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UNIT 5 TOPIC 3

Political Parties H E I M L E R S H I S T O R Y. C O M

THEME : Competing Policy-Making Interests

LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1: Describe linkage institutions.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 2: Explain the function and impact of political parties on the electorate and government.

LINKAGE INSTITUTIONS
A linkage institution is a societal structure that people to their or
the process. We often talk about how here in America we have a government
the people and the people.

But short of a straight download from our brains, how do our officials
what we want?

For that we need mechanisms us and our elected officials through which we can
with them, and those are called linkage institutions. These are structures that act as
between average people like you and me with the in the
federal, state, and local governments.

There are four linkage institutions that you need to know: political , ,
, and . Each of these linkage institutions exist to allow “we the people” to
communicate our to policy makers, and here we’ll focus on political parties.

SUMMARIZE the notes above in your own words. (2-4 sentences)

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UNIT 5 TOPIC 3

Political Parties H E I M L E R S H I S T O R Y. C O M

THEME : Competing Policy-Making Interests

LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1: Describe linkage institutions.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 2: Explain the function and impact of political parties on the electorate and government.

POLITICAL PARTIES AS LINKAGE INSTITUTIONS

A political party is an at least partially defined by a certain

belief that puts forward for election.

The Democratic Party represents a more ideology, while the Republican Party represents a
more ideology. But whatever ideology each party holds to, the main
for each party is to put forward candidates who will win . Parties play a significant role
in which run for office and in the drawing of legislative , which
ultimately the candidates of the party.

One of the first priorities of political parties is the and of voters.

The biggest goal any political party has is, of course, to elections. That means they have to
expend a great deal of to get their party members and others who are sympathetic to their
platform to the . To this end, they can hold voter drives and
even voters to the polls who could not otherwise drive themselves.

During election seasons, parties organize campaigns. This is when a huge army of party
calls people or show up at people’s homes with the goal of people
to vote for their candidate.

The second thing parties do is write and publish the party . This is a formal set of
and goals written and endorsed by the party. In other words, the party
platform lists the of policies that the party will enact if their candidate is .

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UNIT 5 TOPIC 3

Political Parties H E I M L E R S H I S T O R Y. C O M

THEME : Competing Policy-Making Interests

LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1: Describe linkage institutions.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 2: Explain the function and impact of political parties on the electorate and government.

POLITICAL PARTIES AS LINKAGE INSTITUTIONS cont’d.

If you read the platform of the Democratic party, you’ll see lots of policies that reflect
ideology like universal , rights for groups, and significant
environmental . If you read the platform for the Republican party, you’ll see lots of policies
that reflect ideology like an foreign policy, traditional
values, and the of business.

Third, if parties are going to win elections and implement their , then they need candidates
who can win, and parties expend a great deal of energy finding candidates.

The candidate for any party has a few characteristics. First, a good candidate is .

And “likable” is very . In 2016 Donald Trump Americans with his

brash talk, especially around issues that were culturally like immigration and race. However,
there was clearly a segment of the American population who found those qualities very
. Second, a good candidate already has a significant . However, a good
following doesn’t always equal the candidate.

The third qualification for a good candidate is that they can different segments of the party.
Abraham Lincoln, for example, was able to unite Democrats with the remainder of the
party, and several other factions.

The fourth qualification for a good candidate, is, ideally, , of which a good candidate will need
to raise lots.

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UNIT 5 TOPIC 3

Political Parties H E I M L E R S H I S T O R Y. C O M

THEME : Competing Policy-Making Interests

LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1: Describe linkage institutions.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 2: Explain the function and impact of political parties on the electorate and government.

POLITICAL PARTIES AS LINKAGE INSTITUTIONS cont’d.

The fourth thing parties do is to provide support for their candidates.

Parties try to get their candidate elected by hosting and implementing a targeted
strategy that will appeal to the most voters. The party which does this best, usually
.

Everything I’ve said so far is about the influence of parties and has been about the process
and elections. But after a party’s candidate is elected, the party to play a
significant role. If you remember all the way back to Unit 2 when we talked about Congress, you’ll remember that
a politician’s party membership determines chairs, supposing they’re in the majority party,
and roles in the legislature, roles like Speaker of the House or the Senate majority and
minority leaders.

SUMMARIZE the notes above in your own words. (2-4 sentences)

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UNIT 5 TOPIC 3

Political Parties H E I M L E R S H I S T O R Y. C O M

THEME : Competing Policy-Making Interests

LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1: Describe linkage institutions.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 2: Explain the function and impact of political parties on the electorate and government.

RESPOND to the learning objectives with an evidence-based, argumentative thesis.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1: Describe linkage institutions.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE 2: Explain the function and impact of political parties on the electorate and government.

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