U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS, SPRING 2011

POLITICAL PARTIES: A CLOSER LOOK

Woll 33 (Barker), 35 (Mayhew), 43 (Truman), 44 (Herring); and 34 (APSA)

Friday, April 29

I. Third parties in U.S. politics (reprinted from Wednesday’s handout)

• The question of why the U.S. has always had two and only two political parties is an interesting one; third parties (also called minor parties) and/or third candidates (running without any real party organization) have always been part of the American political spectrum, though their success in raising new issues often leads to their demise (typically, one of the major parties takes on the new issue and acquires most third party supporters for itself)

II. Parties today: service providers (reprinted from Wednesday’s handout)

• The two major parties today are described by political scientists as service providers, offering myriad resources to candidates seeking election under the party label: ‘brand name,’ campaign professionals (and training), voter information databases, background polling, money (particularly assistance with raising funds), candidate recruitment, get out the vote (GOTV) efforts

III. Woll readings: the functions of political parties and interest groups in US politics

33 Barker, “Government by Discussion”

Barker’s description of the British governmental system fits the U.S. pretty well, too. Discussion of competing ideas sets democratic politics into motion, and carries through all four stages Barker identifies – parties’ internal discussions that lead to official platforms, voters responding to and selecting from among the alternative platforms of the parties and their candidates, parliament (Congress and the President in the USA) to carry out the wishes of the voters and the party platform, and the Cabinet (the Executive branch in the USA) to manage programs once they are created.

35 Mayhew, “Divided We Govern”

Mayhew (writing in 1991; we have had more divided than unified government since that time, too) deconstructs the assertion that unified government (President, House and Senate all controlled by the same political party) always works better than divided government (split control). His observations are worth pondering – divided government in the 1990s (at the beginning and for 6 years under Clinton) produced a budget surplus, ending the yearly deficits of the previous two decades.

43 Truman, “The Governmental Process”

This 1951 piece is the classic argument for explaining the workings of US government in terms of interactions among interest groups. Truman’s work was influential among political scientists as capturing something essential about US politics – and note that political parties can be viewed in Truman’s terms as interest groups, too (unique ones, but nonetheless parties are part of the group-driven political process).

44 Herring, “The Role of Interest Groups in Government”

Herring, writing in 1987 at the end of his long career in poli sci, reminds readers that interest groups have achieved great success in influencing Congress and the Executive branch (issue networks again!). Herring is dubious that political parties must be the driving forces of US politics – this implies that parties and interest groups are mutually reinforcing, they need each other in order to move US politics in any particular direction.

34 APSA Committee on Political Parties, “Toward a More Responsible Two-Party System”

As Woll notes in his introduction to the Parties section of the book, political scientists have been obsessed with the creation of stronger, more responsible political parties (cohesive, disciplined, organized and aligned to achieve their goals). This excerpt from the famous 1960 report asserts that a two-party system offers the best means for the US to address its political problems and for the institutions of government to function effectively.

Questions for today/political parties

Here are excerpts from the 2008 Democratic Party platform and the 2008 Republican Party platform. We will consider

1) where these ideas came from in the first place (how did this part of the platform come into being),

2) what happens to these ideas once they become part of the official party platform,

3) what is the role of parties and interest groups in promoting specific parts (or all) of their platforms, and

4) are party platforms useful for the US public – why or why not?

Democrats: “Chronic diseases account for 70 percent of the nation’s overall health care spending.We need to promote healthy lifestyles and disease prevention and management especially with health promotion programs at work and physical education in schools.” Renewing America’s Promise, p. 13

Republicans: “New technology should not occasion more taxation. We will permanently ban internet access taxes and stop all new cell phone taxes.” 2008 Republican Platform, p. 24.