American Politics and Government
Political Parties, Polls, and Public Opinion
Political Parties
•	Functions performed:
–	Recruitment
–	Interest Aggregation
–	Interest Articulation
Zoön Politikon?
•	Aristotle:	
–	Man is a political animal
•	Robert Dahl:
–	Citizens only interest themselves in politics when it directly touches their lives
•	Tip O’Neill:
–	All politics is local
In a democracy…
•	
•	Citizens are expected to:
–	Vote
–	Run Campaigns
–	Lobby
–	Stay informed
–	Join
–	Contribute
–	Litigate
–	Protest
–	Watch the Media
•	
Citizens are not allowed to:
–	Riot
–	Harass
–	Bribe
–	Threaten
–	Law break

Participation Hierarchy
•	Gladiatorial activities: 
–	Running for office, working in campaigns, etc.
•	Political activism: 
–	Becoming an active member of a political party or interest group
•	Spectator activities: 
–	The simplest kinds of political activities that demand a minimal amount of effort and a correspondingly low amount of political resources
•	Apathy: 
–	Lack of interest in politics
Voting Participation
•	Either:
–	Ratio of voters to voting-aged citizens
–	Ratio of voters to those registered to vote
–	Which is a better measure?
•	Currently:
–	About 70% are registered
•	In 2000:
–	Less than 50% of VAP voted
•	In 2004:
–	It was 56.2% of VAP, but it was 72.9% of registered voters (RV)
–	Highest: 
•	Wyoming 	(104.7% RV)
–	Lowest:
•	Indiana 	(57.4% RV)
Election Winners
			%PV	EV	%EV	%VAP
•	1976	Carter	50.1	297	55.2	26.8
•	1980	Reagan	50.7	489	90.1	26.7
•	1984	Reagan	58.8	525	97.6	31.2
•	1988	Bush	53.4	426	79.2	26.8
•	1992	Clinton	43.3	370	68.8	23.1
•	1996	Clinton	49.2	379	70.4	23.2
•	2000	Bush	47.8	271	50.4	24.9
•	2004	Bush	51.1	286	53.2	28.7
Results by County (2004)

Voting Participation (%VAP)
•	
•	Guatemala 	24%
•	Switzerland 	38%
•	Venezuela 	50%
•	Mexico 	59%
•	Finland 	71%
•	Great Britain 	77%
•	Turkey 	80%
•	Spain 	80%
•	Belgium 	85%
•	Italy 	90%

General Trends
•	Increase Turnout:
–	
–	New Democracy
–	Mandatory Voting
–	Proportional Rep
–	Postal Voting
–	National Crisis
–	Easier Registration
–	Lessening Barriers
–	Competitive Parties
–	Tradition
–	Large Middle Class
–	Moderate Weather
–	Weekend Voting
–	Parliamentary
–	Absentee Voting
–	Vote-by-Mail
–	Election ‘Theme’

Political Parties
•	Great Britain
–	About 20 parties (10 in parliament)
–	Labor – 63%
–	Conservative – 25%
•	Italy
–	About 170 parties 
–	13 hold seats in Camera dei Deputati
–	11 hold seats in Senato della Repubblica
United States
•	
•	Two Party System
•	Single-member districts
•	Winner take all system
•	Majority / Minority Parties
•	Divided Government

Third Parties
•	Usually impotent.  A few exceptions:
–	Progressive Party (1912)
•	“Bull Moose Party”
•	Theodore Roosevelt: 	88EV, 	27%PV
–	Independent Party (1992)
•	H. Ross Perot: 	0EV, 	19%PV
–	Green Party (2000)
•	Ralph Nader: 	0EV, 	2.7%PV
–	Reform Party (2000)
•	Patrick Buchanan: 	0EV, 	0.43%

Questions
•	Is low turnout a good thing or a bad thing?
•	Do our two parties represent the US?
•	Why are third-parties so difficult to elect?
•	Why spend the time and effort to vote?
•	In America, do interest groups serve the same functions as third-parties in other countries?