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AP Gov Explained: Government in America Chapter 8 — Transcript

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0:09what's going down beautiful people today
0:11we are taking a look at political
0:12parties for your AP government class no
0:15matter which book you got we're gonna
0:16help you out so let's party a political
0:18party is a group trying to win elections
0:21and control the government that is one
0:23of their main goals and party membership
0:25is open and fluid so you could be a
0:27Democrat you can be a Republican you
0:29could switch political parties or you
0:31could say I'm not going to be any of
0:32these parties and be an independent each
0:35party as an organization has a national
0:37state and local office and staff and
0:39they have their own budgets their own
0:41rules their own goals and organizational
0:43structures and the party in government
0:45are the elected officials who hold
0:48political office these are the party
0:50members the task of the parties one
0:52extremely important thing is political
0:55parties are an example of a linkage
0:57institution and citizens count on
1:00linkage institutions to communicate
1:02their policy preferences to the
1:04government so in the case of political
1:05parties they provide citizens
1:07opportunities for participation in
1:09government and influence how people
1:11relate to government and policymakers
1:14parties also do a few other things that
1:16we select and recruit candidates to run
1:19for office you know back in the day
1:21especially in the 19th century party
1:23leadership used to nominate candidates
1:25so the leaders of the party would get
1:27together and say we want this guy we
1:29want this guy but today things have
1:31changed and now party membership so if
1:34you're a Republican you're a Democrat
1:35you will vote for your nominee in
1:38primary elections so in 2008 the
1:41Democratic nominee was Barack Obama and
1:43in 2016 the Republican nominee was
1:46Donald Trump parties also run campaigns
1:49but increasingly candidates have their
1:51own personal campaign staff but parties
1:54still do campaign management media
1:56strategy and fundraising things like
1:58that and of course parties articulate
2:01policies and platforms each political
2:03party has their own platform that they
2:05adopt and mobilized in education of
2:08voters is an important task of political
2:11parties and finally parties Courtney
2:13policymaking between the executive and
2:16legislative branch so you see often
2:18times during this State of the Union the
2:20president and the vice president and the
2:22Speaker of the House in the back so the
2:24Speaker of the House and the president
2:25have to negotiate with one another
2:28especially if they're from the same
2:30political party so they can coordinate
2:31broker deals gain supporters mount
2:34opposition in terms of the party in the
2:36electorate voters have certain ideas
2:39about each political party this is the
2:40party image and a preference for one
2:44political party over another is known as
2:46party identification and people choose
2:49parties that align closest with their
2:51own personal preferences but certain
2:53patterns don't do emerge older voters
2:56tend to identify as Republican younger
2:59voters tend to vote as Democrats but
3:01this shifts over time and of course each
3:04individual is unique increasingly a
3:07number of voters are identifying as
3:09independence and they claim to not vote
3:11for the party or platform but rather the
3:15candidate straight ticket voting is when
3:18people voters choose candidates from the
3:20same political party for every office up
3:23for election so if you go to vote and
3:25you vote for Republican Republican
3:26Republican that would be an example of
3:29straight ticket voting and contrast to
3:31this is ticket splitting this is most
3:34often seen with independent voters and
3:36this is where an individual votes for
3:38different political parties for
3:40different political offices so you may
3:42vote for you know one person a
3:44Republican for the presidency and a
3:46Democrat for the Senate this is known as
3:48ticket splitting remember each political
3:51party has an organization that exists at
3:52the local state and national level and
3:55it is important to note that it is not
3:57very hierarchical
3:58it's very decentralized and fragmented
4:00and political parties operate
4:02differently in different regions local
4:05parties were once the main party
4:07organization especially in the 19th
4:09century up until about the time of the
4:12New Deal it really you see this in the
4:15urban political machines which got out
4:17the vote and rewarded voters for their
4:19support you can see that with New York
4:22you have the rise of Tammany Hall in
4:23Boston so politics in the political
4:26party
4:27strength was largely local jobs were
4:30given to supporters and campaign
4:32contributors this is known as patronage
4:34this was the way political machines
4:36operated they hooked up people that
4:38supported them also with goods and
4:40services in certain communities but it
4:43was not based upon merit or competence
4:45which obviously led to a lot of
4:47corruption and as a result during the
4:49Progressive Era
4:50you see reforms which required jobs in
4:53political offices being merit-based and
4:55so you get the rise of government
4:57contracts how to be bidded and it
4:59largely ended at least officially the
5:02patronage system state party
5:05organizations decide the rules for
