Chapter 8: Elections and Voting Behavior (pp 236-265)

Case Name: California Democratic Party v. Jones , 530 U.S. 567 (2000)
Issue: Civil Rights, Ballot Access
Categories: Elections, First Amendment, Freedom of Association, Political Questions, Political
Speech, State Action, Voting
Facts of the Case: In California, candidates for public office can gain access to the general ballot by
winning a qualified political party's primary. In 1996, voter approved Proposition
198 changed California's partisan primary from a closed primary, in which only a
political party's members can vote on its nominees, to a blanket primary, in which
each voter's ballot lists every candidate regardless of party affiliation and allows the
voter to choose freely among them. The candidate of each party who wins the most
votes is that party's nominee for the general election. The California Democratic
Party, the California Republican Party, the Libertarian Party of California, and the
Peace and Freedom Party have historically prohibited nonmembers from voting in
their party's primary. Each political party filed suit against Bill Jones, the
California Secretary of State, alleging that the blanket primary violated their First
Amendment right of association. Jones countered that a blanket primary will
intensify the election and allow for better representation in elected office. Siding
with Jones, the District Court held that the primary's burden on the parties'
associational rights was not severe and was justified by substantial state interests.
The Court of Appeals affirmed.
Question: Does California's voter approved Proposition 198, which changes its partisan
primary from a closed primary to a blanket primary, violate political parties' First
Amendment right of association?
Finding: Yes. In a 7-2 opinion delivered by Justice Antonin Scalia, the Court held that
California's blanket primary violates a political party's First Amendment right of
association. "Proposition 198 forces political parties to associate with -- to have
their nominees, and hence their positions, determined by -- those who, at best,
have refused to affiliate with the party, and, at worst, have expressly affiliated with
a rival," wrote Justice Antonin Scalia for the majority. "A single election in which
the party nominee is selected by nonparty members could be enough to destroy the
party." Justice Scalia went on to state for the Court that Proposition 198 takes
away a party's "basic function" to choose its own leaders and is functionally "both
severe and unnecessary." Justices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg
dissented. "This Court's willingness to invalidate the primary schemes of 3 States
and cast serious constitutional doubt on the schemes of 29 others at the parties'
behest is," Justice Stevens wrote, "an extraordinary intrusion into the complex and
changing election laws of the States."

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I. Introduction (pg. 238)

A. Party Competition is the battle between Democrats and Republicans for control of
public office.
Democrats Republicans a/ka/ G.O.P.
Left Right
Mascot: Donkey Mascot: Elephant
Ideology: Liberal Ideology: Conservative
Cut defense spending, but maintain a Favor government spending on defense
strong military versus social welfare programs
Freedom of Choice Right to Life
Oppose school prayer of any kind Favor moments of silent prayer
Government is a means of dealing with Laissez-faire position regarding
the problems facing society. government involvement.
Sympathetic to the rights of the Critical of many of the Warrant Court
accused. decisions.

B. Without this competition there would be no choice, and without choice there would be
no democracy. [At least this is the justification for the political parties today; unlike the
founding fathers that were against factions.]

II. The Meaning of Party (pp. 238-241)

A. Political Parties a group of persons seeking to control the governing apparatus by

gaining office in a duly constituted election.
1. They will endorse candidates for public office and try to win elections.
2. Party leaders often disagree about policy, and between elections the parties are nearly
invisible.

B. Parties are “three-headed political giants”…

1. The party-in-the- electorat e are individuals who perceive themselves as party
members; many voters have a party identificat ion (the self-proclaimed
preference for one or the other party) that guides and influences their votes.
Unlike many European political parties, American parties DO NOT require dues
or membership cards to distinguish members from nonmembers. To be a
member of a party, one needs only to claim to be a member.
2. The party as an organization has a national office, a full-time staff, rules
and bylaws, and budgets.
a) Each party maintains state and local headquarters.

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b) Organization includes precinct leaders, county chairpersons, state

chairpersons, state delegates to the national committee, and officials in
the party’s Washington office.
3. The party-in-government consists of elected officials who call themselves
members of the party (such as President and Congress).
a) These leaders do not always agree on policy; but they are the main
spokespersons of the party.
b) Their words and actions personify the party to millions of Americans.

