2305+-+Political+Parties

Power Points



Description: Political parties are the dominant political organizations in American politics. In section we become familiar with them and come to grips with why they exist, why there are only two and their pros and cons. We will also look at the evolution of parties over history.

Goals: After reading through the material above, you should be able to address the following questions:

- What is a political party and what is its basic goal? - How has the American electoral system influenced the two party system? How does it explain the nature of the Republican and Democratic Parties? - How have the dominant parties evolved over time? Be familiar with the party eras and the critical elections the US has witnessed over time. - How did the early political parties for in the US? Why? What positions did they take on different issues? - What groups tend to support the major parties in the US? Why? - What positions do the major parties take on different issues? - Washington had a few things to say about political parties in his farewell address. What were they. How does this reflect the concerns some had about the development of competitive parties in the US? - Have political parties contributed to the development of democracy in the US? How? - What was the Alien and Sedition Act and how did it impact the development of the two party system? - How competitive are third parties in the US? Why? - How competitive are independents generally? - Be familiar with the basic organizational features of parties. - What percentage of American identify with each party? - What influence so the parties have in the different branches? - How are party nominees selected to office? - How do primary elections affect the composition of Congress and the behavior of members of Congress?