278 Chapter 8Chapter 8 || Political PartiesPolitical PartiesThe Role of Political Parties in American Politics
Political parties play an important role in American politics, from helping to organize
elections to building consensus across branches of government. But these activities
are not necessarily coordinated. Candidates and groups at different levels of a party
organization may work together, refuse to cooperate, or even actively oppose one
another’s efforts.Organizing Elections
In modern American politics, virtually everyone elected to a state or national political
office is either a Republican or a Democrat. In the 116th Congress, elected in 2018, there
were two Independent senators and no Independent House members. Similarly, the
governors of all 50 states are either Democrats or Republicans, and of more than 7,300
state legislators very few are Independents or minor-party candidates. Even then, most
Independent elected officials are associated with one of the major parties—one of the
Independent U.S. senators, Bernie Sanders, ran for the Democratic Party presidential
nomination in 2016, and the other, Angus King, gets his committee assignments from
the Senate Democratic Caucus.Recruiting and Nominating Candidates Historically, the recruitment of
candidates was left up to local party organizations. But the process has become
much more systematic, with state and national party leaders playing a central
role in recruiting, endorsing, and funding candidates—and often promising those
candidates help in assembling a staff, organizing a campaign, and raising more
money.^28 Actions like these can have a profound impact on congressional elections;
years in which one party gains significant congressional seats (such as Democrats
in 2006 or Republicans in 2010) are in part the result of one party’s disproportionate
success in its recruiting efforts.
In fact, one of the most well-known theories of presidential nomination contests
argues that endorsements by party leaders and elected officials play a key role in
determining which candidate emerges as the nominee.^29 Endorsements enhance a
candidate’s name recognition and help persuade undecided voters and contributors
about candidates’ electability and their ability to deliver on campaign promises. In all
recent presidential nomination contests except 2016, the winning candidate was the
one who gathered the most endorsements from party leaders, elected officials, and
other notables. This theory was one of the main reasons why most political scientists
thought that Donald Trump was unlikely to be the Republican nominee in 2016. While
he led in the polls for several months, he received almost no endorsements from party
leaders or elected officials. Conversely, one reason why Hillary Clinton was seen as the
inevitable Democratic nominee was the large number of endorsements she garnered
from Democratic Party leaders.^30
Party leaders also play an active role in recruiting candidates for House and
Senate seats. When a Senate seat opened up in Utah in 2018 because of Senator Orrin
Hatch’s retirement, many Republican national and state leaders encouraged former
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to enter the race and discouraged other
potential candidates. These decisions reflected a simple political logic: party leaders
believed that Romney would have a good chance of winning the general election givenEXPLAIN THE IMPORTANT
FUNCTIONS THAT PARTIES
PERFORM IN THE POLITICAL
SYSTEMFull_09_APT_64431_ch08_262-295.indd 278 16/11/18 1:40 PM