Political Parties and Interest Groups
Parties are not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, they are vital to the function of the electoral system in the states. Parties organize opposition by recruiting and nominating candidates, act as opposition powerless, unify electorate, and provide government and people linkage.(Magleby 55)
Election rules in favor of Democrats and Republicans, not minorities. Minor parties must have a min. number of votes to appear on ballot. Various things must appear for minor parties to get on the ballot: num. Of signatures, allotted time to collect; signatures distributed across several counties. (Maglebey 56)
The party column ballot-encourages party-line voting, organized by parties, party name and symbol at top column which lists party candidates running for election. A straight ticket vote-voters cast all votes for one party. Office block ballot-party candidates spread over ballot encourages split ticket voting- voting for candidates of many......
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Approximate Pages: 7 (260 words per double-spaced page) |