William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

American political parties today 269

have long been strong supporters of Democratic candidates. Accordingly, the

Democratic Party has a constituency group that informs African Americans about the

party’s candidates and works to convince these citizens to vote on Election Day. The

Republican Party’s corresponding constituency team works toward the opposite goal,

trying to convince African Americans that Republican policies and candidates would

better serve their interests.

Each party organization also includes groups designed to build support for, or

coordinate the efforts of, particular individuals or politicians. These groups include

the Democratic and the Republican Governors’ Associations, the Young Democrats,

the Young Republicans, and more specialized groups such as the Republican

Lawyers’ Organization or the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), an organization

of moderate Democratic politicians.^14 The parties use their college and youth

organizations to motivate politically minded students to work for the party and its

candidates. Groups such as the Governors’ Associations and the DLC hold meetings

where elected officials discuss solutions to common problems and try to formulate joint

strategies. People who work for a party organization perform a wide range of tasks,

from recruiting candidates and formulating political strategies to mobilizing citizens,

conducting fund-raising, filling out campaign finance reports, researching opposing

candidates and parties, and developing websites for the party and its candidates.

Other Allied Groups Many other groups, such as political action committees (PACs)

or 527 organizations, labor unions, and other interest groups and organizations,

are loosely affiliated with one of the major parties. For example, the organization

MoveOn.org typically supports Democratic candidates. Similar organizations on the

Republican side include the Club for Growth, Americans for Prosperity, Crossroads

GPS, and many evangelical groups. Many of these organizations take advantage of a

loophole in a provision of the IRS code to legally solicit large, anonymous donations

from corporate and individual contributors. Although these groups often favor one

party over the other, they are not part of the party organization and do not always agree

with the party’s positions or support its candidates—in fact, many have to operate

independently of the parties and their candidates to preserve their tax-exempt status.

(For more details on campaign finance, see Chapter 9 and Chapter 10.)

political action committee

(PAC)

An interest group or a division of an

interest group that can raise money to

contribute to campaigns or to spend

on ads in support of candidates. The

amount a PAC can receive from each

of its donors and the amount it can

spend on federal electioneering are

strictly limited.

527 organization

A tax-exempt group formed primarily

to influence elections through voter

mobilization efforts and to issue

ads that do not directly endorse or

oppose a candidate. Unlike PACs,

527 organizations are not subject to

contribution limits and spending caps.

Both parties include internal

organizations that attempt to attract

the support of certain demographic

groups, even ones that are typically

identified with the opposite party.

Women, for example, tend to vote

more for Democrats on average.

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