C. Tasks of the Parties (pg. 239)

1. In a large democracy linkage institutions (institutions such as (1) parties, (2)
elections, (3) interest groups, and the (4) media translate inputs from the public
into outputs from policymakers) translate inputs from the public into outputs
from the policymakers.
2. Tasks performed by parties as linkage institutions:
a) Pick Candidates – Almost no one gets elected to a public office
without winning a party’s endorsement.
(1) A nomination is the party’s endorsement of a candidate.
(2) Exception is Lieberman who ran as an Independent after not getting
the Democratic nomination.
b) Run Campaigns – Through their national, state, and local
organizations, parties coordinate political campaigns; however, recent
technology has made it easier for candidates to campaign on their own.
c) Give Cues to Voters - Even though party ties have weakened, most
voters have a party image (what the voters know or think they know
about what each party stands for) of each party; and many voters still
rely on a party to give them cues for voting.
d) Articulate Policies - Within the electorate and in the government,
each political party advocates specific policy alternatives.
e) Coordinate Policymaking – Parties are essential for coordination
among the branches of government. When they need support to get
something done, the first place they look is to their fellow partisans
(members of the same group; i.e., Republicans or Democrats).

D. Rational-Choice Theo ry (a/k/a Antho ny Downs Model) assumes that parties

and political actors have goals (such as winning elections) that are more important to the
party than ideology.

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1. Voters want to maximize the chance government will adopt policies they favor.
2. In order to win an office, the wise party pursues policies that have broad public
appeal.
3. The majority of the American electorate are in the middle, and successful parties
in the U.S. rarely stray far from the midpoint of public opinion.
4. Parties differentiate themselves to some extent to forge different identifies in
order to build voter loyalty: Republicans favor lower taxes and less domestic
spending, whereas Democrats favor more government programs to help the
middle-class and less-advantaged Americans.

III. The Party -In -The-Electorate (pp. 241-242)

A. The party in the electorate consists largely of symbolic images.

1. There is no formal “membership” in American parties.
2. For most people, the party is a psychological label.

B. Party images help shape people’s party identi fication – the self-proclaimed
preference for one of the parties.
1. The clearest trend in party identification over the last four decades has been the
decline of both parties and the resultant upsurge of Independents (mostly at the
expense of the Democrats). Note: In 2000, 41% identified themselves as
Independents; however, that number dropped to 36% in 2002.
2. Virtually every major social group (except African-American voters) has moved
toward a position of increased independence.
3. By contrast, African-Americans have moved even more solidly into the
Democratic party (currently only five percent of African-Americans identify
themselves as Republicans).

C. Party identification remains strongly linked to the voter’s choice, but ticket-splitting
(voting with one party for one office and another for other offices) is near an all-time
high.
1. Not only are there more Independents now, but those who still identify with a
party are no longer as loyal in the voting booth as they once were.
2. Divided government has frequently been the result (often with Republican
control of the White House and Democratic control of Congress)

IV. The Party Organizations: From the Grass Roots to Washington (pp. 242-246)

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A. American political parties are decentralized and fragmented.

1. Unlike many Europeans parties, formal party organizations in America have little
power to enforce their decisions by offering rewards (like campaign funds and
appointments) to officeholders who follow the party line and punishing those
who do not.
2. Candidates in the United States can get elected on their own, and the party
organization is relegated to a relatively limited role.
3. Because the government is decentralized (federal in design) so is the political
party system; we have a national party and 50 state parties (per political party;
i.e., Democrats and Republicans).

B. Local Parties: The Dying Urban Machines (pp. 243-244)

1. At one time, the urban political party was the basis of political party
organization in America.
2. From the late nineteenth century through the New Deal of the 1930s, scores of
cities were dominated by party machines (a party organization that depends
on material inducements such as patronage, in which jobs were awarded for
political reasons rather than for merit or competence).
3. The Daley machine in Chicago, at its height, dispensed 40,000 patronage jobs,
the recipients of which were expected to deliver at least 10 votes each on election
day and to kick back 5 percent of their salary in the form of a donation to the
local Democratic Party.

