Why Local Party Leaders Don't Support Nominating Centrists
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Precinct Committeeperson and Activist Handbook & Resource Guide
Precinct Committeeperson and Activist Handbook & Resource Guide Precinct Committeeperson /Volunteer: County and Precinct: 110 W Washington St. Suite 1110 East Indianapolis, IN 46204 Ph: (317) 231-7100 Fax: (317) 231-7129 www.indems.org [email protected] Paid for by the Indiana Democratic Party, www.indems.org, John Zody, Chair. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. Table of Contents Chapters 1. This Handbook & Resource Guide: General Overview of the Handbook 2. What It Means To Be A Democrat: Party Values and Space for Candidate Materials 3. The Basics: The Precinct, Party Organization, Job Description, Essential Functions, Election Year Responsibilities, Qualifications, Becoming a Precinct Committeeperson, Term of Office and Privileges 4. Getting Started: Know Your Precinct, Know Your Precinct Demographics, Know Your Neighbors, Know Your Local Election Laws, Know the Issues and Know the Party Organization 5. Effective Canvassing: Canvassing, The Importance of Canvassing, Recruiting Volunteers, Neighborhood / Block Captains, Providing Service, Canvassing Tools and Tips, Canvassing Techniques: Walking, Calling and House Parties and Reading the Voters 6. Registering Voters: Voter Registration Tips, Frequently Asked Questions: Voter Registration, Increasing Democratic Registration and Voting Information 7. Candidate Support: Supporting Candidates, Qualifying, Campaigning: Walking, Calling, Emailing, House Parties, Fundraising, Publicity, Other Ways You Can Help, Ballot Issues and Non-Partisan Races 8. Winning Elections: Field Efforts and Teamwork, Absentee Voting, Get Out The Vote and Frequently Asked Questions: Voting 9. Recruiting Volunteers: The Importance of Volunteers, Phone Other Democrats, Approaching Volunteers, Handling Volunteers and Recruiting Tips 10. Other Opportunities for Involvement: List of Other Opportunities, Overall Precinct Committeeperson Duties 11. Important Contact Information: State Party Headquarters, Your County Party, Your District Party, State Elected Officials, District, County, City Elected Officials 12. -
The Decline of Collective Responsibility in American Politics
MORRIS P. FIORINA The Decline of Collective Responsibility inAmerican Politics the founding fathers a Though believed in the necessity of establishing gen to one uinely national government, they took great pains design that could not to lightly do things its citizens; what government might do for its citizens was to be limited to the functions of what we know now as the "watchman state." Thus the Founders composed the constitutional litany familiar to every schoolchild: a they created federal system, they distributed and blended powers within and across the federal levels, and they encouraged the occupants of the various posi tions to check and balance each other by structuring incentives so that one of to ficeholder's ambitions would be likely conflict with others'. The resulting system of institutional arrangements predictably hampers efforts to undertake initiatives and favors maintenance of the status major quo. Given the historical record faced by the Founders, their emphasis on con we a straining government is understandable. But face later historical record, one two that shows hundred years of increasing demands for government to act positively. Moreover, developments unforeseen by the Founders increasingly raise the likelihood that the uncoordinated actions of individuals and groups will inflict serious on the nation as a whole. The of the damage by-products industri not on on al and technological revolutions impose physical risks only us, but future as well. Resource and international cartels raise the generations shortages spectre of economic ruin. And the simple proliferation of special interests with their intense, particularistic demands threatens to render us politically in capable of taking actions that might either advance the state of society or pre vent foreseeable deteriorations in that state. -
Hugo Cores Former Guerrillas in Power:Advances, Setbacks And
Hugo Cores Former Guerrillas in Power: Advances, Setbacks and Contradictions in the Uruguayan Frente Amplio For over 135 years, Uruguayan politics was essen- tially a two party system. There had been other “small parties” including socialist parties, commu- nist parties or those inspired by Christian groups but all of them garnered little electoral support. Within the two principal political parties that competed for power, however, there were factions within each that could be considered to a greater or lesser extent progressive, anti-imperialist, and/or committed to some kind of vision of social justice. For the most part, the working class vote tended to gravitate towards these progressive wings within the domi- nant parties. The Twentieth Century history of the Uruguayan left would have been very distinct had pragmatism prevailed, an attitude that was later called the logic of incidencia by leaders of the Independent Batllist Faction (CBI – Corriente Batllista Independiente). Indeed, what sense did it make during the 1920s, 30s, 40s and 50s to be a socialist, communist, or Christian Democrat when if all taken together, they failed to reach even 10% of the vote? When the “theorists” of the CBI spoke of the “logic of incidencia, they referred to the idea that voting and cultivating an accumulation of left forces within the traditional political parties was a viable strategy to 222 • Hugo Cores have an organised impact upon the state apparatus, establishing positions of influence from within. The intent of the CBI itself to pursue such a strategy ultimately failed and disintegrated or became absorbed within the ranks of political support given to the Colorado Party of Sanguinetti.1 To remain outside of the traditional political parties, in contrast, meant that the opposition would be deprived of incidencia. -
