MODERN AMERICAN POLITICAL PARTIES| 171all 50 states. If the committee chair and the committee disagree, the chair cannot
force the committee members to do what he or she wants. In many cases, from civil
rights proposals in the 1950s to health care reform in 2009, the Democratic Party
has been internally divided, but party leaders have been unable to force a consen-
sus. The Republican Party is likewise subject to the same limitations.
The national party organization is also unable to force state and local parties
to share its positions on issues or comply with other requests. State and local
parties make their own decisions about state- and local-level candidates and
issue positions. The National Committee can ask nicely, cajole, or even threaten
to withhold funds (although such threats are rare), but if a state party organi-
zation, an independent group, or even an individual candidate disagrees with
the National Committee, there’s little the National Committee can do to force
compliance.The Party in Government
The party in government consists of elected offi cials holding national, state, and
local offi ces who have taken offi ce as candidates of a particular party. They are the
public face of the party, somewhat like the players on a sports team. Though play-
ers are only one part of a sports franchise—along with owners, coaches, trainers,
and support staff —their identities are what most people call to mind when they
think of the team. Because the party in government is made up of offi ceholders, it
has a direct impact on government policy. Members of the party organization can
recruit candidates, write platforms, and pay for campaign ads, but only those who
win elections—that is, the party in government—get to serve as members of Con-
gress or as executive offi cials and actually propose, debate, vote on, and sign the
legislation that determines what government does.
The party in government is largely independent of the party organization.
Some elected offi cials or former elected offi cials serve as members of their party’s
national committee or hold a position in a state or local organization, but most
American politicians go through their entire political careers without holding a
position in their party organization.CAUCUSES AND CONFERENCES
The Democratic and Republican parties in government in the House and Sen-
ate are organized around working groups—Democrats call theirs a caucus,
and Republicans have a conference. The party caucus or conference serves as
a forum for debate, compromise, and strategizing among a party’s elected offi -
cials. For example, throughout 2009 members of the House Democratic Caucus
held numerous meetings to decide their group’s position on health care reform.^20
The Democrats’ strategy for addressing these proposals refl ected the consensus
reached in the caucus.
Each party’s caucus or conference also meets to decide legislative committee
assignments, leadership positions on committees, and leadership positions within
the caucus or conference.^21 Caucus or conference leaders 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 offi ce, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC),
caucus (congressional) The
organization of Democrats 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.
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.