Lesson 6: Political Parties and Interest Groups

Political parties are made up of groups of individuals who share common ideas and beliefs. They gain control by winning elections and by holding public office. Party members have common goals and seek to change, keep, or modify public policies and programs.
Political party members select candidates to run for public office. Party members pull their votes together and back the same candidate in order to gain a majority of votes and win elections. Political parties work together and support political issues they believe in. When elected to office, they gain government control and establish public policies.

Political parties are the backbone of American democracy. They:
Nominate candidates for office
Campaign and work to win elections
Hold voter registration drives
Work at the polls during elections
Act as watch dogs and report political wrongdoings

Political party members work to gain membership and support. They meet with voters and lobby or try to influence voters to vote the way their party votes on particular issues. They set party policy by forming political platforms or formal statements defining party beliefs on important political principles and policies.

The United States Constitution does not mention political parties mainly because the Founding Fathers were opposed to them. They believed political parties caused conflict and weakened national unity. Despite early opposition, two major political parties emerged:
The Federalists Party, supporting a strong national government, led by Alexander Hamilton
The Anti-Federalist Party, opposing strong national government, led by Thomas Jefferson

Other notable political parties were:
The Whig Party, emerging in 1828 and made up of individuals that left the Anti-Federalist Party
The Democratic Party, emerging after the election of Andrew Jackson in 1828 and now known as the world’s oldest continuing political party
The Republican Party, emerging in the 1850’s as an antislavery party, electing Abraham Lincoln as its first Republican president, and now known as the GOP, or Grand Old Party

Many third parties have challenged the two-party system in the United States but have never been supported enough to make the country into a three-party system. Third parties have been able to campaign on specific issues important to voters and elect their candidates to state and federal offices. Many third party candidates have run for the office of president but no candidate has ever been elected. Third parties have been able to influence presidential election outcomes by taking away votes from one of the two major political parties. They play the role of “the spoiler” by taking away enough votes from one major party so that the other major party wins.

Third parties often take a stand on political issues that the two major political parties have chosen to ignore. They have been responsible for calling attention to:
Progressive income tax
Women's suffrage
Banking regulations
Old age pensions
Often the two major political parties take on third party political issues and add them to their own platform after issues gain voter support.

The Democratic and Republican Parties are the two dominant political parties in the United States. Because of their dominance they are usually the only parties that have a chance at winning elections.

Several factors explain why the United States has been primarily a two-party system. They are:
Tradition
The electoral system
Bipartisanship
Fundamental issue agreement

Shortly after the ratification of the Constitution, two major political parties were formed. They were the Federalist Party, led by Alexander Hamilton, and the Anti-Federalist Party, led by Thomas Jefferson. These parties took opposing sides on the issues of states’ rights and started the tradition of the two-party system in the United States. Once established, the two-party system became an American institution able to preserve and renew its power.

The electoral system in the United States supports a two-party system better than any other system. This is because the majority of elections in the United States are held to elect only one candidate to office. Candidates win when they have a plurality, or the largest number of votes cast and not by a majority of votes, or over half of all votes cast. Because only one winner is elected, voters usually have only two choices in elections. They can vote to keep the elected official in office or vote for the opponent seeking election. Most voters feel that voting for a third party candidate is throwing a vote away because third party candidates do not have the political support and the ability to win elections.

Another factor that explains two-party dominance in the United States is the ability of the two major parties to act in bipartisan ways and find common ground on major political issues. Their ability to work together for the good of the nation keeps third parties from being able to gain support and change the two-party system.

Two-party dominance also happens because of the American people’s ability to agree on various fundamental issues even though they are from different cultures, races, religions, and socio-economic backgrounds.

Political party organization and structure differs at local, state, and national levels. No one level has control over the other; instead each level works independently of the other.

At the local and state level, political parties work to elect party candidates. Party leaders working in voting districts or precincts organize party volunteers. Volunteers make phone calls, mail out campaign literature, and knock on doors to gain voter support for party candidates. At the state level, party members write party platforms, hold state conventions, and nominate candidates for office. Both local and state party members serve on committees and help raise money for election campaigns.

