19 US Political Parties Flashcards
(114 cards)
1
Q
How did Washington describe parties?
A
“potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious and unprincipled men” will rise to power
2
Q
What are the core beliefs and principles of ideology?
A
Core beliefs and principles
3
Q
Why are US political parties different in support base to UK parties?
A
Only two - a broad base of support - harder to pigeonhole them into ideology
4
Q
Example of how the support base of political parties is adaptable?
A
1932-1980 only 4 years non-Democratic control of the Senate
New Deal coalition with blue-collar workers, Dixiecrats, African-Americans and Jews all together in one party.
5
Q
Example of how parties were far more closely aligned in the past?
A
Dwight D Eisenhower offered both the Dem and Rep nomination in 1948, ultimately opting for Republican in 1952
6
Q
What major change has undergone US political parties since the 20th century?
A
Been cleaved apart by increased partisanship
One poll revealed that 2/3 of Republicans, including senior frontline politicians such as Ted Cruz, believed that the 2020 election was rigged.
7
Q
Mnemonic for remembering some policy areas the parties disagree on?
A
HIGH AS SHIT
Healthcare, Immigration, Government spending, Higher taxes, Abortion, Second Amendment Rights, Supreme court nominees (loose/strict constructionism), Human induced climate change, International engagement, Trade/economic freedom.
8
Q
How has the GOP position on opposition to large government intervention shifted recently?
A
Whilst pulling out of the DfE and the Climate Accords, the imposition of tariffs is an affront to free trade
9
Q
Republican view on taxation is embodied by?
A
Lower taxes please
Tea Party since 2012.
10
Q
Republican view on civil rights?
A
Patronising to minorities and a form of reverse racism
11
Q
Example of how the Republicans think equal opportunity interventions have gone too far?
A
January 2025 - by executive order, Trump scraps DEI in federal agencies on his first day in office
12
Q
Example of how Republicans are divided on LGBTQ rights?
A
Some supported the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in 2011
But other states have passed bathroom bills to delay LGBTQ rights.
13
Q
Example of a Republican state passing anti-LGBT legislation?
A
Florida 2023 “Don’t Say Gay”
14
Q
Example of how Republicans support religion in public life?
A
When Alabama introduced the 10 Commandments to courthouses by state referendum. 2018. Sponsored by Republican State Senator Gerald Dial. Amendment 1.
15
Q
Example of how links to the NRA have influenced the GOP position on the 2A?
A
2018 - Trump accuses GOP Senators of being “afraid of the NRA”
16
Q
What are the 3 key structural features of US political parties?
A
- Lack of a clearly identifiable leader
- State-based structure
- Associated organisations and interest groups play significant roles, even if not directly part of the party
17
Q
Who is the leader of the main parties?
A
The Chair of the National Committee
Jaime Harrison - became Chair of the DNC after losing the South Carolina Senatorial election to Lindsay Graham. He was nominated by Biden and nobody has ever heard of him. He resigned in 2025.
18
Q
Key leadership positions in each party?
A
- Senate Majority/Minority Leader
- House Speaker/House Leader
- President/Nominee
19
Q
What does the division of leadership in US parties lead to?
A
Divisions
Trump Presidency - couldn’t pass manifesto legislation before 2018 midterms.
20
Q
How does one really lead a US political party?
A
Exert popular influence
21
Q
Example of how leadership is unclear in opposition?
A
Since 2025 - who is leading the Dems?
22
Q
How does the leadership thing contrast to the UK?
A
Each UK party has a centralised leadership, with elections etc.
23
Q
Example of how federalism has influenced the structure of US political parties?
A
Since 1944, Minnesota Democrats are referred to as the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFLP)
24
Q
How else, beyond state parties and devolved leadership, are US parties less powerful than UK counterparts?
A
Primaries
25
How should we caveat the idea that primaries completely undermine the power of US political parties?
Endorsement from local grandees is important
26
Example of how senior party officials can "weigh in" on primary elections?
2025 - Illinois Senator Dick Durbin vacated. JB Pritzker, the state governor, endorses Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton
## Footnote
KINGMAKERS.
27
What are the 2 roles of DNC/RNC?
1. Draw up national party platform
2. Organise national convention
## Footnote
Beyond this their powers are extremely limited.
28
What are Hill Committees?
4 Congressional committees aiming to get their candidates elected
## Footnote
DCCC - Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, NRCC - National Republican Congressional Committee, DSCC - Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, NRSC - National Republican Senatorial Committee.
