Janet Lin

AP US Government
Chapter 8 Outline
Party Competition and Majority Rule
a) linkage institutions: serve to connect citizens with the government
b) party competition: choice between selecting Democratic or Republican candidates
c) The First Parties
1. originated during rivalry of A. Hamilton (Federalists) and T. Jefferson (Democratic-Republicans)
2. Federalists later fell after John Adam's term; After Monroe's term Democratic-Republicans split
d) Andrew Jackson and Grassroots Parties
1. grassroots party: Jackson's party was organized chiefly at local level and was open to al citizens
2. extended voting rights to those without property=fourfold rise in election turnout
3. Democrats vs Whigs (Jackson supporters); soon broke after Whigs died out during slavery issue; introduction
of the Republicans
e) Republicans vs Democrats: Realignments and the Enduring Party system
1. party realignment=extraordinary change in party power due to:
i. disruption in existing political order because of emergence of a very powerful nd divisive issue
ii. an election contest in which voter shift their support strongly toward one party
iii. major change in policy brought by newly dominant party
iv. enduring change in party coalitions
2. Civil War Realignemtn
3. 1896 Realignment: Democrats unfavored since Cleveland was blamed for nation bank crashing and depression
4. Great Depression Realignment
5. party realignments have deep effect on future elections since they affect voters' party identification
f) Today's Party Alignment and Its Origins
1. South originally all Democratic since Civil War, after Democrats leadership on civil right alienated by white
conservatives, South has slowly become Republicans
2. More northeastern states have become Democratic
g) Parties and the Vote
II. Electoral and Party Systems
a) U.S:2 party system such as Federalists vs Democratic-Republicans Whigs vs Democrats; Democrats vs
Republicans
b) most democracies have multiparty system (3 or more)
c) The single member district system of election
1. discourages minor parties
2. each constituency elects a single member for a certain office (senator, state representative); candidates with
most votes wins the election
d) proportional representation (used by European democracies)
1. seats in legislature are allocated according to party's share of the popular vote
2. smaller parties can compete for power
3. Ex: Green Party received about 11% of national vote>won more than 60 seats out of 603
e) Politics and Coalitions in the Two Party system
1. Seeking the Center: median voter theorem=if there are 2 parties, parties can only position themselves at the
location of the median voter-voters whose preferences are right in the middle
2. Party Coalitions:groups and interests that support a party
i. republican and democratic coalitions very broad since both sides must accommodate wide range of
interests in order to gain voter plurality necessary to win elections.
ii. Multiparty systems: each party is supported by a relatively narrow range of interests
f) Minor Third Parties
1. reform parties: anti-parties; arose out of a belief that partisan politics is a corrupting influence; ex: progressive
party
2. single issue parties: formed around a lone issue of overriding interest to their followers;
3. ex: Free Soil Party, opposed extension of slavery into new territories; Greenback Party
4. ideological parties: operates on the fringe of American politics
i. Ex: Socialist Workers Party
ii. Libertarian Party
5. factional parties: result from a split within one of the major parties; ex: Teddy Roosevelt's Bull Moose party

Janet Lin
AP US Government
III. Party Organizations
a) Weakening of Party Organizations
1. Nomination-selection of the individual who will run as the party's candidate in the general election
i. bribes and kickbacks part of the process
ii. ex: NYC's Boss Tweed charged city 20x what the building had actually cost
2. Primary election (direct primary)
i. gives control of nominations to the voters; candidate with the most votes in a party's primary gets its
nomination for the general election
ii. closed primary: participation is limited to voters registered or declared at the polls as member of the party
whose primary is being held
iii. open primary: allows independents and voters of either party to choose which primary they will vote in;
all votes get a say in their choices of the general election
b) Structure and Role of Party Organizations
1. local party organizations
2. state party organizations
3. national party organizations
IV. The Candidate Centered Campaign
a) Campaign Funds: The Money Clause
b) Organization and Strategy: Political Consultants
c) Voter Contacts: Pitched Battle
1. Air Wars
i. new ads on the air (TV) that allow rapid response, rebut attacks and exploit fast breaking developments
ii. cost half of campaign spending
2. Ground Wars
3.

Web Wars

4.

In retrospect: The consequences of the last war