ESS9 Appendix A3 Political Parties Ed
APPENDIX A3 POLITICAL PARTIES, ESS9 - 2018 ed. 3.0 Austria 2 Belgium 4 Bulgaria 7 Croatia 8 Cyprus 10 Czechia 12 Denmark 14 Estonia 15 Finland 17 France 19 Germany 20 Hungary 21 Iceland 23 Ireland 25 Italy 26 Latvia 28 Lithuania 31 Montenegro 34 Netherlands 36 Norway 38 Poland 40 Portugal 44 Serbia 47 Slovakia 52 Slovenia 53 Spain 54 Sweden 57 Switzerland 58 United Kingdom 61 Version Notes, ESS9 Appendix A3 POLITICAL PARTIES ESS9 edition 3.0 (published 10.12.20): Changes from previous edition: Additional countries: Denmark, Iceland. ESS9 edition 2.0 (published 15.06.20): Changes from previous edition: Additional countries: Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden. Austria 1. Political parties Language used in data file: German Year of last election: 2017 Official party names, English 1. Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs (SPÖ) - Social Democratic Party of Austria - 26.9 % names/translation, and size in last 2. Österreichische Volkspartei (ÖVP) - Austrian People's Party - 31.5 % election: 3. Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ) - Freedom Party of Austria - 26.0 % 4. Liste Peter Pilz (PILZ) - PILZ - 4.4 % 5. Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative (Grüne) - The Greens – The Green Alternative - 3.8 % 6. Kommunistische Partei Österreichs (KPÖ) - Communist Party of Austria - 0.8 % 7. NEOS – Das Neue Österreich und Liberales Forum (NEOS) - NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum - 5.3 % 8. G!LT - Verein zur Förderung der Offenen Demokratie (GILT) - My Vote Counts! - 1.0 % Description of political parties listed 1. The Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, or SPÖ) is a social above democratic/center-left political party that was founded in 1888 as the Social Democratic Worker's Party (Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei, or SDAP), when Victor Adler managed to unite the various opposing factions. -
New Leaders Begin the Search for Economic Reform
Signaling Change: New Leaders Begin the Search for Economic Reform Barry Naughton Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang are now the two top leaders in China. Both have moved quickly to break with the Hu-Wen Administration and signal their support for dramatic new economic reforms. The structure of the new Politburo Standing Committee appears to support their aspirations. Neither Xi nor Li has yet committed to specific reform measures, and the obstacles to reform are formidable. However, both Xi and Li have committed to a process that will lead to the creation of a reform program by late 2013. From the standpoint of economic reform policy, the outcome of the 18th Party Congress was clear and unambiguous. The two top leaders, Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, emerged from the Congress with a substantial degree of room to maneuver. Both leaders quickly displayed their willingness to break with what had become business as usual under Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao. Xi and Li, each in his own way, moved quickly to express their intention to support a revitalized program of economic reform. Xi Jinping has received most of the attention, which is certainly appropriate. Xi has brought a more direct and personal style to the top job, a refreshing change of pace that has generally been welcomed both in China and abroad, and has shown that he intends to keep an eye on economics. Li Keqiang has also begun to signal his intentions. Although Li’s approach is more understated—in part because he will not actually step in as Premier until the March National People’s Congress meetings—his comments merit close attention. -
The Mainstream Right, the Far Right, and Coalition Formation in Western Europe by Kimberly Ann Twist a Dissertation Submitted In
The Mainstream Right, the Far Right, and Coalition Formation in Western Europe by Kimberly Ann Twist A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Jonah D. Levy, Chair Professor Jason Wittenberg Professor Jacob Citrin Professor Katerina Linos Spring 2015 The Mainstream Right, the Far Right, and Coalition Formation in Western Europe Copyright 2015 by Kimberly Ann Twist Abstract The Mainstream Right, the Far Right, and Coalition Formation in Western Europe by Kimberly Ann Twist Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science University of California, Berkeley Professor Jonah D. Levy, Chair As long as far-right parties { known chiefly for their vehement opposition to immigration { have competed in contemporary Western Europe, scholars and observers have been concerned about these parties' implications for liberal democracy. Many originally believed that far- right parties would fade away due to a lack of voter support and their isolation by mainstream parties. Since 1994, however, far-right parties have been included in 17 governing coalitions across Western Europe. What explains the switch from exclusion to inclusion in Europe, and what drives mainstream-right parties' decisions to include or exclude the far right from coalitions today? My argument is centered on the cost of far-right exclusion, in terms of both office and policy goals for the mainstream right. I argue, first, that the major mainstream parties of Western Europe initially maintained the exclusion of the far right because it was relatively costless: They could govern and achieve policy goals without the far right. -