5:07voting so in California where I'm at you
5:09got the Democratic Party and you also
5:11have the California GOP they set up for
5:13example the procedures for elections and
5:16this is really important because each
5:17state has their own way of doing things
5:20when it comes to elections in some
5:22states you have an open primary in which
5:24all voters can vote in the election so
5:27for example if you're a Democrat you
5:29could still vote for Republican
5:30candidates even though you don't
5:32officially belong to that party you do
5:35not have to be registered with the
5:37political party to vote for the
5:39candidate in California is an example of
5:41a place with an open primary in other
5:43states you have a closed primary in
5:46which you must be registered party
5:48member in order to vote so if you're a
5:50Democrat you can't vote for the
5:51Republican nominee during the primary so
5:54you have closed you have open and some
5:56states have kind of a hybrid model you
5:58could see on that map in terms of party
6:01organization each political party has a
6:03National Party and this really kind of
6:06can be symbolized by the National
6:08Convention which takes place every four
6:10years to formally nominate the
6:12presidential candidate and to adopt the
6:15party platform so you can see the
6:17Republican and the Democrats having
6:19their convention in 2016 now important
6:22to keep in mind although we have these
6:23national conventions remember it is the
6:25primary and the party members who select
6:29the candidate the National Convention is
6:31more a formality today or you make
6:33everything official in between the
6:35national conventions every four years
6:37the National Party does do some things
6:39you have
6:40National Committee and that is run by a
6:42national chair person who manages the
6:44operations of the party you know they
6:46hire staff they raise money that
6:48represent the party in the media they
6:50strategize for midterm elections and the
6:52next presidential elections and other
6:54daily duties of the party what about the
6:57party in government promises in policy
7:00this is really obvious but it's bears
7:02saying the political party in power will
7:04have the most influence over public
7:07policy if you control the executive and
7:09you control the legislative branch
7:11you're gonna be able to get more things
7:13done at least in theory a coalition are
7:16individuals and groups that support a
7:18party based on the party's performance
7:20and office team and you can see some of
7:22the groups that were a part of the Obama
7:24coalition now it's important to note
7:26about coalition's that parties will
7:28modify their policies and messaging in
7:31the media to appeal to various
7:33demographic coalition's and coalition's
7:35are a fluid process if political parties
7:38or candidates don't deliver people will
7:40abandon political parties and
7:42coalition's will change now in this
7:45process candidates and parties
7:46oftentimes make promises and shockingly
7:49oftentimes campaign promises are not
7:51kept so for example Lyndon Johnson said
7:54I'm not gonna get too involved in
7:55Vietnam we know how that worked out and
7:57the first George Bush said read my lips
7:59taxes and we saw how that worked out
8:02now major reason why campaign promises
8:04may not be kept is because things change
8:07if a particular candidate is a Democrat
8:09and the Democrats control Congress and
8:11in the midterm election they happen to
8:13lose control of Congress this shifts
8:15their ability to get their legislative
8:17agenda passed and their promises kept
8:20there have been party errors in American
8:23history and before we break some of
8:24those down it's important to note there
8:26is no mention of political parties in
8:29the Constitution many of the framers did
8:31not want political parties James Madison
8:33warned against the evils of factions in
8:36fact your boy George Washington issued a
8:39warning about political parties in his
8:41farewell address another thing to keep
8:43in mind is many other democratic
8:45countries like our mama England have
8:47more than two
8:49go parties you can see some of the
8:51political parties in English politics
8:53but for most of American history a
8:56two-party system has been the norm so
8:59what are the two parties that have
9:01existed and remember they have shifted
9:03over time party coalition's fall apart
9:06in new ones formed because of an
9:08important event or crisis or an election
9:11and here are some of the few big moments
9:14the first party system kind of goes from
9:161796 to 1824 and really this is the
9:20Federalists and the Democratic
9:22Republicans we see the Federalists
9:24largely represented by your boy
9:26Alexander Hamilton and of course George
9:29Washington John Adams they favored a
9:31strong central government there's the
9:33Bank of the United States issue that
9:35really divides them and their opponents
9:38or the other political group is led by
9:41Thomas Jefferson and these individuals
9:43are known as the Democratic Republicans
9:45and for the Democratic Republicans they
9:47favored strong state governments and a
9:49weaker national government so they're
9:51opposed to the bank so that is kind of
9:53one of the first kind of political
9:55two-party systems we have and whereas
9:58the Federalists tennant to favor
9:59manufacturing and more urban areas the
10:01Democratic Republicans tended to be
10:03agrarian and 1800 you get the election
10:06of Thomas Jefferson it is the first
