POLS 125 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4 and 5: Party Politics, Hershey: Political Action Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Early Voting
19 Jan 2020
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Party Politics Chapters 4 and 5, Hershey
January 17th
− Party strength peaked in the late 1800s and early 1900s with the urban party machine
• The party machine was a disciplined organization that controlled nominations for elected
office, had a hierarchical structure, and used material incentives to build voter support
• Large numbers of immigrants entered the US in the late 1800s and Democrats saw an
opportunity: offering jobs in exchange for support
Patronage jobs in government service were offered to people in exchange for
supporting the party
(1) These jobs would be lost if the party didn’t win, so people’s jobs depended on
their efforts to keep the party in power
• Political reforms took away patronage jobs and federal welfare programs reduced the
need for the services parties could provide
− Following the decline of the party machines, local parties were weakened and not capable of
running candidates, instead they focused on helping candidates run their campaigns
− Increases in polarization in the 1980s drove people to begin engaging with their local parties
more, building up some of the strength parties once had
− The role of local parties has developed as they’ve become more structured, but they still
aren’t institutionalized
• They:
(1) Perform labor-intensive grassroots activities
(2) Use social media to access volunteers and fundraising
(3) Promote absentee and early voting
(4) Recruit candidates
− In most states, the state party organization is the weak link, but they have been more active
and organized since the 1960s
• They were weakened by the increase in primaries that ended up limiting their influence
and by civil service protections that made patronage jobs less sought out
• Most state parties have a permanent headquarters, and a full-time, paid director
• State parties face greater competition for super PACs and other interest groups
− A national convention is held by both parties every four years to nominate a presidential
candidate
− Each party’s national committee is a gathering of representatives from state parties that
serves as the party’s governing body
• Tasks:
(1) Distributing polls and policy information
(2) Working with state parties
(3) Recruiting and training candidates
(4) Raising campaign funds
− The national committee’s chair and their staff are the heart of the party’s national
organization
• Their most important job is fundraising
− The Congressional Campaign Committees of each party are concerned entirely with
Congressional elections; Democrats (DCCC and DSCC), Republicans (NRCC and NRSC)
