This lesson examines how the influence of political parties in the United States has changed and why campaigns increasingly focus on individual candidates. Understanding this shift helps explain how candidates reach voters, how party organizations can lose influence, and what concerns scholars have raised about democratic politics.
Political parties have historically helped recruit candidates, mobilize voters, and raise or secure funds for nominees. These activities gave party organizations considerable influence over elections and political careers.
All flashcards
What are three traditional roles of political parties?
Parties recruit candidates, mobilize voters, and help secure funds and other support for nominees.
What is a candidate-centered campaign?
A campaign in which the individual candidate is the main focus and may rely less on the party organization.
What factors can contribute to party decline?
Candidate-centered campaigning, deindustrialization, new communication technologies, changing class identities, and organizational weaknesses can all contribute.
What is populism?
A political appeal based on the belief that established elites disregard ordinary people’s concerns.
How can patronage weaken a party system?
Providing government jobs or benefits to family members and supporters can undermine party organizations.
Quiz questions
What characterizes a candidate-centered campaign?Answer: The individual candidate is the main focus and may rely less on the party organization.
What pattern did Peter Mair and Ingrid van Biezen find in long-established European democracies?Answer: Party membership fell both in absolute numbers and as a share of the electorate.
Which statement best describes populism as defined in political analysis?Answer: It appeals to the belief that established elites disregard ordinary people’s concerns.
What voter-alignment shift does Thomas Piketty describe in some contexts?Answer: Higher-income and higher-education voters increasingly support the left, while working-class voters are more likely to support conservative policies.
Based on Introduction to Political Science by Mark Carl Rom, Masaki Hidaka, Rachel Bzostek Walker (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.