C. The 50 State Party System (pp. 244-245)

1. There are fifty state party systems, no two exactly alike. Parties in some states
(such as Pennsylvania) are well organized, have sizable staffs, and spend a lot of
money, while parties in other states (such as California) are very weak.
2. The states are allowed great discretion in the regulation of party activities, and
how they choose to organize elections influences the strength of the parties
profoundly.
3. States determine how easy it is to participate in nomination contests by their
adoption of varying types of primaries:
a) Closed Primaries – nomination contest where only people who have
registered in advance with the party can vote.
b) Open Primaries – nomination contest where voters can decide on
election day whether they want to participate in the democratic or
Republican contest. (Washington’s current primary system)

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c) Blanket Primaries – nomination contest where voters are presented

with a list of the candidates from all the parties and allows them to pick
candidates from all parties. (Washington once had this primary system)
d) Nonpartisan Primaries – Voters can choose any candidate from any
political party in the opening round of voting. If one candidate wins a
majority of votes cast, that candidate is declared the winner. If no
candidate wins a majority, the top two vote-getters – regardless of party
affiliation – move on to the general election.

D. The National Party Organizations (pg 246)

1. The national convention of each party meets every four years to write the
party’s platform and nominate its candidates for president and vice president.
2. The national committee is composed of representatives from the states and
territories to keep the party operating between conventions.
3. National Chairperson is responsible for taking care of the day-to-day
activities and daily duties of the party. They hire staff, raise money, pay bills, and
attends to the daily duties of the party. The President normally selects the
chairperson for their party.

V. The Party In Government: Promises and Policy (pp. 246-247)

A. Party control DOES matter because each party and the elected officials who represent it
generally try to turn campaign promises into action.

B. The party that has control over the most government offices will have the most influence
in determining who gets what, where, when, and how.

C. Voters and coalitions (set of individuals with a common interest) of voters are attracted to
different parties largely (though not entirely) by their performance and policies.

D. The parties winning the presidency have done a fairly good job over the years of
translating their platform promises into public policy – nearly 75% of all promises
resulted in policy actions while only 10% were ignored altogether.

VI. Party Eras In American History – the Two Pa rty System (pp. 247-256)

A. In contrast to the United States, most democratic nations have more than two parties
represented in their national legislature.

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B. Throughout American history, one party has been the dominant majority party for long
periods of time (referred to as party eras).
1. Critical Elections are an electoral “earthquake” where new issues emerge,
new coalitions (a set of individuals or groups supporting the party) replace old
ones, and the minority party often displaces the majority party.
2. A party realignment (a rare event) is typically associated with a major crisis
or trauma in the nation’s history (such as the Civil War and the great
Depression, both of which led to realignments).

C. 1796-1824: The First Party System – Federalist and Democratic-Republicans (pg 249)
1. Alexander Hamilton needed congressional support for policies he favored
(particularly a national bank), and the foundation of the Federa list party came
from his politicking and coalition building.
a) The Federalists were America’s shortest-lived major party.
b) They were poorly organized
c) They faded after John Adams was defeated in his reelection bid of 1800
d) They no longer even had a candidate for president after 1820.
2. The Democratic-Republicans (also known as Jeffersonians)
a) First known as the Anti-Federalists – the name of the party opposed to the
ratification of the Constitution.
b) Eventually called Democratic-Republicans hoping to convince the electorate
that they believed in a more democratic approach to the governing of the
Republic.
c) The coalition was derived from agrarian interests – which made the party
popular in the rural South.
d) The coalition was torn apart by factionalism.

D. 1828-1856: Jackson and the Democrats versus the Whigs (pp. 249-252)
1. General Andrew Jackson was originally a Democratic-Republican, but soon after
his election (1828) his party became known simply as the Democratic party
(which continues to this day).
2. Opposition was provided by the Whigs, but the Whig party was only able to
win the presidency when it nominated popular military heroes such as William
Henry Harrison (1840) and Zachary Taylor (1848). The Whigs had two distinct
wings – northern industrialists and southern planters – who were brought
together more by the Democratic policies they opposed than by issues on which
they agreed.

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E. 1860-1928: The Republican (GOP=Grand Old Party) Era (pg. 252)

1. The issue of slavery dominated American politics and split both the Whigs and
the Democrats in the 1850s
2. The Republican party rose in the late 1850s as the antislavery party.
a) The Republicans forged a coalition out of the remnants of several minor
parties (antislavery Democrats and the Know-Nothings) and elected
Abraham Lincoln as president in 1860.

b) The Civil War brought a party r ealignment, and the Republican party
was in ascendancy for more than sixty years (though the Democrats
controlled the South)
c) The election of 1896 was a watershed during this era – a period when party
coalitions shifted and the Republicans were entrenched for another
generation.
d) The Republicans continued as the nation’s majority party until the stock
market crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression.