National political parties hold political conventions during presidential election years. Delegates to the convention officially:
Nominate and choose a presidential candidate
Approve the presidential candidate’s vice-presidential choice
Write national party platforms
Conduct party business
National political parties organize election campaigns in presidential election years and in off years when other party candidates are seeking election to state and national offices. National political parties continually work to raise money for election campaigns.

Election campaigns start with the nomination or selection of candidates. Candidates can be chosen by:
Convention, whereby party-chosen delegates meet to select candidates at state and national levels
Caucus, or closed local meetings, whereby party members meet to select candidates at state and local levels
Petition, whereby a candidate obtains the required number of voter signatures for nomination
Self-nomination, whereby an individual states that he/she is running for office
Write-in, whereby voters can write their own name or the name of someone else on the nominating ballot

Primary elections are state elections held to choose a party candidate for a general election. Primary elections can either be open or closed. In closed primary elections, only registered party members are eligible to vote.

Candidates running for office use volunteers and often hire staff members to run their campaigns. Volunteers and hired staff members include:
A campaign manager who directs and runs the campaign
A press secretary who handles news releases and makes sure the candidate’s position on issues are in the news
Financial director who manages the campaign fundraising
Pollsters who conduct public surveys to help understand voter's concerns and find out how well the candidate is doing

Election campaigns use a variety of methods to influence and persuade voters. They use:
Mailed leaflets
Handout flyers
Bumper stickers
Buttons
Posters

Candidates often debate or discuss issues with their opponents. Debates between candidates often take place at public meetings and usually are seen on television or heard on the radio. Campaign media coordinators place advertising on television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet. Advertising can be positive and state candidate's qualifications, experience, and positions on various issues or be negative with attacks on opponent’s abilities or moral character.

Campaigns can be financed privately or through the use of public funds. Federal law approves private campaign financing from:
Personal donations not to exceed 1,000 dollars per election to a federal candidate
Political Action Committees (PACs) that raise money for different political causes
Democratic and Republican National and State Committees
Corporations (for independent campaign broadcasts)
Candidates using their own money to finance their campaigns
Public presidential campaign funds can be used by candidates if they agree to limit their campaign spending to the amount they receive from a public fund and agree not to accept any private contributions at all. Public funds are made up of donations from individual income taxes.

The two-party system today is not the same as it was years ago. Voters now are more likely to support a third party candidate than they were fifty years ago. They tend to be more independent in their thinking and will vote a split ticket, or vote for a candidate on his/her merits and not on his/her party affiliation. More and more elections are becoming non-partisan, meaning that voters can vote for candidates who are running without any party affiliation.

Special interest groups are groups formed by individuals who share common beliefs on issues. A group’s purpose is to influence individual voters and public officials to adopt the same opinion about a political issue as the group. Officials may be elected to office or removed from office with sufficient votes from a special interest group. An official may be voted out of office if a group’s issue of concern is not given adequate support.

The First Amendment to the Constitution gives special interest groups the right to assemble, speak, write, and petition. Interest groups are formed to bring their concerns about specific issues to everyone’s attention. They have always been a part of American politics. James Madison discussed factions, or interest groups having conflicting opinions in the Federalist Papers in 1788. Past interest groups included Suffragists who lobbied for women’s voting rights and Prohibitionists who lobbied to ban the sale of alcohol.

Some interest groups protect civil rights, economic and political concerns. Others represent particular professions such as the American Medical Association (AMA)—representing doctors—and the American Bar Association (ABA)—representing attorneys. Interest groups such as the National Conference of Mayors and National Governors Association represent public officials. Still other interest groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and the National Rifle Association (NRA) promote single issues such as removing drunk drivers from the road and preserving Second Amendment gun rights.

Other important special interest groups in American politics today are:
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a civil rights interest group working to preserve individual Constitutional civil rights
American Federation of Labor Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFLCIO), a labor union working for fair wages and safe working conditions
Common Cause, a legislative action group working to hold government responsible and accountable for its actions
The National Wildlife Federation, an environmental interest group working to preserve wildlife and natural resources
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) a civil rights interest group working to promote black civil rights
American Association of Retired People (AARP) a civil rights interest group working to promote the care and quality of life for the elderly

All special interest groups form, organize, operate, and try to influence government and public opinion.

