the middle). Party activists may be important, but they can only vote once. Party activists are needed by the candidate to win the primary election, but often times the candidate must "reach out" to a broader audience. That audience is made up of mugwumps like you and me.