Transcript political parties and politics - Augusta County Public Schools

POLITICAL PARTIES AND POLITICS
Political Party
• A group of voters with common interests who
want to influence government by campaigning
and electing their party’s candidates to office.
Two-Party System
• The traditional format of U.S.’s electoral
process.
• Democrats/Republicans….their views differ
• Two parties are competing for power.
Third Party
• Minor parties resulting from ideas on specific
issues
• May include ethnicity, economic, regional
topics
• It challenges the two major parties.
Platform
• A series of statements expressing the party’s
principles, beliefs, and positions on election
issues
Plank
• Each individual part of the party’s platform.
Democrat vs. Republican
Similarities between parties:
• Organize to win elections
• Influence public policies
• Reflect both liberal and
conservative views
• Define themselves in a way
that wins majority support
by appealing to the political
center.
Differences between parties:
• Stated in a party’s platform
and reflected in
campaigning.
Third Party Differences
• Introduce new ideas or press
for a particular issue
• Often revolve around political
personality… for example
Teddy Roosevelt.
• They can change the outcome
of an election of drawing votes
away from one of the main
parties.
• Example: Progressive “Bull
Moose” Party split the
Republican Vote allowing
Woodrow Wilson the
Democrat to win
Progressive “Bull Moose” Party
National Party Impact
National Committee
• Representatives from the 50
state party organizations
who run a political party,
National Party Chairperson
• Individual elected by the
national committee who
manages the daily
operations of the national
party.
Responsibilities
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Raises funds for presidential
elections
Organizes the party’s national
convention
Create informational websites about
candidates
Fun-raising for campaigning
Create advertisements for radio and
TV
What happens at the National
Convention?
• Delegates write the party’s
platform.
• Delegates nominate the
party’s presidential
candidate.
• Speeches and
demonstrations to support
the candidate.
Roles and Functions of Political Parties
Roles of Political Parties
• Nominate candidates
• Campaign
• Inform citizens
• Linking levels of
government
• Acting as a watchdog
Function of Political Party
• Recruit and nominate
candidates
• Educate the electorate
about campaign issues
• Help candidates win
elections
• Monitoring actions of
officeholders.
State and Local Committees
State Committees
Local Committees
• Electing party
candidates to state
offices
• Elect their party’s
candidates for national
offices
• These are town, city
and county committees
• Committees include
people elected by their
fellow party members
Political Machine
• Strong party organization that can control
political appointments and deliver votes
Media’s Role
• Strategies for evaluating campaign speeches,
literature, and advertisements for accuracy.
– Strategies are: separating fact from opinion,
detecting bias, evaluating sources, identifying
propaganda
• Separating Fact From
Opinion
– Facts can be proven by
checking them against
other resources
– Opinions usually cannot be
proven
– Opinions are more reliable
when the writer gives facts
to support them
• Detecting Bias
– Bias is often attached to
issues that have an impact
on people’s emotions
– Decide whether the piece
of info presents only one
side of an issue, while
suggesting it covers all
sides.
– Determine if the info is
supported by opinions or
facts
– Look for hidden
assumptions
generalizations not
supported by facts.
• Evaluating sources
– Ask yourself a few
questions
– Who’s the author?
Credentials?
– Is it current information?
– What kind of media is it
found?
– What’s the purpose of the
article/info?
– Is the info facts or
opinions? What evidence is
there to support it?
– Are there pictures, graphs,
tables to support info?
• Identifying propaganda
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Endorsement
Glittering generality
Bandwagon
Name calling
Just plain folks
Stacked cards
Symbols
Mass Media’s role in Elections
• Identifying candidates
• Emphasizing selected
issues
• Writing editorials,
creating political
cartoons, publishing
opinionated pieces.
• Broadcasting different
points of view
Political Cartoons
•Who are the main characters in
the cartoon?
•What do they represent?
•Describe the action in the
cartoon.
•What’s the purpose of the
cartoon?