Special interest groups form when groups of people with common interests and concerns meet and work together to accomplish specific goals. Small special interest groups can form in towns and cities to address community issues such as appropriations for new school buildings, or the placement of traffic signals on dangerous roads. Large interest groups can form when groups of people find the need to meet and address national concerns such as global warming, pollution, and air quality in the country.

Local special interest groups in cities and counties are usually run by volunteers who are loosely organized. National special interest groups are made up of volunteers and paid workers and are well organized. They elect officers, write by-laws and collect membership dues. National special interest groups recruit members and hire lobbyists to promote their cause.

Both small and large interest groups work to promote their causes by:
Participating in letter and e-mail campaigns
Holding public demonstrations and fundraisers
Discussing their causes with reporters and political officials
Staging grassroots campaigns and asking individual citizens to write or call their representatives to ask for support
Filing lawsuits in court against the government or individuals for not acting and responding to specific issues or concerns

All special interest groups want a voice in what proposed legislation becomes law and work diligently to get candidates elected who support their causes. Sometimes they use professional lobbyists to influence senators, representatives, and other legislators. Professional or paid lobbyists are extremely knowledgeable about the legislative process and the people who hold public office. These lobbyists understand the group’s special interest and work hard to persuade legislators to support their group’s position.

Political action committees (PACs) are special interest groups that raise money and campaign funds for candidates that support their issues and concerns. Supporters of PACs believe they fulfill a public service by supplying legislators with information about proposed legislation and therefore help to make legislators better informed. Opposition believes that PACs have too much influence on elected officials and have the money to hire lobbyists to influence legislators' voting.

Individuals, special interest groups, political action committees, and government officials sometimes use propaganda to influence public opinion. Propaganda is a form of communication used to promote an idea, policy, issue, or cause and sway public opinion. Propaganda statements can be misleading, untrue and dishonest.

Common propaganda techniques include:
Name-Calling
Glittering Generalities
Euphemisms
Transfer
Testimonial
Plain Folks
Bandwagon
Card Stacking
Fear
Exaggeration

Name-Calling is a type of propaganda where negative and insulting remarks are used to discredit an individual. An example would be calling a Senator un-American because he/she voted against funding a war.

Glittering Generalities is a form of propaganda that links someone’s name to positive statements and is the opposite of Name-Calling. An example would be calling an elected official righteous, patriotic, and honorable because he/she voted to arm United States borders with military troops in order to stop drug dealers from smuggling drugs into the country.

Euphemisms are propaganda terms used to make something sound better than it really is. An example would be saying that an individual “misrepresented facts” rather than lied, or stating that an individual was “let go” rather than fired.

Transfer is a propaganda technique that uses two unrelated ideas, actions, or statements together, so that the one that is respected and admired is linked to the one that needs respect and admiration. An example would be a politician closing his/her political speech with a prayer and the words, “God Bless America.”

Testimonial propaganda is the use of a famous individual to promote a cause, campaign, or product even though he/she has no qualification for the endorsement. An example would be seeing a famous athlete on a TV commercial endorsing the use of an energy drink.

Plain Folks propaganda is the use of common everyday words, terms or actions in order to make the individual appear to be “a man of the people” and no different than the neighbor next door. An example would be seeing the President of the United States eating a lunch at a popular fast food restaurant.

Bandwagon propaganda tries to get individuals to promote a cause, campaign, product, or other action because everyone is doing it. An example would be an advertisement stating that everyone is running out and buying a new triple pounder at a local fast food restaurant.

Card Stacking is a form of propaganda that only offers facts about one side of an issue or argument and ignores stating other facts that may disprove or discredit what is said. An example would be stating all the reasons an individual should drink high calorie soft drinks but not state how these drinks are loaded with sugar and can cause obesity.

Fear is a propaganda technique that suggests something terrible is going to happen if an individual supports, or acts in a specific way. An example would be telling individuals that if they drink their polluted city water and not the advertised pure bottled water, they will end up dying of cancer.

Exaggeration is a propaganda technique used to make predictions or statements that are blown out of proportion. An example would be telling everyone that the United States will be bankrupt in five years if the country continues to support the War on Terror, or stating that a specific face cream will remove every wrinkle after ten days of use.