One Big Party?
Name: drake kortte
It’s a Party...
...but not the kind with ice cream and cake. A political party is an
organized group of people who share similar political views and
work to influence the government in support of those views.
Political views are a person’s ideas about how the government
should run and how the issues facing our country should be solved.
Political parties fight to gain political power by having candidates
elected to office. They exist at every level of government, from the
national level to your very own neighborhood. By organizing into
political parties, people have more power to influence government
Democratic Republican
than if they acted alone. Party Party
How Many Parties Are There?
# PARTIES IN
COUNTRY That depends on the country you live in. Some countries have no
OFFICE
political parties at all. Most of these countries, such as Qatar
Australia 7 and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, are not democracies, and
citizens have limited influence on the government.
Denmark 11 A few countries, such as China, Vietnam, and North Korea, have a
single-party system with one major political party. These
Germany 5 countries are under very strict rule that gives citizens little or no
say in government. They are not democracies, and it is usually
Guatemala 11 illegal to oppose the main political party.
Kuwait 0 The United States and some other countries have a two-party
system with two major political parties that hold all the power.
Israel 12 Other parties exist, and they sometimes gain enough support to
win an election, but this is rare. This is the least common system
around the world.
Turkey 4
Most countries have multi-party systems where three or more
United States 2 political parties share power. Some parties may have more
influence than others, but there are always more than two parties
Vietnam 1 with members elected to government office. Most European
countries, and many others countries around the world such as
Source: CIA World Factbook 2011 Mexico, Australia, and Japan, have multi-party systems.
The Party Platform
One thing political parties have in common is that they stand for something. If
you want to know what a party believes, read its platform—the set of
statements describing the party’s views on all the major issues facing the
nation. This set of statements is called a “platform” because it is the set of
beliefs the political party stands on.
In the U.S., the two major political parties are Democrats and Republicans.
They keep their platforms broad and simple to attract as many supporters as
possible. At first, it can be hard to tell the difference on some issues. Both
parties might say they want better education or more jobs, but what does that
mean? The party’s platform explains what that party thinks “better” education
looks like and how the jobs should be created. You can find a political party’s
platform by going to the party’s website.
Reading p.1
One Big Party? Name: drake kortte
Political Parties Support Candidates
In the U.S., you’ll be most aware of political parties during an election season.
Candidates who are running for political office almost always declare
themselves a member of a political party. By doing this, a candidate gains $
support from the political party and makes it easier for voters to figure out
what the candidate believes in.
At the same time, political parties fight hard to get candidates from their party
elected. Every four years, the national committees for the two major parties
must nominate candidates to run for President and Vice-President. At the state
level, state committees push to support candidates for the U.S. Senate and the
House of Representatives, as well as for the state’s own legislature. Political $
parties also have local branches that work on behalf of candidates for offices at
the county and city levels. Political parties donate lots of
money to help their candidates.
Political Parties Work Inside Government
Candidates who are elected to office work to pass laws and solve problems. What
laws get passed and how problems are solved depends on the government’s
public policy—the stand the government takes about how issues should be
handled. What stand does the government take? That depends on which political
party has the most power. The majority party—the one with the most elected
members—can most easily influence laws and policy by getting all its members to
vote the same way on a bill. This isn’t always easy, though, because members of
one political party don’t necessarily agree on all the issues. But in American
politics, it’s common for most lawmakers from one party to vote the same way
when deciding whether to pass a law.
Meanwhile, the minority party works to promote the views of its supporters by
forcing compromise with the majority party. If the minority party is successful, this
can create laws that are balanced between the two parties’ viewpoints.
Political Parties Influence Voters
During elections, political parties also try to influence voters by distributing
information about candidates and issues. Next time you see a campaign ad on
television, look closely at the fine print at the bottom and you might see that a
political party has funded the ad. But beware: All the information a political party
distributes is biased toward its own views. That means information from political
parties should not be your only source of information about candidates and issues.
Joining a Political Party
Your first personal experience with political parties might be when you turn 18 and
register to vote. Voter registration applications usually let you check a box to join
a political party. Joining a political party isn’t a requirement, and even if you check
a box you can still vote for anyone you want. During a presidential election, in
many states joining a political party lets you participate in that state’s primary
election or caucus to help decide who your party’s presidential candidate will be.
Some states let you participate even if you don’t belong to a party.
Reading p.2
PARTY SYSTEM
Strength or Which kind of
STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES weakness? party system?
1
1)There are too few parties for citizens to Strength
2
choose from. Weakness
multiple
1
Strength
2)The public has almost no voice. 2
Weakness
multiple
3)Party platforms must appeal to so many 1
Strength
people that party members can’t agree 2
Weakness
on core beliefs. multiple
1
4)Parties have to work together to get Strength
2
things done. Weakness
multiple
1
5)More parties have a say in government so Strength
2
everyone can join a party they believe in. Weakness
multiple
1
6)There is no opportunity for opposing Strength
2
views to be represented. Weakness
multiple
7)Too many parties create divisions and 1
Strength
make it hard for the government to 2
Weakness
accomplish reform. multiple
1
8) Reform is easy because there is no Strength
2
opposition. Weakness
multiple
9) Encourages parties to create broad Strength
1
platforms that include many types of 2
Weakness
voters. multiple
Active Participation Transparency
One Big Party? Name:
drake kortte
A. Matching. Match each key term with its definition.
G 1. political party
______ A. Two major political parties hold all the power
B. A person’s ideas about how government should run and
c 2. single-party system
______ how issues should be solved
C. Political system with one political party
e
______ 3. public policy
D. Political party with the most elected members
I
______ 4. minority party E. The stand the government takes about how issues should
be handled
a 5. two-party system
______
F. Three or more political parties have officials elected to
h office
______ 6. platform
G. An organized group of people who share similar political
b
______ 7. political views views and work to influence government
H. Set of statements describing a party’s views on major
f
______ 8. multi-party system issues
______
j 9. candidate I. Political party that does not have a majority of the elected
members
d
______10. majority party J. A person running for political office
B. Crazy Quadra-Venn! Do the different party systems have anything in common? Decide whether
each characteristic on the list applies to party systems with 0, 1, 2, or multiple parties. Find the right spot
on the 4-way Venn diagram (if you can!) and write the letter there. The first one is done for you.
A. Likely to be found in a democracy.
Si
e
n
on B. Illegal to oppose the main party
g
n
le
I B C. Usually found in countries that are not
-p
cJ democracies.
a rt
D. Citizens can belong to a political party.
y
E. Some parties don’t have as much power as
gL others.
F. Two parties hold all the power
G. Individual citizens have personal political
D views.
H. Government includes elected officials from
H more than two parties.
E
kF y I. Political parties don’t exist.
M A ar
t
ul J. Usually found where citizens have little or no
ti -p influence on government.
-p o
a rt Tw K. Found in the United States.
y
L. Citizens are ruled by a government.
Worksheet p.1
One Big Party? Name: dra ke kortted
C. Five Roles of Political Parties. Read each example of political parties at work. Decide which of the
5 roles the example best illustrates. Write the underlined letter in the button next to the example.
W
LA
Support Influence Unite Levels of Create Influence
Candidates Laws & Policy Government Balance Voters
D. The U.S. Two-Party System. Draw lines to match each characteristic of the two-party system to a
fact about political parties in the United States.
Worksheet p.2