F. 1932-1964: The New Deal Coalition = Democrats Rule (pp. 253-254)

1. President Herbert Hoover’s handling of the Great Depression was disastrous for
the Republicans. He took the position that “economic depression cannot be cured
by legislative action.”
2. Franklin D. Roosevelt promised a New Deal easily defeating Hoover in 1932.
a) Congress passed scores of Roosevelt’s anti-Depression measures during his
first hundred days in office.
b) Party realignment began in earnest after the Roosevelt administration
got the country moving again, and Roosevelt forged the New Deal
Coalition from such diverse groups as union members, southerners,
intellectuals, liberals, the poor, and African-Americans.

G. 1968-Present: The Era of Divided Government (pp. 254-256)

1. Although the Democrats have been the majority party ever since Roosevelt’s
time, the coalition has steadily weakened since the mid-1960s.
2. An unprecedented period of divided government (when the executive and
legislative branches are controlled by different parties) has existed since 1968.
3. The House of Representatives had been consistently controlled by the Democrats
from 1968 to 1994.

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4. After the 2000 election, political scientists began referring to the nation as
divided into the “blue states” won by Democrats and the “red states” won by the
Republicans.

H. Possibility of a Party Realignment? (pp. 255)

1. Republicans have won six of eight presidential elections but were unable to
control Congress until 1994.
2. In 1980, Ronald Reagan began attracting a traditional Democratic base of
middle-class workers to his candidacy (“Reaga n Democrats”).
3. In 1992, however, Bill Clinton introduced the “New Democrat” aiming to
entice those liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats.
4. In 2002, under Republican President George W. Bush, the Republicans were
able to take control of the Senate, and become stronger in the House.
5. In 2004, George W. Bush was reelected solidifying Republican control of the
executive and legislative branches.
6. Republican gains in the once Democratic South suggest a major party
realignment in that area of the country; the Democrats’ Solid South no longer
exists in national elections.

I. Party Dealignment - People are gradually moving away from both political parties.
1. Many political scientists believe that the recent pattern of divided government
means that the party system has dealigned rather than realigned.
2. Many scholars fear that the parties are becoming useless and ineffective through
the pattern of divided government and dealignment.
3. Conversely, there are also some signs of party renewal, such as the increase in the
regular Washington staff of the national party organizations.
4. The recent dealignment has been characterized by a growing party neutra lity
(when voters have an indifferent attitude toward both of the parties) – to some
this would be an “independ ent”.
5. Those who do identify with a party are more likely to belong to the party that
matches their ideology – the parties have become ideologically differentiated,
and people who call themselves conservatives are more likely to be in the
Republican party while liberals are concentrated in the Democratic party.
6. Even though party loyalty has lagged, party organizations have become more
energetic and effective – the parties learned the secrets of high-tech fund-raising;
the parties’ national, congressional, and senatorial campaign committees are now
wealthier, more stable, better organized, and better staffed.

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VII. Third Parties: Their Impact On American Politics (pp. 256-258)

A. There are three basic varieties of third parties (minor parties which either promote
narrow ideological issues or are splinter groups from the major parties).
1. Promote Certain Causes – either a controversial single issue such as prohibition of
alcoholic beverages or an extreme ideological position such as socialism or
libertarianism
2. Splinter Parties - offshoots of a major party and can often play a “spoiler
role” in an election where the two major parties are evenly matched.
a) Teddy Roosevelt’s Progressives a/k/a Bull Moose (1912) – split from the
Republicans. In the election of 1912, Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) received
41.8%, Teddy Roosevelt (Progressive) received 27.4%, William Taft
(Republican) received 23.2%. If Teddy had not split the Republican party,
Taft most likely would have won the election of 1912.
b) Senator Strom Thurmond’s States’ Righters a/k/a Dixiecrats (1948) – split
from the Democrats. Senator Thurmond later became a Republican.
c) George Wallace’s American Independents (1968) – split the Democrats.
3. An Extension of Individual Presidential Aspirations – including John Anderson
(1980) and Ross Perot (1992 and 1996).

