Political parties Power

point
M R . A G U I L A R 1 2 T H G R A D E H I S T O RY
 Brass Tax - Definitions
• Grass roots campaign- (door to door) the most basic level of an activity or organization.
• Electoral college-a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the
election of the president and vice president.
• Primary election-s the process by which voters, either the general public or members of a political
party, can indicate their preference for a candidate in an upcoming -election, thus narrowing the
field of candidates.
• General election-a regular election of candidates for office, as opposed to a primary election.
• Majority- rule is a decision rule that selects alternatives which have a majority, that is, more than
half the votes. It is the binary decision rule used most often in influential decision-making bodies,
including the legislatures of democratic nations.
• Executive order- a rule or order issued by the president to an executive branch of the government
and having the force of law.
• Party platform- refers to a political party's formal statement of its basic principles, objectives, and
positions on major issues.
• Interest groups- a group of people that seeks to influence public policy based on a common interest
or concern.
Introduction
• Definition: Political parties are teams
of politicians, activist, and voters,
whose goal is to win and control of
government.
• Political parties are groups of people
who join together for having common
principles, and values. They are
politicians, activist, and voters, whose
goal is to win and control of
government.
• parties however do not influence policy,
influencing elected officials is the job of
intreats groups.
Warm UP
• Please focus on why we have political Parties.
• On a piece of paper please answer the following question in a
short paragraph.
• What do you think political parties do within the United States.
 So why do we have them- Reason 1
• 1.Political parties effect the action of the
electoral college.
• Remember! parties exist to win elections, so
they make it easier for the public to vote a
certain way
• Example: Let’s say you are a business owner
and thinking of opening your own coffee shop.
There is a general election in your district and
you know that republican wants to create a
policy that reduces taxes to open a business.
• The democrat candidate on the other hand
wants to create a policy to increase taxes on
business to pay an additional 2% on all goods to
help pay for the roads.

• which party would you support?

Reason 2 • Political parties facilitate
policy making among other
members.
• Example: democrats make
alliances to strengthen the
party. a popular democrat
that has influence and
support in California can
support a democrat in Texas
and rally support from Texas
voters to support that
candidate. Parties do not
always work together and can
cause disagreement and
create a stall in decision
making.
Reason 3
• Political parties also create
structure and guidelines, so
other politicians do not act on
their own self interests. It
creates discipline among party
members to respect one another.

• Example: when candidates run

for president we normally get 4
or 5 from each party instead of
100. Over time and by the end of
the primary election the
stronger candidates beat the
weaker ones then get the full
support of the party.
 What else do political parties do?
• They Inform voters on Grass roots campaigns which are issues the party typically
stand for and fights to get attention. (gun control, abortion, minimum wage etc.)
• The president of the United States is always going to be the leader of the winning
party while he/she is in office.
• Every political party has a platform and makes their principles and belief known to
the public.
• Every 4 years traditional the parties update their platform during there convention,
which they can choose to adopt or change their agendas and issues once it no longer
has traction and another gets support. (bonus question why do parties update there
platform every 4 years?)
• For a political party to have complete control they must secure a majority within the
house and senate as well the presidency. If a president is in power but the house and
senate do not have a majority, both houses will pass and create legislation from the
majority’s platform.
• Question what is a party planform, what does it mean to you and what should it
stand for? What do you want from a candidate so they can get your vote.
 Obama 2008-2016
• When Obama was in officer democrats lost their majority in the
Senate to Republicans. Because Republicans controlled both the
house and senate, Obama could not implement his policy’s during
his term. Obama resorting toward using Executive orders to bypass
Republicans in both houses when congress rejected his party's
legislation.
 Political parties within the U.S and
third parties.
• The US has thousands
political parties, but why
do we just hear about
Democrats and
Republicans?
Continued
• The United States has a 2-party system.

• A two-party system is where two major political parties dominate

the government. One of the two parties typically hold’s a
majority in the legislature and is usually referred to as the
majority or governing party, while the other is the minority or
opposition party.
The focus
• Great Britain in the 17thth century had 2 groups, the Whigs who
hated the monarchy and the Tories who supported the King. The
Tories were also known to be the loyalist.

• At the time of the American revolution in 1776, the United

States became independent in which the founding father wanted
to do away with political Ideology and simplify politics when
forming a fair democratic government.
 George Washington.
• famous quoted
• “However [political parties] may now and
then answer popular ends, they are likely in
the course of time and things, to become
potent engines, by which cunning,
ambitious, and unprincipled men will be
enabled to subvert the power of the people
and to usurp for themselves the reins of
government, destroying afterwards the very
engines which have lifted them to unjust
dominion.”
• Activity: on your notes please write in 1
paragraph. What George Washington
thought about political parties and what
they would do to the nation.
So, what happened?
• George Washington warned
against political parties because
they would create enemies among
the people. Distracting the
government from its intended
purpose.
• Early political disagreements of
how to run the nation created
political parties. The Federalist
and Democratic Republican
which were the dominate.
• over time these 2 parties became
the Republicans and Democrats
we see today.
How are political parties active?
• Television commercials.
• Advertisement.
• Volunteers.
• Speakers.
• They send you Mail.
• Play adds on the radio.
• Etc.