29
Example of Hill committee in action?
1. NRSC billboard - 2020 - same format but just different names
2. Steve King getting primaried in 2020
30
What is an affiliated group?
A non-pressure group which is a prisoner group of a political party
31
Example of an affiliated group and some facts?
Democratic Socialists of America
Over 92k members
## Footnote
1. Affiliated to Dems, endorsed Rashida Tlaib and AOC in 2018
2. Members wear white at SOTU addresses.
32
Example of how associated groups have increased?
Now the Tea Party since 2012
33
What is the effect of pressure groups on US political parties?
Greater than in the UK, and significant
34
Example of how parties aren't everything?
Representative Steve King in Iowa - lost his seat due to racist comments
35
Example of how party leadership can have influence over candidate selection?
2020 - McConnell says Steve King is "unworthy of his elected position"
36
Why was Steve King's primary an isolated example?
Usually, primaries select more, not less, extreme candidates
37
What is factionalism?
Different groups within the same party that compete for power and influence
38
What are 4 changes undergone by US political parties in the past half a century?
1. Geography
2. Ideology
3. Demographics
4. Cohesiveness
39
What are 3 geographical shifts since the 1970s?
1. Dems have never won the united South since 1976, not even Bill Clinton, and 1968 was a turning point
2. West Coast reliably Democratic since the end of the Bush/Reagan era
3. Midwest deviations
40
Example of how the Solid South may be going back?
Republicans lost Georgia in 2020, and emigration to the South has returned
41
What did LBJ say which set the Democrats and Republicans on an increasingly divergent political course?
After signing the 1964 Civil Rights Act, LBJ said "We have lost the South for a generation"
42
How did Goldwater begin to transform the modern Republican party after 1964?
1964 RNC - Republicans rejected Goldwater's softer stance on civil rights, but the point was made
## Footnote
Black Republicans were driven out of state leadership positions across the Deep South. RNC delegation from Georgia in 1964 was all-white
43
What are 3 transformations the Republicans embraced during the 1960s?
1. Increased embrace of megachurches and evangelicals
2. 1967/68 serious riots following the assassination of MLK and the embrace of "law and order" by the GOP
3. Conservative on social issues including busing
44
Example of how Dixiecrats were drawn to the new Republican party?
Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms swapped parties (both Dems going to Reps)
45
Example of how some moderate GOP were concerned by the Southern Strategy?
1971 - John Lindsay, former Congressman and Mayor of NYC, leaves the GOP
46
What are 3 key demographic determinants of party allegiance?
1. Rural/urban
2. Christian/other
3. Educated/uneducated
47
Example of how partisanship over landmark legislation has increased?
Civil Rights Act 1964 - 81% Republicans backed it versus 69% of Democrats, so LBJ relied on Republican support for a flagship policy
48
Example of how impeachment used to be much more bipartisan?
1974 - 7/17 HJC Republicans recommended impeachment to the House. Kissinger told Nixon he had no chance of winning a Senate vote, could potentially scrape together fewer than 10 Republican votes
49
Example of how the House is more partisan in impeachment?
2019 - 195/195 GOP representatives voted against impeachment
50
Key trend regarding the structure of parties in recent years?
PARTY DECLINE and FACTIONALISM all on the rise
51
What are the 3 main reasons for internal party divides?
1. Personality
2. Geography
3. Ideologies
## Footnote
Primaries.
52
Level of party unity votes in 2018?
Republicans 91% of the time would vote with their party, 89% for Dems
53
What are 3 arguments for increasing party unity in the US?
1. Party line voting has increased from 60s% in the 1970s to over 90% (Forbes)
2. Trump and cult of personality within the Republican Party - see primaries and also impeachment proceedings
3. Growing emphasis on a unified party platform
54
What are 2 examples of increasingly centralised party programmes? Synoptic link?
1994 - Gingrich "Contract with America", which was hugely successful
2020 - Democrats and Build Back Better
Influence of pressure groups significant. E.g. 1994 Heritage Foundation. 2024 "Project 2025".
55
Example of think tank influence on US parties?
Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, drafted much of the 1994 Contract with America
56
Evidence party unity wins elections?
1994 - The Republican Revolution - Unified Republican Congress for the first time since 1952 after Contract with America
57
What are 3 arguments against party unity in the US?
1. Senate party unity votes are rarer
2. Common ground e.g. 2018 FSA
3. HFC and blocking Trump's budget 2019, leaving him reliant on Dem votes
58
Evidence Senate party unity votes are more rare?