10:09peaceful transition of power between
10:11political parties and this idea of the
10:14loyal opposition and rotation of power
10:16the second political party system is
10:18roughly from 1828 to 1856 and this is
10:22really the Whigs and the Democrats and
10:24remember in the election of 1824
10:26Jackson's all mad and in the election of
10:291828 he comes back in wins under this
10:32Democratic Party which is a coalition of
10:34Westerners southerners and property
10:36lists whites and the Democrats of course
10:38are led by Andrew Jackson Martha and
10:41Buren does a lot to kind of build up the
10:43party remember this is a period of time
10:45where voting requirements were abolished
10:47for white males and a period of
10:50democratization for white males and the
10:53Democrats largely kind of where the
10:54state rides dudes and on the other side
10:56you have the Whigs represented by of
10:58course your boy Henry Clay which they
11:00tended to favor an active federal
11:02government
11:02so certain themes right what is the role
11:04the proper role of the federal
11:06government and state governments this
11:07plays out in American history just the
11:10party's change the names changed and the
11:12Whigs are really gonna form in
11:13opposition to Andrew Jackson then some
11:16things happen you have all this
11:17controversy in the 1850s over slavery
11:20kansas-nebraska act really just destroys
11:22the Whig Party and then this next phase
11:25you have the Republicans and Democrats
11:28and it's from 1860 to 1928 and there's a
11:32thing you should keep in mind the
11:33Republicans and Democrats of that time
11:35period are not the same in terms of what
11:37their beliefs are today so keep that in
11:40mind in the 1850s the Republican Party
11:43formed in opposition to the expansion of
11:45slavery and so you have the rise of
11:47Lincoln this is the period where you
11:49have Dred Scott Kansas Nebraska Act the
11:52Whigs are going bye-bye and remember not
11:54only are the Republicans against the
11:56expansion of slavery they're also
11:57especially after the Civil War they're
12:00kind of more of the active federal
12:02government people they want the
12:03government involved in internal
12:04improvements the railroad they favored
12:06high tariffs and you're gonna see during
12:08the Gilded Age you know a lot of
12:10different people some dams some
12:11Republicans those are the issues that
12:13are gonna dominate politics during this
12:16period on the other side you have the
12:18Democrats they're gonna control the
12:19south and urban areas they tend to be
12:21once again more of the state rights
12:23peeps and then you have a very important
12:26moment in American history and this kind
12:27of shifts the directions of the
12:29Republicans and Democrats if the
12:32election of 1932 you get the rise of the
12:34New Deal coalition you know the Great
12:37Depression in the election of 32 led to
12:39a shift in party loyalties for one the
12:42Democratic Party under Franklin
12:44Roosevelt supported increased government
12:46involvement so what is this party
12:48realignment and the New Deal coalition
12:50is made up of urban residents unions the
12:53poor african-americans women and a lot
12:56of groups that had been historically
12:58marginalized in American politics they
13:00kind of start voting in the election of
13:0332 for the Democratic Party and this
13:05vision of increased government
13:07involvement and this New Deal coalition
13:09kept the Democrats in power roughly from
13:121932 all the way till 1968
13:16- the Eisenhower years 1950 to 1960 so
13:20you get this idea of the Democratic
13:22Party and this New Deal coalition Lyndon
13:25Johnson tried to expand upon the goals
13:27of the New Deal with his Great Society
13:29his domestic reform program with civil
13:32rights and a war on poverty but the
13:34battle over Vietnam and civil rights
13:36policy really kind of fractured this New
13:38Deal coalition and kind of led to
13:41eventually what happens in 1968 which is
13:44another realignment and you get this
13:47southern realignment happening with the
13:50election of Nixon Richard Nixon as the
13:52Republican candidate in 1968 he runs
13:56under a banner of support for state
13:58rights law and order strong military
14:00things like this and southern white
14:03voters left the Democrats ever since the
14:06Democrats supported civil rights in 1948
14:09when Truman desegregated the military
14:11you get the rise of the Dixiecrats and
14:13Nixon was able to capitalize on this
14:16resentment over Democrats embracing
14:19civil rights and you get this exodus of
14:21Democratic voters in the south to the
14:24Republican Party once again you have
14:26this partisan realignment in the
14:28southern states since 1968 you have this
14:31era of divided Party government and what
14:34this means is different parties control
14:36the executive and legislative branches
14:39you know it has been very rare that a
14:42single party controls the white house
14:44and both houses of Congress you can see
14:46the few times since 1968 that has taken
14:48place and this divided Party government
14:50often leads to gridlock and it's very
14:53difficult to get things done and many
14:55people see this policy gridlock leading
14:58to political the alignment where voters
15:01are moving away from both political
15:03parties and you will see a weakening of
15:06partisan preference you know they may
15:08vote Republican they may vote Democrat
15:10they're not loyal to any one political
15:12party even though we have a two-party
