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| A group of candidates and elected officials organized under a common label for the purpose of attaining positions of public authority. |
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| Officials who oversee the operation of their party nationwide. |
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| National party convention |
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| the meeting where the party formally nominates its presidential candidate. |
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| a person who works directly for the party, is loyal to tis goal of winning elections, and stays with it over long periods through multiple election cycles. |
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| an issue activist who is mostly interested in specific policy areas and works for the party, or for specific politicians within the party, to advance those goals. |
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| a situation in which party elites make important decisions away from the scrutiny or influence of party memberships. |
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| an election held before Election Day to allow voters to select which candidates will appear on the ballot under a party label. |
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| a psychological attachment or loyalty to a political party. |
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| a local organization that controls the city or county government to such an extent that it can reward whole neighborhoods, wards, and precincts, or other groups with benefits, such as jobs and government programs, in return for supporting the party's candidates. |
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| a political alliance between souther Democrats, big-city Democrats, rural voters and African-Americans that endured for several decades after the election of FDR in 1932. |
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| a regularity that only two parties tend to compete for control of the government in countries that have single-member, plurality electoral systems. |
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| the tendency for members of a legislative party to vote as a bloc. |
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| a vote held in a parliamentary system that, if it fails, brings on election and possibly a new set of party leaders. |
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| Why are most Americans against partisan politics? |
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Definition
| Party politics distracts government from important goals, because politicians are far more concerned on winning elections than doing what is good for the country. They also lead to gridlock in government, and make people inflexible in dealing with new problems |
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| How are parties organized in the American political system? |
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Definition
o Parties in government: Parties organize governmental action and cooperate with one another to achieve policy goals.
o Parties as organizations: Parties organize efforts to win elections.
o Parties in the electorate: Parties orient voters’ thinking by providing intellectual categories. |
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| How do political parties aid in solving unstable coalitions? |
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Definition
| Parties actively seek to prevent their members from peeling away from coalitions by imposing discipline, applying pressure to reluctant members, and offering them enticements to vote for party-favored bills. |
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Term
| What is the a parties' ability to solve coordination problems? |
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Definition
| Election laws enforce the rule that the parties “own” their spots on the ballot. → the law enforces the rule that the parties control how many people can run under their labels. |
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| What is the importance of party identification? |
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Definition
| Party identification as a stable psychological attachment is the perceptual filter through which people learn about politics and evaluate government. It is like brand loyalty based on the quality of products. |
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Term
| What is the significance in each of the six party systems? |
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Definition
1. The second half of the 1790s, linked a candidate's partisan labels to policy programs and then asking voters to choose candidates on the basis of those labels.
2. Political parties developed the capacity to mobilize citizens.
3. Developed a system of “machine politics”: Party machines relied on the use of patronage by local officials.
4. The Fourth Party system saw the rise of the Progressives in 1912 and as part of progressive reforms to reduce corruption in politics, the parties began to use primary elections to choose candidates for the general-election.
5. The New Deal Party System united several large voting blocs for the purpose of winning national elections.
6. A key development of the 1980s was the two parties developing vast nationwide organizations to raise money for their candidates and beginning to enforce national rules that reduced the autonomy of the state-level parties |
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| What do theorists focus on when attempting to understand the new party systems that spring up throughout America's political history? And what have they discovered? |
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Definition
They focus on realigning elections because they showcased a transition from one party system to another.
1. An increased democratization: the use of primary elections.
2. More centralized organizations: led to nationalization of political parties.
3. The enduring two-party system. |
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| What are the possible explanations for the two-party system in America? |
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Definition
o The electoral system: the use of single-member legislative districts.
o The changing relationship between the national government and the states: the increasing centralization of American politics at the national level has largely wiped out minor parties.
o The actions of the major parties: the two major parties succeeded in passing state laws that made it difficult for minor parties to challenge them. |
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| Why are political parties indispensable? |
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Definition
| Parties channel conflict into legislative and electoral divisions instead of violent opposition. |
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