Organisationally weak and ideologically
“Organisationally weak and ideologically similar” – To what extent is this an accurate description of the Republican and Democrat parties of the USA
American political parties differ from their British counterparts due to the fact that they must appeal to a larger nation with more differing perspectives and political values. As a result of this, the parties are far less organised on a federal level and must have broader ideologies to avoid alienating certain demographics. However, clear structure is demonstrated at state-level and their stances on social issues do sometimes differ greatly.
US political parties do not have a strong organisational structure due to the federalist system laid out by the constitution and the decentralised state governments. The US constitution sets up a government in which power is devolved to state legislatures, with each state having their own government. As a result of this, the national parties are weak, leaving much of the organisational duties to the individual state parties. This means that the only manifestation of a national party is through the National committees which are considered to be generally weak organisations. For example, during the 2008 presidential nomination process, the Democrat National Committee issued that only Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina could hold their primaries before the 5th of February. However, the state parties for Michigan and Florida scheduled to hold their primaries in mid-January. This resulted in Michigan and Florida representatives only possessing half a vote at the National Convention. This shows how the national parties do not have a large amount of influence over the state parties, as they are not involved in organising elections, and it shows that the only real power that the National Committees wield is when it comes to the National Convention to decide upon the presidential candidate, which only takes place every four years. This lack of a powerful national party
American political parties differ from their British counterparts due to the fact that they must appeal to a larger nation with more differing perspectives and political values. As a result of this, the parties are far less organised on a federal level and must have broader ideologies to avoid alienating certain demographics. However, clear structure is demonstrated at state-level and their stances on social issues do sometimes differ greatly.
US political parties do not have a strong organisational structure due to the federalist system laid out by the constitution and the decentralised state governments. The US constitution sets up a government in which power is devolved to state legislatures, with each state having their own government. As a result of this, the national parties are weak, leaving much of the organisational duties to the individual state parties. This means that the only manifestation of a national party is through the National committees which are considered to be generally weak organisations. For example, during the 2008 presidential nomination process, the Democrat National Committee issued that only Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina could hold their primaries before the 5th of February. However, the state parties for Michigan and Florida scheduled to hold their primaries in mid-January. This resulted in Michigan and Florida representatives only possessing half a vote at the National Convention. This shows how the national parties do not have a large amount of influence over the state parties, as they are not involved in organising elections, and it shows that the only real power that the National Committees wield is when it comes to the National Convention to decide upon the presidential candidate, which only takes place every four years. This lack of a powerful national party