William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

272 Chapter 8Chapter 8 || Political PartiesPolitical Parties

or a conference (Republicans). The party caucus or conference serves as a forum

for debate, compromise, and strategizing among a party’s elected officials. Under

unified government (when the same party controls Congress and the presidency)

these discussions focus on finding common ground within the party—such as the

negotiations that led to the Republican tax cut legislation in 2016, which was enacted

without Democratic support. Under divided government or when a party is in the

minority, the focus changes to finding opportunities to work with the other party, or

strategizing on how to block the other party’s initiatives.

Each party’s caucus or conference meets to decide on legislative committee

assignments, leadership positions on committees, and leadership positions within the

caucus or conference.^17 Caucus or conference leaders also serve as spokespeople for their

respective parties, particularly when the president is from the other party. The party

in government also contains groups that recruit and support candidates for political

office: the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the Democratic

Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), the National Republican Congressional

Committee (NRCC), and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).

Polarization and Ideological Diversity The modern Congress is polarized: in

both the House and the Senate, Republicans and Democrats hold different views

on government policy. The graph in the What Do the Facts Say? feature tells us that

over the last 60 years the magnitude of ideological differences between the parties

in Congress has increased. Up until the 1980s there was some overlap between the

positions of Democrats and Republicans, but this overlap has disappeared in recent

years. However, if we expanded the figure to look at the ideologies of individual

members, we’d find a mixture of ideologies, not a uniform consensus opinion. In the

contemporary Congress, Democrats vary from the relatively liberal left end of the axis

to the moderate (middle) and even somewhat conservative right end. The same is true

for Republican members of Congress: while most are conservative, there are some

moderates, as well as a range of conservative opinion.

The ideological diversity within each party in government can create situations in which

a caucus or conference is divided on a policy question. Compromise within a party caucus

is not inevitable—even though legislators share a party label, they may not be able to find

common ground. In the last few years, congressional Democrats have been largely united

on most issues, while divisions on the Republican side arose on issues of immigration policy

as well as health care, taxation and spending levels, and the federal budget deficit.^18

The Party in the Electorate

The party in the electorate consists of citizens who identify with a particular political

party. Most Americans say they are either Democrats or Republicans, although the

percentage has declined slightly over the last two generations. Party identification

(party ID) is a critical variable in understanding votes and other forms of political

participation.

Party Id To say you identify with a party is a personal orientation or decision that

does not commit you to anything, nor does it give you any control over a party’s

actions. Although the Republicans and the Democrats have websites where people

can sign up to receive e-mail alerts and to contribute online to party causes, joining a

party does not give a citizen any direct influence over what the party does. Rather, the

party leaders and the candidates themselves make the day-to-day decisions. These

individuals often heed citizens’ demands, but there is no requirement that they do so.

conference

The organization of Republicans

within the House and Senate that

meets to discuss and debate the

party’s positions on various issues

in order to reach a consensus and to

assign leadership positions.

party identification (party ID)

A citizen’s loyalty to a specific

political party.

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