William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

262 Chapter 8Chapter 8 || Political PartiesPolitical Parties

8

In many ways, political parties are at the center of modern American politics.

Decades of public opinion research have confirmed that most people have a long-term

attachment to one of the major parties and that this attachment shapes the way they

think about candidates, policies, and vote decisions. Parties also organize the choices

we have in elections: for example, although President Trump campaigned as a political

outsider, he won the presidency running as the candidate of the Republican Party.

Republican and Democratic party organizations play important roles in recruiting

and training candidates and raising money for their campaigns. And once candidates

are elected to office, parties are also key players in the legislative process—building

majorities in the House and Senate, using legislative rules to secure enactment of policy

compromises, and bridging differences with the president. Congressional party leaders

such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell or House Minority Leader Nancy

Pelosi are important spokespeople and dealmakers. By providing these services and

playing these roles, parties unify and mobilize disparate groups, simplify the choices

that voters face, and bring efficiency and coherence to government policy making.

However, to many Americans, American political parties are unpopular, ineffectual,

or even irrelevant. Even though Republicans controlled the presidency and both

houses of Congress after the 2016 election, their party was unable to follow through on

its promises to fully repeal Obamacare, build a wall at the Mexican border, and reform

federal welfare programs. Many Republican candidates in 2018 downplayed their party

Though many people describe

themselves as either Republicans or

Democrats, Americans’ dissatisfaction

with the governance of both major

parties has led to major conflicts within

each of them. Outside the Democratic

National Convention in 2016,

supporters of Democrats Jill Stein and

Bernie Sanders protested against the

nomination of Hillary Clinton as the

party’s candidate for president.

“ Look at the potential for our country. Look at the direction we’ve been

going. Look at the direction we need to go. And look at what a unified

Republican government can get you.”

Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House

“ The GOP is running as smoothly as a dry Slip ’N Slide made from

sandpaper.... The Democratic party, meanwhile, has gotten drunk

on the spectacle. And as with many a drunk, it’s grown oblivious to

its own decrepitude.”

Jonah Goldberg, the American Enterprise Institute

Political Parties

How do political parties

organize American politics?

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