Functions of a Political Party in American Government

Political parties help our society and voters in general by participating in a variety of activities. They do the following:

attract people of different backgrounds, ideologies, ethnic groups, rich, or poor under “one umbrella” in support of positions on issues , e.g. Support the Republican Party to cut taxes, reduce government regulations, promote free and fair trade, strengthen defense, and ban abortion. or Democratic Party to provide affordable and accessible healthcare, lower college debt, increase taxes on the wealthy, provide less military spending, support border security. Our founding fathers feared political parties, but they have with the exception of slavery, managed to help strengthen national unity even though it may appear otherwise by looking at the “red and blue” states on the election map.

recruit candidates; provide candidates with training, money, and information on issues; write a party platform; register voters; educate the voters. All of these activities help make it easier for us as citizens to decide which candidates to support . Not only do political parties recruit candidates for us to choose from, they make it easier for us to choose a candidate without doing too much additional research because we have read the party platforms and know what Republicans and Democrats stand for. This is why some people vote a “straight ticket” sometimes. They vote Republican or Democrat down the line-national, state, local levels.

criticize the political party in the White House- ‘Keep them honest’-make sure the President and his staff do not abuse their power; and they also provide alternative ideas for the public to support , e.g. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and leader of the loyal opposition , opposes for example, President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act that has a large amount of funding for Green Energy programs. Currently, the Democrats “control” the White House but are the minority party in the U.S. House of Representatives. Republicans are playing the role of the opposition party. Serendipitously, political parties have provided an additional check on the majority!

help make our government bridge the gap between our three separate branches of government . In order to get our laws passed, members of the President’s party must introduce his legislative proposals or vote on bills that he supports, e.g. Democrats are working to “push” President Biden’s legislative agenda through Congress, e.g. reduce inflation, create jobs, promote Green energy programs, funding for Ukraine’s fight against Russia, etc..

write solutions to public problems noted in their party platforms into legislation and candidates hope their bills will pass so their positions on issues become law. Candidates run on the party platform (although they are not entirely “wed” to them today because they do not depend on the political party for their nomination).

provide government jobs to loyal supporters who have helped them during their campaign for public office. Functions of a Political Party