MINOR PARTIES| 183behavior in offi ce, voters use the party system to hold offi cials accountable for out-
comes such as the state of the economy or America’s relations with other nations.
During periods of unifi ed government, when one party holds majorities
in both the House and the Senate and controls the presidency, that party is the
party in power. It has enough votes to enact policies in Congress and a good
chance of having them signed into law by the president. During times of divided
government, when one party controls Congress but not the presidency, or when
diff erent parties control the House and Senate, the president’s party is considered
the party in power. Focusing on parties makes it easy for a citizen to issue rewards
and punishments. Is the economy doing well? Then that citizen is likely to vote for
the candidates from the party in power. But if the economy is doing poorly, or if the
citizen feels that government is wasting tax money or enacting bad policies, she or
he can vote for candidates from the party that is currently out of power. When citi-
zens behave this way, they strengthen the incentive for elected offi cials from the
party in power to work together to develop policies that address voters’ concerns—
on the premise that if they do, voters will reward them with another term in offi ce.
Consider the 2010 midterm election, when many Americans voted against Demo-
cratic candidates because of poor economic conditions. While Democrats lost seats in
both the House and the Senate, most Democratic incumbents were returned to offi ce.
Why? Some were elected from states or districts dominated by Democratic identifi -
ers. But ma ny others were reelected because they ca mpa ig ned on a platform of cha ng-
ing policy or because of their eff orts to help loca l businesses, saying in eff ect, “Instead
of punishing me for my party affi liation, reward me for working on your behalf.”
In sum, while parties in government can do all of these things, there is no guarantee
that individuals elected under a party’s banner will agree to do so. For example,
candidates may refuse to endorse their party’s platform because it confl icts with
their own policy goals, or because it would be unpopular with their constituents.
Accordingly, one of the biggest problems for party leaders is to forge compromise
among their candidates and elected members—to ensure that the party can act as a
unifi ed, disciplined organization.
Minor Parties
So far, this chapter has focused on the major American political parties—the
Republicans and the Democrats—and paid less attention to other party organiza-
tions. The reason is that minor political parties in America are so minor that they
are generally not signifi cant players on the political stage. Many such parties exist,
but few run candidates in more than a handful of races, and very few minor-party
candidates win political offi ce. Few Americans identify with minor parties, and
most exist for only a relatively short period.MINOR-PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
Even so, you may think we’re giving minor parties too little attention. Consider
Ralph Nader, who ran as the Green Party nominee for president in 2000, winning
almost 5 percent of the vote. In some states the number of votes Nader received
exceeded the margin separating Democrat Al Gore from Republican George
Bush. In particular, in Florida, where Bush won by only a few hundred votes afterunifi ed government A situation
in which one party holds a majority
of seats in the House and Senate
and the president is a member of
that same party.
party in power Under unifi ed
government, the party that controls
the House, Senate, and the presi-
dency. Under divided government,
the president’s party.
divided government A situation
in which the House, Senate, and
presidency are not controlled by the
same party, such as if Democrats
hold the majority of House and
Senate seats, and the president is a
Republican.CONSIDER THE ROLE
OF MINOR PARTIES IN A
SYSTEM DOMINATED BY
TWO MAJOR PARTIES