POL_SC 1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Electoral College, Party System, Secret Ballot
Document Summary
Functions of parties group of like-minded people who work together in attempt to win the election and improve political policy (main objective: win elections) not the same as interest groups (main objective: influence policy) They aren"t mentioned in the constitution; added outside the system. Electoral college (created in the constitution) was designed in part of trying to prevent party system. George washington cautioned against political parties because of decisiveness. Madison wrote about how parties were inevitable and natural. Checks and balances -- madison saw his group as being a virtuous check on the federalists. Speaker of the house is a party office. Helps choose critical personnel to fill out the rest of the executive branch. Parties give us a shortcut in voting -- many parties, but 2 main groups. Gives us a way to make decisions about candidates we don"t know much about -- even if we don"t know the candidates, we usually know the party platform.