B. Importance of Third Parties

1. Third parties have controlled enough votes in one-third of the last 36
presidential elections to have decisively tipped the electoral college vote.
2. They have brought new groups into the electorate and have served as “safety
valves” for popular discontent.
3. They have brought new issues to the political agenda.
4. Although they have virtually no chance to win, they still was a vocal campaign.

C. Consequences of the two-party system

1. The most obvious consequence of two-party governance is the moderation of
political conflict
a) With just two parties, both will cling to a centrist position to maximize
their appeal to voters.
b) The result is often political ambiguity – parties will not want to risk
taking a strong stand on a controversial policy if doing so will only
antagonize many voters (as with Goldwater in 1964 and McGovern in
1972).

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2. One of the major reasons the United States has only two parties represented in
government is structural – America has a winner-ta k e-all system.
a) In this system, the party that receives a plurality (more votes than
anyone else, even though it may be less than a majority) is declared the
winner; the other parties get nothing.
b) This system discourages small parties.
3. In a system that uses pro portional r epres entatio n (used in most European
countries), legislative seats are allocated according to each party’s percentage of
the nationwide vote.
a) A party must achieve a certain percentage of votes to be awarded seats in
the legislature.
b) A small party may use its seats to combine with one of the larger parties
to form a coalition government.
4. A coalition government is created when two or more parties join together to
form a majority in a national legislature. This form of government is quite
common in the multiparty system of Europe.

VIII. Understanding Political Parties (pp. 258-262)

A. Political parties are considered essential elements of democratic government

B. Democracy and Responsible Party Government (pp. 259-260)

1. Ideally, in a democracy candidates should say what they mean to do if elected
and be able to do what they promised once they are elected.
2. Critics of the American party system have called for a more disciplined,
responsible party mod el.
a) Parties must present distinct, comprehensive programs for governing the
nation.
b) Each party’s candidates must be committed to its program and have the
internal cohesion and discipline to carry out its program.
c) The majority party must implement its programs, and the minority
party must state what it would do if it were in power.
d) The majority party must accept responsibility for the performance of the
government.
3. American parties do not meet the criteria of the responsible party model.
a) They are too decentralized to take a single national position and then
enforce it.

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b) Because virtually anyone can vote in party primaries, parties do not have
control over those who run under their labels
c) In America’s loosely organized party system, there is no mechanism for a
party to discipline officeholders and ensure cohesion in policymaking.
4. There are supporters of America’s two-party system who criticize the
responsibility party model.
a) They argue that the complexity and diversity of American society needs
a different form of representation; local differences need an outlet for
expression.
b) America’s decentralized parties are appropriate for the type of limited
government the founders sought to create and most Americans wish to
maintain.

C. Individualism and Gridlock (page 261)

1. The Founding Fathers were very concerned that political parties would trample
on the rights of individuals.
2. They wanted to preserve individual freedom of action by various elected officials.
3. When one party controls the executive branch and another party controls the
legislative branch, it becomes easy for each party to “pass the buck” in regards to
American policymaking. This creates gridlock.

D. American Political Parties and the Scope of Government

1. Weak parties limit the scope of government in America because the president
cannot command party discipline to pass important legislation, such as health
care.
2. Because no single party can ever be said to have firm control over government,
the hard choices necessary to cut back on existing government spending are
rarely addressed.
3. Divided government has meant that neither party is really in charge, and
each points the finger at the other.

E. Is the party over? (pp. 262-263)

1. Parties are no longer the main source of political information.
a) More and more political communication is not face-to-face but rather
through the mass media.
b) The technology of campaigning – television, polls, computers, political
consultants, media specialists, and the like – can be bought by

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candidates for themselves, and they therefore do not need to be

dependent on the party.
c) With the advent of television, voters no longer need the party to find out
what the candidates are like and what they stand for.
d) The power of interest groups has grown enormously in recent years; they
pioneered much of the technology of modern politics, including mass
mailings and sophisticated fund-raising.
2. There are indications that the parties are beginning to adapt to the high-tech
age.
a) State and national party organizations have become more visible and
active.
b) Although more people than ever before call themselves Independent and
split their tickets, the majority still identify with a party (and this
percentage seems to have stabilized).

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