268 Chapter 8Chapter 8 || Political PartiesPolitical Partiesappropriate size of the federal government. In the sixth party system, new issues such
as civil rights became more important markers of division between the parties and
their supporters. By the 1980s, the changes in party coalitions and election outcomes
were apparent. Republicans gained House and Senate seats in southern states, and
Democrats gained seats in the Northeast, West, and Southwest.^13 After the 2018
elections, Republicans controlled only one Senate seat in New England, while there
were only three Democratic senators in the South (two in Virginia).“Why
Should
I Care?”
Looking at American political parties today, you might think that Democratic and
Republican parties have been around forever, that they are evenly split in party
identifiers and officeholders, and that their main disagreement has always concerned
the size and scope of government. None of these ideas is true. Moreover, the changes
over time in the Republican and Democratic parties illustrate how these organizations
adapt to shifts in public opinion. Thus, American political parties may look very
different 10 years from now than they do today.American Political Parties Today
We’ve seen that, from the beginning, political parties have been a central feature
of American politics. The next steps are to examine the different aspects (the party
organization, the party in government, and the party in the electorate) of American
political parties, describe the role they play in elections and in government, and
understand how their organization and operations shape American democracy.The Party Organization
The principal body in each party organization is the national committee (the Democratic
National Committee or the Republican National Committee), which consists of
representatives from state party organizations, usually one man and one woman per state.
The state party organizations in turn are made up of professional staff plus thousands of
party organizations at the county, city, and town levels. The job of these organizations is to
run the party’s day-to-day operations, recruit candidates and supporters, raise money for
future campaigns, and work to build a consensus on major issues. (Of course, other groups
in the party, as well as individual politicians, carry out similar tasks at the same time and
not always in agreement with the national or state committees.)
Both national party committees also include a number of constituency groups
(the Democrats’ term) or teams (the Republicans’ term). These organizations within
the party work to attract the support of demographic groups—such as African
Americans, Latinos, people with strong religious beliefs, senior citizens, women,
and many others—who are considered likely to share the party’s issue concerns and
to assist in fund-raising. In some cases, these organizations also attempt to win over
groups typically identified with the other party. For example, African AmericansDESCRIBE THE MAIN
CHARACTERISTICS OF
AMERICAN PARTIES AS
ORGANIZATIONS, IN THE
GOVERNMENT, AND IN THE
E L E C T O R AT Enational committee
An American political party’s
principal organization, comprising
party representatives from each state.Full_09_APT_64431_ch08_262-295.indd 268 16/11/18 1:39 PM