How well do you know the political parties?

YOUR TASK:
• In pairs, complete the political party comparison chart to the best of
your ability.
• You will not be allowed to use your notes.
• Highest scoring pair earn a commendation.
Enquiry Question: Are political parties in the
USA in decline?
 Learning Outcomes
• To explore the debate begun in 1970s over the
continuing relevance of political parties
• To understand what is meant by the terms ‘party
renewal’ and ‘party decline’
• To assess the ideological differences between the
main political parties and the extent of partisanship
in Congress
• The theory was party
decline was popular
throughout the 1970s and
1980s in the US, and
especially so after the
publication of David
Broder’s book, ‘The Party’s
Over: The Failure of Politics
in America’.
• The book was followed by a
number of others all stating
the end of the party system
in the US, with perhaps the
most devastating comment
coming from Denis Borgan
who stated that the
Democrats and Republicans
were ‘like two bottles with
different labels, both
empty’.
 America parties are ‘like two
‘The party is over’ bottles with different labels,
Broder (1972) ‘the parties are no longer both empty’ - Brogan
doing the things which parties
are even minimally expected
to do’ - Bailey (1990)
 What is the debate about?
• Compared to other Western democracies the party in the US is seen to have
far less relevance.
• Political commentators said that the role of parties has diminished even
further throughout the 20th century – hence the PARTY IS DEAD.
• However, this view of the parties has been strongly challenged since the 1990s
– the talk now is of PARTY RENEWAL.
• There are strong signs that parties are trying to regain some control of the
political processes and there is strong partisanship in congress, suggesting that
there must be distinct characters for each of the parties and they now have
greater IDEOLOGICAL COHESION.

KEY WORDS:
• Partisan- A strongly committed supporter of a party who is
unwilling to compromise.
• Partisanship- A political climate of strong, passionate divisions in
which there are significant tensions between parties.
What does the cartoon
suggest about the
strength of parties in the
US?
How might we challenge
this view with
contemporary evidence?
 Learning Outcomes
• To explore the debate begun in 1970s over the
continuing relevance of political parties
• To understand what is meant by the terms ‘party
renewal’ and ‘party decline’
• To assess the ideological differences between the
main political parties and the extent of partisanship
in Congress
 Thinking Analytically
• What do you think
would be the symptoms
of ‘party decline’?
• What do you think
would be the symptoms
of ‘party renewal’?
• What is your initial
view? Do you think
parties are in decline or
is there a renewal?
What does the graph suggest about party decline or party renewal?
 Identifying Arguments
YOUR TASK:
• Read the arguments and evidence in the table.
• Colour code the statements to show whether
they illustrate “Party Decline” or “Party Renewal”.

Which
arguments do
you find more
convincing?
 Party Decline
What evidence is there to support this theory?
1) Candidate Selection
Today, when presidential candidates are vying to be the party nominee they compete in
primaries and amass delegates that can vote for them at the national nominating
conventions. However, up to the 1960s, the nominees for President used to be decided in
back room deals between the party officials. Therefore, now, the party have control over who
can be the nominee for the party. A more contemporary example would be the rise of
Donald Trump in the Republican 2016 race.
2) Parties as Communicators
Traditionally to get a message to the electorate a party rally would be organised and the two
way communication process was set in motion. However in an age of television and opinion
polls this function has been removed from parties
3) Candidate Centred Campaigns
Electoral races are now becoming more and more about the candidates or issues rather than
the parties. If you take a look at the US Advert Round Up and count how many times you
hear Democrat, Republican or associated terms mentioned, you will see that no mention is
made by any candidates. In some adverts you’d be hard pressed to guess which party each
candidate was from.
4) Split Ticket Voting
Split Ticket Voting, whereby a voter will vote one party for President and one party for
another race reached its peak in the 1970s and 80s. This has been attributed to issue centred
voting. This has also given way to the rise in the number of voters who classify themselves as
independent voters.
 Party Decline
What evidence is there to support this theory?

1. Parties have reduced control

over the election process
2. Partisan de-alignment and
ideological consensus (If the
parties are very similar to
each other then it could be
argued that the parties have
no meaning)
3. Separation of powers
4. Increasing importance of
pressure groups as an
alternative to parties
 Party Renewal
Party
What evidence Renewal
is there to support this theory?

