What is the Primary Purpose of the two major American political parties?

To control government through winning election to public office

What are the roles/functions of political parties?

Nominate candidates, rally their supporters, participate in government, act as a "bonding agent" for their own officeholders, and act as a watchdog over the other party.

The Two-Party system was produced by...

our u.s. history and tradition, the electoral system, and the American ideological consensus

What is a Political Party?

A group of persons who seek to control government through the winning of elections and the holding of public office.

What is a Major Party?

In American politics, the Republican and Democratic parties.

Partisanship

the strong support of a party and its policy stands

Minor Party

one of the many political parties without wide voter support

Two-Party System

a political system dominated by two major parties

Single-Member Districts

Electoral district from which one person is chosen by the voters for each elected office

Plurality

in an election, the number of votes that the leading candidate obtains over the next highest candidate.

Pluralistic Society

A society which consists of several distinct cultures and groups

Consensus

general agreement among various groups on fundamental matters; broad agreement on public questions

Multiparty

A system in which several major and many lesser parties exist, seriously compete for, and actually win, public offices

Coalition

A temporary alliance of several groups who come together to form a working majority and so to control a government

One-Party System

A political system in which only one party exists

Incumbent

current office holder

Faction

A conflicting group

Electorate

All of the people entitled to vote in a given election

Sectionalism

A narrow-minded concern for, or devotion to, the interests of one section of a country

Ideological Parties

Parties based on a particular set of beliefs, a comprehensive view of social, economic, and political matters

Single-Issue Parties

Parties that concentrate on onl one public policy matter

Economic Protest Parties

Parties rooted in poor economic times, lacking a clear ideological base, dissatisfied with current conditions and demanding better times

Splinter Parties

Parties that have split away from one of the major parties

Ward

A unit into which cities are often divided for the election of city council members

Precinct

The smallest unit of election administration; a voting district

Split-Ticket Voting

Voting for candidates of different parties for different offices at the same election

National Party Machinery

Nation convention, nation chair person, congressional campaign committees, nation comittee

National Convention

nominates presidental candidates and vice presidents, adopts party rules and create party platform for election

The National Chair Person

Leader of the national committee, manages the partys headquarters (serves 4 year term)

Congressional Campaign Committees

work to reelect incumbents, unseat incumbents in other party (2 year term)

National Committee

chairperson- prepairing for the next convention campaigning, promoting party unity, raising money

Spoils System

The practice of giving office and other favvors of government to political supporters and friends

Most single-issue parties have been

short-lived

Minor Parties..

are united by a particular group of viewpoint, can sometimes be made from the brakeing away from a major party, and expresses discontent over the state of economy

Peoplebelong to a particular political party...

voluntairly, because they made a personal choice

State Party Orginizations are..

generally loosely tied to the national comittee

The two-party system developed in the U.S. mainly because...

conflicts about the Constitution created opposing viewpoints

Minor parties have contributed most to the U.S. politics by...

causing major parties to adopt their ideas

A one-party system..

exhists in nearly all dictatorships today

Why were the Democrats the party in power between 1932 and 1968?

The Great Depression, the republican pres said the economy would fix itself, when it didn't the public elected FDR who made many jobs through the New Deal which helped improve the economy. Democrats had control until kennedy was assassinated then nixion took over (a republican)