Kadima for Half Price? the Formation of a National Unity Government in Israel
Israel Office_____________________________ Kadima for half price? The formation of a national unity government in Israel . The formation of a national unity government strengthens Prime Minister Netanyahu and gives him new leeway during negotiations. Kadima’s entry to the government strengthens moderate forces and weakens the hardliners. There will be no real change in policy. Kadima failed in opposition, and as a government party it will be even less able to push through a different policy. The agreement between Mofaz and Netanyahu was motivated in the main by domestic political reasons. This is the primary field in which moderate changes will take place rather than in foreign policy. There will be new Israeli offers of talks in the peace process, but no real progress should be expected, together with no surmounting of the present stalemate. It is not clear whether Mofaz will join the moderates or the hardliners in Netanyahu’s security cabinet over the Iran question. Dr. Ralf Hexel FES Israel, May 17, 2012 1 More political power for Netanyahu secure an influential ministerial position for himself? Or is he seeking a change in policy? In a surprise move on May 8, 2012, the opposi- tion Kadima party (28 seats), led by former No early elections - a national unity gov- army head and defense minister Shaul Mofaz, ernment instead joined prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right leaning-religious government coalition (66 When the Knesset convened on the morning of out of 120 seats). Netanyahu now has a gov- May 7, parliamentarians and public were abso- ernment comprising seven parties; this has a lutely sure that the votes needed to hold early parliamentary majority of 94 and can rightly be elections on September 4, 2012 and to dissolve called a national unity government. -
Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy
Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy How do democracies form and what makes them die? Daniel Ziblatt revisits this timely and classic question in a wide-ranging historical narrative that traces the evolution of modern political democracy in Europe from its modest beginnings in 1830s Britain to Adolf Hitler’s 1933 seizure of power in Weimar Germany. Based on rich historical and quantitative evidence, the book offers a major reinterpretation of European history and the question of how stable political democracy is achieved. The barriers to inclusive political rule, Ziblatt finds, were not inevitably overcome by unstoppable tides of socioeconomic change, a simple triumph of a growing middle class, or even by working class collective action. Instead, political democracy’s fate surprisingly hinged on how conservative political parties – the historical defenders of power, wealth, and privilege – recast themselves and coped with the rise of their own radical right. With striking modern parallels, the book has vital implications for today’s new and old democracies under siege. Daniel Ziblatt is Professor of Government at Harvard University where he is also a resident fellow of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies. He is also currently Fernand Braudel Senior Fellow at the European University Institute. His first book, Structuring the State: The Formation of Italy and Germany and the Puzzle of Federalism (2006) received several prizes from the American Political Science Association. He has written extensively on the emergence of democracy in European political history, publishing in journals such as American Political Science Review, Journal of Economic History, and World Politics. -
Political Attitudes and the Ideology of Equality: Differentiating Support for Liberal and Conservative Political Parties in New Zealand
C. Sibley, M. Wilson Political Attitudes and the Ideology of Equality: Differentiating support for liberal and conservative political parties in New Zealand Chris G. Sibley University of Auckland Marc S. Wilson Victoria University of Wellington A new scale summarizing the central and core elements of a social Treaty of Waitangi, and affirmative representation of individual versus group-based entitlement to resource- action policy in the months leading allocations in New Zealand (NZ) is presented. Item content for the Equality up to the 2005 NZ general election Positioning Scale was drawn from qualitative analyses of the discourses of (Johansson, 2004; Kirkwood, Liu, & NZ’s citizens, its political elites, and the media. As hypothesized, equality Weatherall, 2005; Sibley, Robertson, positioning differentiated between Pakeha (NZ European) undergraduates & Kirkwood, 2005). Consistent with who supported liberal versus conservative political parties.People these observations, we argue that who positioned equality as group-based tended to support the Labour ideologies of equality and issues of and Green parties and those who positioned equality as meritocracy who gets what were central to the NZ tended to support the National and NZ First parties. Regression models 2005 election campaign in much the predicting political party support in the two months prior to the 2005 NZ same what that ideologies of national general election demonstrated that the effects of equality positioning security and the war on terrorism were on political party preference were unique, and were not explained by central to election campaigns in the universal (Study 1: Big-Five Personality, Social Dominance Orientation, United States (US) that occurred at Right-Wing Authoritarianism, liberalism-conservatism) or culture-specifi c; around the same time. -
