The American Two-Party System

Next week, read the preface and ch. 1-4 of Plunkitt.

By Friday, send me a 250-word (max) email on this topic:

Identify one claim or observation in Chapters 1–2 that changed, sharpened, or challenged the way you thought about American political parties. What did you think before reading Hershey, and what specifically in the reading caused you to reconsider it? Use one concrete example from contemporary politics to explain your answer.

Why Parties? What do parties do?

What is a party?  How does it differ from an interest group?

Every large democracy has parties.

Countries without legal political parties. 

Why is the United States different?

The American party system reflects its unique combination of:

• Federalism
• Bicameralism
• Separation of Powers

Most democratic systems do not have party primaries.

Why only two parties?

Duverger's Law:  Does it hold up under scrutiny?

Why did the Framers not choose proportional representation?

The Electoral College

Major parties coopt minor ones:

• Bryan Democrats and Populism
• Wilson Democrats and Progressivism
• FDR Democrats and socialism, then Long (start at 13:30)
• Nixon and the South
  
• Clinton

Structure of Congress and the legislature forces members to choose one side or the other.

Campaign finance and media attention

Ballot access

The doom loop:

New data from Pew Research:

While Americans have long placed the two parties far apart ideologically, that distance is somewhat wider than it was a decade ago.

Americans’ ideological ratings of the Republican Party have shifted rightward, from an average of 6.9 in 2016 to 7.2 today. Their ratings of the Democratic Party have moved to the left by the same amount, from 3.1 to 2.8.

Party Systems (Hershey ch. 1)

CHANGES IN THE PARTY SYSTEM REFLECT CHANGES IN THE NATION'S DEMOGRAPHIC AND ECONOMIC MAKEUP.

OVER THE LONG HAUL, THERE IS NO CONSISTENT "LEFT" AND "RIGHT" IN AMERICAN POLITICS.