Events of Partisan realignment:
- Civil War - Republicans gain control
- 1896 - Republicans solidify control
- 1932 - Democrats gain control
A time when it appeared that the political system might operate without competing parties:
Era of Good Feeling
Who sought a grassroot party? What is it?
Jackson
A party organized chiefly at the local level and open to all citizens
Three basic elements of party realignments:
- The emergence of unusually powerful and divisive issues
- An election contest or contests in which the voters shift their partisan support
- An enduring change in the parties’ policies and coalitions
Types of third parties:
Single-issue parties
Factional parties
Ideological parties
Reform parties
Single-issue parties:
only exist to push a single issue
Factional parties:
break away from existing/major parties
Ideological parties:
formed around broad issues to which people gravitate
Reform parties:
come into existence to fight off corruption
Open primary:
allows independents and sometimes voters of the other party to vote in the party’s primary
gives all voters a say in the choices they’ll have in the general election
Closed primary:
participation is limited to voters registered or declared at the polls as members of the party whose primary is being held
Top-two primary:
Type we have in CA!
Top 2 finishers become the general election candidates
Semi-closed primary:
allows independents but not registered voters of the other party to participate
Runoff primary:
faces against someone of the same party; after that, they will go against the other party