Partisanship in Perspective
Partisanship in Perspective Pietro S. Nivola ommentators and politicians from both ends of the C spectrum frequently lament the state of American party politics. Our elected leaders are said to have grown exceptionally polarized — a change that, the critics argue, has led to a dysfunctional government. Last June, for example, House Republican leader John Boehner decried what he called the Obama administration’s “harsh” and “hyper-partisan” rhetoric. In Boehner’s view, the president’s hostility toward Republicans is a smokescreen to obscure Obama’s policy failures, and “diminishes the office of the president.” Meanwhile, President Obama himself has complained that Washington is a city in the grip of partisan passions, and so is failing to do the work the American people expect. “I don’t think they want more gridlock,” Obama told Republican members of Congress last year. “I don’t think they want more partisanship; I don’t think they want more obstruc- tion.” In his 2006 book, The Audacity of Hope, Obama yearned for what he called a “time before the fall, a golden age in Washington when, regardless of which party was in power, civility reigned and government worked.” The case against partisan polarization generally consists of three elements. First, there is the claim that polarization has intensified sig- nificantly over the past 30 years. Second, there is the argument that this heightened partisanship imperils sound and durable public policy, perhaps even the very health of the polity. And third, there is the impres- sion that polarized parties are somehow fundamentally alien to our form of government, and that partisans’ behavior would have surprised, even shocked, the founding fathers. -
Extending the Sphere of Representation: the Impact of Fair Representation Voting on the Ideological Spectrum of Congress
November 2013 EXTENDING THE SPHERE OF REPRESENTATION: THE IMPACT OF FAIR REPRESENTATION VOTING ON THE IDEOLOGICAL SPECTRUM OF CONGRESS “Extend the sphere, and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens.” - James Madison, Federalist #10 “Some of the best legislators were Democrats from the suburban area who would never have been elected in single-member districts and some of the best legislators on the Republican side were legislators from Chicago districts who would never have been elected under single-member districts.” - Former Illinois state senator and state comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch, describing the impact of fair representation voting in the Illinois House of Representatives “…[It was a] symphony, with not just two instruments playing, but a number of different instruments going at all times." - Former Illinois state representative Howard Katz, describing the Illinois House of Representatives when elected by fair voting from 1870 to 1980 Because instituting fair representation voting for Congress would be a transformative moment in American politics, it is difficult to predict exactly what the impact of the reform would be on the partisan makeup of Congress. The only certainty is that Congress would become more representative of the political viewpoints of the American people. Most significantly, the House of Representatives would shift from representing just two partisan poles on a left-right linear spectrum with an empty void between, to more fully representing the electorate’s three-dimensional character on economic, social, and national security issues. -
Willem Banning and the Reform of Socialism in the Netherlands
Contemporary European History (2020), 29, 139–154 doi:10.1017/S096077732000003X ARTICLE Willem Banning and the Reform of Socialism in the Netherlands Arie L. Molendijk University of Groningen, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, Oude Boteringestraat 38, Groningen, 9712GK, The Netherlands [email protected] Abstract In 1947 the liberal Protestant minister Willem Banning drafted a new programme for the Labour Party, in which the party dropped the Marxist view of history and class struggle. New Labour in the Netherlands was envisioned as a party that strove for a democratic and just society. Banning’s role in reforming the Labour Party was part of his broader project of breaking down structures of socio-political segregation that had existed since the end of the nineteenth century. Banning argued that the Labour Party had to abandon its atheist ideology to open up to Protestants and Catholics. This article will examine Banning’sviewsandideals and show how he contributed to the transformation of Labour into a social democratic party and seek answer to the question: how could a liberal Protestant minister become the main ideologue of the Labour Party? Introduction A touching photograph shows Willem Banning being decorated by Prime Minister Willem Drees on the occasion of his sixty-firth birthday in February 1953. The demeanour of the two social democrats displays a degree of ambiguity: they both seem to be fully enjoying this special moment, while at the same time being sceptical of such honours. In his words of gratitude Banning said that his resistance had been over- come by his friends’ insistence that he should accept the distinction.1 The Dutch Labour Party could not have been what it was in the 1950s without the decisive input of Drees and Banning.