1. Ideological polarisation
– clear partisanship and
increased party loyalty/
identity
2. Strengthening of party
organisation
3. Third Parties impact is
minimal in US politics -
if the main parties were
in decline you would
expect third parties to
flourish
 Thinking Analytically
Third Parties
Stagnation in independent voter
trends
YOUR TASK:
• Read the article:
https://www.npr.org/2016/
02/28/467961962/sick-of-
political-parties-
unaffiliated-voters-are-
changing-politics
• Summarise the key points.
Red and Blue split in election
results
YOUR TASK:
• Analyse the 2016 election
results – how does this
illustrate party renewal?
How successful were minor
parties?
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news
/election/us2016/results
 Learning Outcomes
• To explore the debate begun in 1970s over the
continuing relevance of political parties
• To understand what is meant by the terms ‘party
renewal’ and ‘party decline’
• To assess the ideological differences between the
main political parties and the extent of partisanship
in Congress
 Partisanship
The Obama Era
EXAMPLE How does this show partisanship?

YOUR TASK:
• How partisan did politics become in
the Obama era?
• Find at least 5 pieces of evidence to
suggest that the party is not dead
from Obama’s presidency 2008-2016
 Thinking Analytically
Partisanship
• Even if the parties have polarised, has the electorate also
become more polarised? Are the swing voters as relevant
as ever?

• Do the parties only strengthen in times of crisis? Is a

national strategy sustainable in the USA?

• Does the factional nature of the parties mean that a strong,

distinct identity of each of the parties will never be
possible?

• Is partisanship in the presidential contest really a sign of

partisan politics? Is what happens in congress more
indicative? If so why?
 Thinking Analytically
Are the parties dead or alive?
 Ideological Differences
How much of a consensus is there?

• One of the key indicators to suggest the party has

a strong identity and is ‘alive/renewed’ is the
level of partisanship in Congress.
• It is suggested that in recent times that Congress
has moved from politicians loosely or nominally
associated with their parties, to a much more
adversarial battleground.
YOUR TASK:
What would you expect to see happen in Congress
if this was the case?
 Partisanship
The Trump Era
EXAMPLE How does this show partisanship?

YOUR TASK:
• Can you give 5 specific examples
to illustrate bipartisanship and/or
partisanship in Congress during
Trump’s presidency (2017-
present)?
 Thinking Analytically
Partisanship
• How partisan has US politics become?

• Is this sustainable? What do you predict for

the next four years?
 Learning Outcomes
• To explore the debate begun in 1970s over the
continuing relevance of political parties
• To understand what is meant by the terms ‘party
renewal’ and ‘party decline’
• To assess the ideological differences between the
main political parties and the extent of partisanship
in Congress
 ‘The theory of “party decline” is
increasingly out of date.’ Discuss. (45)
In the 70s it was claimed that parties had ceased to carry out many of their main
functions, and in particular their lack of ideological identity mean that they were
unable to put together coherent programmes for government.
Evidence that party decline theories are increasingly out of date includes:
• increased polarisation of the parties: since the 70s, the GOP has largely
become a conservative party and the Democratic Party a liberal party
• increased party control of Congress, evident in the recent leadership of the
House, both GOP & Democratic, and united opposition of the GOP to
President Obama
• despite the demise of soft money, party money and campaigns have become
increasingly significant in congressional elections
• congressional elections since 1994 have been increasingly ‘nationalised’ and
fought on the record of the incumbent president, e.g. 2010
• attempts at greater control of the presidential selection process through the
use of ‘super-delegates’
• partisanship has been reinforced by growth of partisan media
 ‘The theory of “party decline” is
increasingly out of date.’ Discuss. (45)
Evidence that party renewal has not been completed include:
• both major parties are still fairly broad coalitions, e.g. the gulf between ‘Blue
Dog’ Democrats and liberal elements of the Democratic Party was evident in the
battle over health care
• party control of congress is still weaker than in a parliamentary system and in
any conflict of loyalty between party and district, congressmen will almost
always ‘vote the district’ to maximise their own re-electability
• parties do not fight elections as a united body, & despite the nationalisation of
congressional elections since 1994, in most congressional campaign ads
candidates will not mention their party’s name
• the 2008 Democratic primary showed that the attempt by the party leaderships
to reassert control over the presidential selection process through ‘super-
delegates’ was unsuccessful
• Fox and MSNBC are watched by a small minority of the population
• pressure groups retain a significant role in representation and voter mobilisation
 SAMPLE ESSAY
You be the examiner!
YOUR TASK:
• Use the 45 mark
question mark
scheme to annotate
and mark the essay.
• How well would this
student do?
• How could this essay
be more concise?
 Homework
Application Task:
‘The theory of “party decline” is increasingly out of
date.’ Discuss. (45)
Flipped Learning Preparation Task:
Theories of party decline and party renewal
(Bennett p142-145)
How healthy are American political parties? (Singh
p61-72)
Stretch & Challenge Task:
Third Parties (Bennett p138-142)