Political Science 2244E Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Jacksonian Democracy, The American President, Party System

• School: Western University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: Political Science 2244E
• Professor: Peter A Ferguson

Document Summary

The fou(cid:374)ders disliked parties, thi(cid:374)ki(cid:374)g of the(cid:373) as (cid:862)fa(cid:272)tio(cid:374)s(cid:863) (cid:373)oti(cid:448)ated (cid:271)(cid:455) a(cid:373)(cid:271)itio(cid:374) a(cid:374)d self-interest. American political parties are the oldest in the world, dating back to the first decade of the republic. A political party is a group that seeks to elect candidates to public office by supplying them with a label a (cid:862)part(cid:455) ide(cid:374)tifi(cid:272)atio(cid:374)(cid:863) by which they are known to the electorate. Party leaders work to find potential candidates and recruit them to run for office, and then help them (cid:449)i(cid:374) the part(cid:455)"s (cid:374)o(cid:373)i(cid:374)atio(cid:374): second, parties exist in the heads of voters. When americans walk into a polling place, many of them identify as either a democrat or a republican: third, parties also coordinate behavior among elite politicians in office. The majority party in the house and the senate has the responsibility of organizing the chamber. Furthermore, congressional parties also work with the president to try and implement his legislative agenda.