Political parties

• Electorate - voting citizens
• Two-party system - American government is dominated by the Republicans + the Democrats
• Republican Party - associated with conservatism
• Democratic Party - supports a more liberal, progressive doctrine
• Political party functions:

  • educate voters
  • create party platforms
  • recruit candidates
  • help with campaigns _ fundraising
  • win elections -> so they can coordinate policy making
• Party platforms - each party creates a platform that defines their goals + values -> where a party expresses its ideology + give cues to voters about where parties stand on issues
• Recruit candidates + help run campaigns:

  • parties are always on the lookout for talented + promising candidates
  • Through national, county, local and state party organisations - parties coordinate campaigns on every level of government
  • internet allows candidates to take their campaigns directly to the people
• Win elections:

  • political parties are about controlling seats in government to achieve policy goals
  • on the national level, party members work together to advance their party’s agenda
  • majority party controls the leadership in Congress + has a large amount of influence on the success or failure of legislation
• Two-party system:

  • two parties provide clear choices to voters + when a party is out of power -> they act as the watch dog of the party in power
  • the ‘winner takes all’ system makes it difficult for third parties to gain any seats
  • growing numbers of Americans are identifying as Independents -> people who don’t identify with either party