2017 - 69%
2018 - under 50%
Lowest since 2002
59
When is party loyalty less?
1. Not running for nomination
2. Lame duck period
60
What did Trent Lott say about party discipline in the US?
2013 Trent Lott, Senate GOP majority leader - "Trying to be a leader where you have no sticks and very few carrots is dang near impossible"
61
What are 2 things which might have reduced party disunity?
1. Fewer competitive districts so less need to appeal to the middle ground and disobey party bigwigs
2. Pork-barrelling in decline
62
What are 3 official Democrat factions?
1. Blue Dog Coalition
2. New Democrat Coalition
3. Congressional Progressive Caucus
63
What are 3 official Republican factions?
1. Tuesday Group
2. Republican Study Committee
3. House Freedom Caucus
64
Are all factions within parties easily identifiable and why?
No
## Footnote
Some don't have a registered caucus.
65
What are 5 facts about Blue Dog Coalition?
1. Fiscal responsibility
2. Represent competitive districts
3. Response to 1994 defeat
4. Peaked in 2006 with 56 members, now only 10
5. HOUSE ONLY it would appear
66
What are 4 facts about New Democrat Coalition?
1. Largest caucus - more than half of 2024 DEMOCRATIC House intake
2. Representatives
3. Third Way
4. Overlap with Blue Dog e.g. Henry Cuellar
67
How can the caucuses illustrate widening partisanship in the US?
Increased membership of the most extreme caucuses
68
What are 4 facts about Congressional Progressive Caucus?
1. MORE HOUSE THAN SENATE - 1 Senator in 2025, but 44.7% of House Democrats - REPRESENTS DECLINING AMOUNT OF CONTESTABLE DISTRICTS
2. Membership appears to have peaked - at 97, down from 101 after 2022
3. Solid Dems
4. Also aligned with Justice Democrats, a pressure group
69
Example of how Congressional Progressive Caucus are more strongly Dem districts?
Leader represents TX-35, one of the most gerrymandered districts in existence, as ruled in 2017
70
What are 3 facts about Tuesday Group?
1. Centrist
2. Seems actually to have expanded in membership to around 41 in 2025, up from 15 in 2020, though msot membership figures are unofficial
3. HOUSE ONLY
71
What are 3 facts about Republican Study Committee?
1. Largest caucus in the whole House, with 188 members. HOUSE ONLY
2. Founded in 1973 to be a right-wing group, but has since been incorporated as moderate
3. Balanced budget and high defence spending
72
What are 3 facts about House Freedom Caucus?
1. Membership actually declined in 2024, but still 34
2. Most right-wing
3. Extreme fiscal equilibrium e.g. opposed Trump's 2018 and 2019 budgets and some members voted against March 2020 CARES Act
73
What are RINOs and DINOs and evaluation?
Obsolete basically, due to increased partisanship
74
Example of RINOs in decline?
Liz Cheney - fired from Republican leadership in 2021 after failing to support Trump in the impeachment vote of 2021. Subsequently suffered a character assassination and lost a primary
75
Example of how pressure groups can assist the enpartisanshipinisation of US politics?
2020 - Henry Cuellar challenged by Justice Democrats due to A Grade NRA rating, and primary challenge mounted. Cuellar won the primary 52-48%
76
Example of revolving door?
John Boehner, House Minority Leader 2007-2011, became a lobbyist for Squire Patton Boggs
77
Evidence party allegiance didn't use to matter all that much?
1972 poll - does party matter? - 44% answered no
78
Who theorised party decline?
BRODER - BRODER THESIS
79
Broder Thesis facts?
1. Published 1972
2. Not that parties are no longer things which matter, more that they no longer have functions beyond winning votes
80
Broder thesis context?
BEFORE WATERGATE, just. But during Vietnam. LINK TO IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY
81
When was The Imperial Presidency published?
1973
82
What are the 4 tenets of the Broder Thesis?
1. Party has abdicated roles to "experts" e.g. Kissinger
2. Congressional leaderships need more power, less regard for seniority
3. End to Senate Filibuster and Electoral College
4. Restrictions on campaign finance
83
What reforms did Broder want to the electoral finance system?
Less money, and send the money to a national campaigning hub
84
What are the 4 tenets of the Broder Thesis?
