CONTENT

Notes

Please use the guided notes to assist you as you move through the content.

Civics Guided Notes Lesson 7.02.docx

Features of Political Parties

Remember that political parties exist primarily to win elections, so they can control the direction of government and the policies it creates. Even though political parties represent different ideas, they all share some similarities: there are some things that all groups that define themselves as a party (as opposed to an interest group, for instance) do. Click through the slides below to read about some of the similarities of political parties.

Political parties are also defined by their differences—each one has its own viewpoints and ideological beliefs that determine what kind of policies it supports. These views and ideas are written out in what is known as a party platform. This is a statement that each party creates to let voters know what the party's goals and specific ideas are if elected. Typically, a party releases its platform at a nominating convention in the summer prior to a presidential election—that is one of the major functions of the conventions. It is a chance for the party to make a clear statement about what it believes and what it intends to do if elected to office.

Political Ideology

Each party represents a different political ideology—a system of beliefs about the world. A political spectrum helps plot different ideological viewpoints on a chart. In the political spectrum below, notice the Democratic party is on the left and the Republican party is on the right. The political spectrum is a left-right guide to identify where parties fall.

Political spectrum diagram shows Democratic Party towards the left side and Republican Party towards the right side

Simplified political spectrum shows Democratic Party to the left and Republican Party to the right.

Major political parties write broad platforms that deal with nearly every aspect of governance. Within the platforms are specific details about what the party would do if they were elected. If you were to read the party platform, you would probably find some overlap in what their plans are because they both deal with the same types of issues. For instance, both the Republican and Democratic Party platforms from 2016 have a section about job creation. The specifics are where the parties begin to differentiate.

If you are interested, you can take some time skimming through each party platform. It is recommended that you at least view them to get an idea of some of the specific policies each party says they will fulfill if elected. You can access the Republican Party platform and the Democratic Party platform. As you read through them, look for similarities and differences.

Third Parties

What about ideas that do not fit into these two major parties? There are other political parties, both current and historical, that can run candidates for office and represent ideas that may fall outside the bounds of the major parties. These parties typically do not have much success in elections, especially at the national level, and they may disband over time, but they still serve an important role in the political process. Click through the slides below to read more about the functions of third parties, as well as some examples.

Sources

Slide background image: "National Republican Convention, June 18, 1896, St. Louis, Mo." by Doud, M. F, Library of Congress is in the Public Domain, CC0
Image: Political spectrum by P. Bucska for Virtual Virginia, 2020
Third party slides background image: "Progressive Party Bull Moose Logo" by Spartan7W is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
VDOE 2015 Civics & Economics Standards of Learning. Retrieved from http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/history_socialscience/index.shtml