the last two lectures of INTA

Wow, that class was great. Rich is a fantastic teacher.

1 files changed, 73 insertions, 2 deletions

diff --git a/rich/34_parties b/rich/34_parties
index 15fa071..ba3fd19 100644
--- a/rich/34_parties
+++ b/rich/34_parties
@@ -44,11 +44,82 @@ Are parties still doing this effectively?
 All parties can be broken down into three components:
 1) Electorate
     - Core groups (base)
+        - Essentially a guaranteed vote, so turnout is the main focus in
+          these demographics
+        - Campaigning to the other party's core groups is mostly
+          unnecessary
     - Independents
+        - Ex: women voters
+        - Campaigning on women's issues can sway 4--9 pts in this group.
+        - "Why elections are won or lost"
     - Loose affiliates (usually candidate-specific)
+        - Difficult to campaign to or motivate these groups
+        - Strategizing on these groups is hard
+        - Ex: anti-Trump voters, Barack Obama voters.
 
-2) Organization
-    - 
+2) Party Organization
+    - Not organized hierarchically: national gov differs significantly
+      from local gov and voters and the party orgs
+    - It's more confederate: people organize loosely and give power to
+      the party limitedly
+    - National tends to be voters' focus (healthcare, nat. defense), but
+      local, like potholes, schools have diff. policies than nat. Dems.
+    - Party Presence is not a constant or constant polices
+        - The party has the "umbrella" and its constituent parts are
+          trying to fit into policy as they can, but not everything gets
+          through.
+        - Ex: high-income + low-education in Republican party
 
 3) Party in government; crosses over with organization
+    - Majority does not ensure power, especially not absolute power.
+    - Supermajorities with united gov (pres, house, senate) is the only
+      thing that gives one party the power.
+    - Ticket splitting: vote for Biden but David Perdue.
+        - Because of weaker parties
 
+Two Major Parties
+- Unlike most countries, broad bases with poor assurances for the
+  parties
+- The Democratic Party
+    - Minorities
+    - Labor
+    - Women
+- The Republican Party
+    - High Income
+        - College graduates (changing?)
+    - Business
+    - Religion? (depends)
+        - Religiosity, evangelicals like Reps
+Why has the system endured?
+    - US Exceptionalism and Institutions
+    - For only 28 years did the US not have a two-party system
+    1. Duality (US exceptionalism)
+        - Pro-choice or pro-life
+        - Pro-gun or pro-gun control
+    2. Political socialization
+        - "Two is all you need"
+        - Issues are presented as two choices rather than nuanced
+          problems
+    3. Political culture
+        - Three distinct political cultures
+        - The cultures lean in one direction or another.
+        - Can be handled by two parties
+    4. State and Federal Laws
+        - Written by the two parties
+        - Handle more than 2 parties poorly
+    5. Winner-take-all electoral system
+        - Duverger's law: how many winners? One -> two parties
+        - District design, and even local elections have one winner per
+          district
+Role of minor parties in the US?
+    - Most countries' minor parties caucus with other parties.
+    - They do *ocassionally* have an impact
+    - 1992 Perot - 19% of popular vote but 0 electoral votes. Cost HW
+      Bush the election. 1996 8.5%
+        - Clinton was elected, setting the stage for Obama
+    - Don't need a large % to make a difference. See 2016
+    - Historically important 3rd parties
+        - Communist (Dem)
+        - Green (Dem)
+        - Bull-Moose Progressives (Rep)
+        - Reform Party (mix of both)