15:14dominated system third parties do exist
15:17and have existed throughout American
15:19history and there are three types of
15:21third parties that you will find one is
15:23cause parties these parties are formed
15:26to promote a certain issues so you see
15:28the National
15:29Bishan convention in 1892 right there
15:31you also have parties that form around
15:33the issue of legalizing marijuana or
15:36abortion these political parties tend to
15:38be single issue parties they tend to
15:40take extreme ideological positions on
15:43issues and the next type of political
15:45party is an offshoot of a major party so
15:49for example in 1912 Theodore Roosevelt
15:51ran under the Progressive Party platform
15:55when he failed to win the nomination for
15:57the Republican Party in 1912 so he said
15:59I'm gonna create my own political party
16:01and then finally you have individual
16:03aspirations and these are parties that
16:05form around an individual trying to get
16:08elected and a famous example of this is
16:10in the 1992 presidential election where
16:13a political party formed around the
16:15candidate Ross Perot third parties
16:18rarely win office but they can impact
16:21the outcome and shape the debate one way
16:24they can impact the outcome is by
16:26splitting the vote is very controversial
16:28in 2000 Al Gore the Democratic nominee
16:32for the president felt and many of his
16:34supporters felt that the candidacy of
16:37the Green Party candidate Ralph Nader
16:40took votes away from Al Gore and allowed
16:43George Bush to win the election in this
16:46election in 2000 is very controversial
16:48so study it up and see what do you think
16:50did Ralph Nader split the vote another
16:53thing that third parties can do is they
16:55can force issues into the national
16:58debate issues that Democrats and the
17:00Republicans are avoiding because they're
17:01controversial or may cost them votes
17:04they may have to address it if the third
17:06party is gaining support of Bice talking
17:09about these issues in the national
17:11debate however very often major parties
17:14will incorporate the agendas of third
17:17parties especially if they're appealing
17:19to voters into their own Nashville legit
17:22ik so kind of stealing their thunder and
17:24taking over an issue that the third
17:26party brings into the national
17:28conversation so why only two political
17:30parties if people are so dissatisfied
17:32with the Republicans and the Democrats
17:33why do we only have two and an important
17:36reason why is the US has a
17:37winner-take-all system or sometimes
17:40referred to as first pass
17:42the post and hit pause to kind of see
17:43some of the criticisms of that in that
17:45graphic but the short of it is this
17:47there's no incentive for smaller parties
17:50to form if it only matters who gets the
17:53most votes a simple plurality wins
17:57so the winner-take-all system serves as
17:59a structural barrier to third party and
18:02independent candidates and their success
18:04because basically if you don't get the
18:06most votes you get nothing and this is
18:09really in contrast with a proportional
18:12representation system that other nations
18:14have many other nations including
18:16England have a proportional
18:18representation and what this means is
18:20each party gets seats in proportion to
18:23the number of voters received so even
18:26though you may not get the most you'll
18:28still be rewarded with some seats in the
18:30legislative branch the issue of
18:32political parties like almost everything
18:34in AP government is extraordinarily
18:37complex some argue we should have a
18:39responsible party model and this is the
18:42belief that the majority party the
18:44majority part party in power presenting
18:47distinct comprehensive governing program
18:49and commit towards its implementation
18:52and the idea would be the majority party
18:55would accept responsibility for its
18:57policy if it works the public would know
18:59who to give the credit to and if it does
19:00not work then the minority party the
19:03party that is not in power would be
19:05given an opportunity to present its plan
19:08now once again the reality is political
19:11parties are tremendously complex and
19:13often times do not agree on party
19:15platforms if you ever watch the
19:17primaries for president you have all
19:19these different individuals and very
19:20often they have distinct and very
19:23dramatic disagreements over policy
19:25issues and you can see that especially
19:27if you look at for example Southern
19:29Democrats or oftentimes refer to as Blue
19:31Dog Democrats Southern Democrats are
19:34much more conservative especially on
19:36social issues than their northern
19:38counterparts and likewise if you look at
19:41Republicans in California they tend to
19:43be a bit more liberal on social issues
19:46than Republicans then say perhaps in
19:48Oklahoma so even within political
19:50parties it's very difficult to reach
19:52consensus
19:54and agreement and remember party
19:56leadership is weak in the United States
19:57making it hard to enforce party unity
20:00and voting and when you take into
20:02account regional differences in this
20:04reality political parties get really
20:07messy
20:08hopefully we cleared up some of that
20:10mess for you if we have to out go ahead
20:12and click like and if you haven't done
20:13so subscribe and tell your friends check
20:15out jose productions have a beautiful
20:17night peace

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