Review and Discussion Today the two major political parties in the United States are the Democratic and Republican parties, but membership in both of these parties has grown weaker in recent years, but there has not been a sufficient coalescence of third-party membership to seriously threaten either of these major parties. For instance, during the century between 1864 and 1964, 26 presidential elections took place and of these, just four minor-party candidates and no independent candidates have received more than 5% of the vote (Abramson and Aldrich 495)
In the aggregate, party identity and loyalty are stable reference points. They change in numbers sufficient to make the minority party the majority party and vice versa only in stressful, traumatic circumstances (Shade, 2003)
According to this hypothesis "those problems that receive prominent attention on the national news become the problems the viewing public regards as the nation's most important." (Abrajano & Singh, 3)
They interpret the results to mean "that in these towns more people already voted Republican, and therefore the share of the population at risk of being convinced was smaller." In addition, the Fox News effect was reduced in areas with more channel availability (DellaVigna & Kaplan, 1189)
Bill, and stabilization for farm prices. They also want to be remembered that they introduced and had passed the Civil Rights Act (19
They were the "Know Nothings," the "Whigs," and the Republicans. In the 1856 presidential election, they "developed a strong following in the North, New England," and in Wisconsin and Michigan (Egnal, 2010, III)
Their purpose is to organize and give direction to the political desires of the people of a community. Political parties allow for a crucial link between a government's people and itself, while allowing people to be heard that might not otherwise be (Berman and Murphy)
The Republican Party was founded officially in 1854 in Ripon, Wisconsin. Among its core beliefs are that America is a constitutional republic, that America is the greatest nation in the world, and that a healthy nation must have religion play a significant role in its society (Uticensis)
In this regard, Oskamp and Schultz (2004) suggest that typical American voters possess certain beliefs, values, and ideas about some aspects of public affairs that are highly influenced by political parties, but are not as neatly packaged along party lines as some would believe. These authors emphasize the "the importance of political parties and other reference groups as central elements around which many average citizens organize a consistent set of political attitudes" (Oskamp and Schultz 2004:158)
For instance, Panagopoulos and Wielhouwer (2008) emphasize that, "In the wake of political and legal changes to elections in the last half of the twentieth century, many of the services traditionally provided to by political parties were co-opted by the more amorphous concept of the election campaign" (348). These authors suggest that this co-opting of the traditional services provided by American political parties has served to diminish their influence; for example, they add that, "It has been argued, for example, that political parties declined in their importance to American elections, replaced by candidate-centered elections that are perceived as being dominated by an even more amorphous group: political consultants" (Panagopoulos and Wielhouwer 2008:348)
No, it's not so much the national issues but the changes in our political structure -- the rise of entrepreneurial candidates for president and for Congress facilitated by changes in media coverage and new forms of campaign financing -- that best explain why the electorate now links issues with candidates, not parties. (Pomerantz 37) As noted above, the media is frequently cited as one of the more influential forces at work in reshaping the role played by political parties in America, and with good reason
A somewhat different garnishing by a new candidate will change the party's image, such as when George W. Bush offered 'compassionate conservatism' in an attempt to soften the public's view of the Republican Party (Wattenberg 144)
Parliamentary Systems Pro Arguments-Section 1- Again, we will be comparing the two systems side by side. Anderson and Guillory showed that the nature representative democratic institutions (based on Lijphart's consensus-majority index of democracies) mediates the relationship between the person's status as part of a political minority or majority and his or her satisfaction with the way the system works based upon majority rule (Anderson, and Guillory 1997, 66)
As such, they have become institutionalized and a regular part of the political landscape, promoting more stability and genuine democracy in the process. In this endeavor, political parties have developed and become a stable part of the political landscape (Basedau, Erdmann and Mehler 2007, 7)
She argues that the very possibility of holding a second round of voting is a destabilizing factor that inhibits the democratic development and thereby encourages the use of non-electoral means of exercising power. This therefore necessitates the discipline of political parties (Birch 2003, 319)
In both types of systems, parties can aid in stabilization overall by giving voice to different ideological strands of society (Lijphart 1969, 208). This can is also be seen to be the case in the application of the work of Robert Putnam more widely to systems such as Italy's where good government builds upon the social capital it has built up in the party system through public participation (Boix and Posner 1996, 1)
In presidential systems, party discipline is weaker and the local interests are better represented. This is the case in Spain where two major political parties have ruled the country following the rise of democracy after dictator Francisco Franco's death (Chhibber and Torcal 1997, pp
This therefore necessitates the discipline of political parties (Birch 2003, 319). Michael Coppedge finds that without this party discipline, the multi-party systems of Latin America do not hold up to the standard of stability that most would like in democracy (Coppedge 1998, 547)
This is further explored by Robert H. Dix who applies the ideas of Seymour Martin Lipset and Stein Rokkan who felt that voters were mobilized by the several parties and that did economic and social change Dix applies this to a Latin American environment in countries other than Chile where multi-party democracies did not combine well with a presidential political system (Dix 1989, 23)
On the other hand, the checks and balances of the parliamentary system is that a prime minister is a part of a larger political party body and is more on an equal foot with ministers in the government. In both types of systems, parties can aid in stabilization overall by giving voice to different ideological strands of society (Lijphart 1969, 208)