1. Party has abdicated roles to 'experts' e.g. Kissinger
2. Congressional leaderships need more power, less regard for seniority
3. End to Senate Filibuster and Electoral College
4. Restrictions on campaign finance
85
Did Broder emphasise having more or fewer elected offices?
Fewer
86
How did Broder agree with the Founding Fathers and where did he disagree?
Agree - risk of the imperial Presidency, a fear expressed by Hamilton
## Footnote
Disagree - role of parties in fixing this - Washington opposed parties
87
How can party decline be described?
Parties weak and enfeebled
88
How can party renewal be described?
Parties remain central to US politics
89
What are 4 arguments that party decline is more compelling than party renewal?
1. Primaries since the 1970s - redundancy of parties - individualism
2. Federal structure of parties and local campaigning
3. Influence of pressure groups and caucuses
4. Declining turnout
90
What are 4 arguments for party renewal being more compelling than party decline?
PHPS
1. Primaries are still powerful e.g. Steve King Iowa 2020
2. Hill Committees centralise campaigning
3. Dominant personalities have increased party centralisation
4. Split-ticket voting in serious decline e.g. no split-Senate/POTUS votes in 2016
91
What is Purple America?
Non-aligned America - in decline
92
Who is Torben Lutjen?
American professor who theorised about 'two Americas'
93
Why might the Broder Thesis remain valid?
The key STRUCTURAL facts remain unchanged.
94
How can we describe party decline accurately?
'distinct parties but disparate structures'
95
How could NNCs be modified to improve party discipline?
Give the parties a single leader, not just a Presidential nominee
96
What do decentralised parties reflect?
The structural and cultural context of the federalist US
97
What structurally makes US party discipline weaker?
Lack of patronage
98
What is evidence of third party weakness in the US?
1. Only independents at the moment are Angus King and Bernie Sanders, and they are basically Democrats
2. Those who stand as independents invariably lose e.g. Justin Amash - elected a Republican in 2018, became a Libertarian then did not stand in 2020, facing inevitable defeat
3. No 3rd party candidate has won ECV votes since George Wallace in 1968.
99
What was the 2 party share of the vote in 2020?
98%
100
Who was the last significant 3rd party contender by vote share?
Ross Perot, 1992 - got 19%
## Footnote
Largely split the vote e.g. gave Dems Montana
101
Why are third parties in the US short-lived?
Short-lived existence to pressure the incumbents
## Footnote
American Independent Party - essentially became a wing of the Republicans
102
What is the history of 2 major third parties in the US?
Green Party - founded in the 1980s
Libertarians - founded 1971
## Footnote
Short existence of third parties
103
Who discussed the short life of third parties in the US?
Richard Hofstadter - 'the role of third parties is to sting like a bee then die'
104
What evidence shows that independents are often not so 'independent'?
Most enter and leave political parties as suits them
E.g. Michael Bloomberg, who ran as a Republican for NYC mayor, won twice as a Republican, then won as an independent (won) in 2009 and then a Dem Presidential candidate in 2020
105
What do political parties in the US resemble?
FRANCHISES
106
What are 2 reasons minor parties are significant?
1. Spoilers
2. Co-option by major parties
107
How can minor parties exert a spoiler effect?
Prevent the other parties from winning a big enough majority
## Footnote
2000 - Nader won by more than Bush's winning margin
108
How are third parties significant in recent elections?
2020 - Despite only getting 2% of the vote, third party spoilers were significant; for instance, Jo Jorgensen won 62,000 votes in Georgia to Biden's 8,000 vote victory margin. If even a fraction of her voters had voted for Trump, it could've swung the state. This was also true in Arizona and Wisconsin.
109
Why is the assumption of third party spoilers problematic?
Turnout often higher in elections with third party contenders, so it is impossible to say whether third party voters would actually go and vote for either Republican or Democrat in the absence of the third party.
110
Who argued that the main role of third parties was to pressure the major parties?
Ralph Nader
111
What evidence shows policy co-option occurs from third parties?
Democrats 2018 and 2020 adopted 'Green New Deal' to co-opt the Greens
112
What are 4 arguments against third party influence?
1. Structural problems e.g. FPTP in all states apart from Maine
2. In most elections, rationally, third parties have no major impact e.g. 2012 and 2016
3. There are significant cultural barriers e.g. exclusion from TV debates
4. The coalition model of US parties, with their decentralised leadership, encourages entryism
113
What is the proper spelling of co-option?
Co-optation
114
What is the main thing driving party renewal?
Hyperpartisanship - party means something
