Political Parties

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Vocabulary

Political Party: A group of people that try to control and influence the government by getting people elected to political office

Major Party: Political parties that are supported by a large number of people and have significant influence the government

Minor Party: A political party that is not supported by a large number of people

Purposes of Political Parties

Nominate Candidates Narrow down voters’ choices, select candidates that best

represent the ideology of the party Develop a Platform

Goals and statements that clarify the goals of the elected officials in the party

Educate the Public Primarily about the candidates in the party, but also on key

focus issues Rally Voters

Motivate people to TURN OUT to vote “Bonding Agent”

Makes sure candidates are qualified and stick to party ideals while in office- “gluing” the party together

Major and Minor Parties

In the United States, our major parties are REPUBLICANS and DEMOCRATS

Political ideology: Republicans: tend to be more

conservative Democrats: tend to be more liberal

Similarities of Major Parties in U.S.

All value personal rights, freedoms

Educational opportunities for all

Economic opportunities for all

Government duty- to protect nation

Preserve environment Help citizens

Differences

Disagree on ways to meet goals Example:

Democrats- government directly helps the poor

Republicans- government helps economy and poor get jobs

America’s two party system

Political parties are NOT mentioned in the Constitution

But, America has a TWO PARTY SYSTEM, meaning there are two major parties that have most of the influence in our government

Benefits of a two party system: Stability Continuity

Why do we have a two party system? Started with Federalists and Anti Federalists Once two major viewpoints were established, we

naturally evolved to a 2 party system- and now, its all that we know

It is difficult for a minor party to be successful in elections

The Symbols

Over time, symbols have been associated with the political parties

Originally, the parties did not CHOOSE their symbols

Political cartoonists startedusing them as a way to poke fun at the parties

Thomas Nast was actually the cartoonist responsible for the creation of these animals in his political cartoons. Nast’s cartoons were published in Harper’s Weekly, and he is considered the man behind these symbols

Meaning of the symbols

What are some negative connotations/perceptions that can be associated with: The Donkey The elephant

What about positive connotations?

Third parties Third parties or minor parties are OTHER

parties in the United States that have a smaller support base

There are several types: Ideological party: united by a belief in a political

ideology (i.e. communist party) Single Issue party: united by their support of ONE

major issue (i.e. Green Party- the environment) Economic Protest: United by dissatisfaction with a

current economic situation Splinter party : A group of major party supporters

that have split away from the major party

Tea Party AnalysisDirections: Your group is going to receive ONE of 3 different articles/polls about the Tea party, you are to read the report and complete the part of the chart below that relates to the information in front of you.

Who is the Tea Party?

What do Tea Partiers believe?