Sample Essay: Political Party Decline

Introduction

Political parties are key institutions at the heart of the political system. However, the claim that political parties are in decline puts forward the case that the significance of the party role is diminishing. It suggests that other institutions and processes are increasingly carrying out the functions of political parties, and that these alternatives are now dominating these roles and carrying them out more efficiently.

The claim that political parties are in decline first arose in the United States of America in the late 1960s and 70s. As such, this is going to form the main case study of this discussion. David Broder was a key political scientist in popularising the theory of party decline in the United States, entitling his 1971 book: “The Party’s Over”. He strongly supported the theory that parties were “unable to respond effectively to changing circumstances” and as such their significance was in decline. He “contended that national parties were in retreat in areas they had traditionally dominated.”

The case for party decline in the United States

The United States is a very strong example for the theory of party decline. There are several factors unique to the situation of American political parties that emphasise the case for party decline. In particular, the vast scale of party operations across the 52 states, the method used for candidate selection and the vast amounts of money used along the campaign trail. Alongside these unique conditions, are those that are more common to the decline of parties elsewhere in the world, especially the increasing role of the media and alternative political institutions such as non-governmental organisations.

A key feature of the American political system is the use of primaries as a means of candidate selection. Over the years, there has been a significant rise in the use and importance of presidential primaries, which has in turn imposed on the role of parties “in their most basic function, selecting and running candidates for public office.” The current system being used in selecting the party presidential candidates this year is very different to how it would have been half a century ago. Before the primary, through which the candidate selection is in the hands of ordinary voters, was established as the main way of gaining party nomination, party officials would have taken decisions behind closed doors. This is one of the key arguments put forward for the decline of political parties. Where once it was the party rulers making the selection it has now lost that control.

It is impossible to underestimate the significance of money in American politics. To run for Congress requires large amounts of money, but to run for President needs even vaster sums. This, in the past, gave parties a key role as financiers of candidates’ campaigns. However, changing circumstances have again closed in on party significance and declined the party’s role as a fundraiser. This has come about through two ways. First, campaign finance regulations have been introduced by the Federal Elections Commission, limiting the extent to which parties can fund their candidates’ campaigns and introducing federal matching funds that are given directly to candidates rather than parties. Second, the Federal Elections Commission “also set the stage for the tremendous proliferation of PACs that began in the late 1970s … and opened the gateway for PACs to become the major organized financiers of congressional elections.” PACs are Political Action Committees and have become key players in funding election campaigns. They are set up principally to avoid financial legislation restricting donations from businesses, unions and professional associations. In 1972 there were only 113 PACs in contrast to the 4000 that had been created by 1990. The huge growth of these PACs has provided a strong alternative income for candidates and are “often seen as having rendered the parties obsolete.”

“The media stand in a position today, especially in the nomination phase, where the old party bosses used to stand.” The expansion of the media and mass communications has had a massive impact on the significance of political parties. Politicians increasingly talk to the public through the media whilst the public respond via opinion polls. In this way, political parties have been bypassed as the medium as communication between politics and the people. Broder argues: “television has established itself as the prime medium of political communications.” He goes on to argue that television “deals with political figures, not political institutions … political parties as such have almost no role in televisions portrayal of the political drama.” The media has also rendered many party traditions, such as party rallies, almost redundant with debates now being conducted in the media spotlight. Hence, contributing to the decline of the role of political parties and also a decline in their status.

The importance of political parties has also declined with the shift towards issue based elections. In recent years there has been a growth of concern in issues, which cross party boundaries and so cannot be stamped with a particular party label. Such issues include environmentalism and civil rights. At elections, voters are increasingly voting on an issue, or a candidate’s particular stance on an issue, rather than for the party label. This can be seen in the increase of ‘split-ticket’ voting, where people vote for candidates of different parties in different positions at the same election. As McKay argues: “Issues and individual candidates have gained importance independently of parties and have often done so in a way which seriously damages a party’s fortunes.”

Political parties have also been pushed aside by an increasing number of interest groups, non-governmental organisations and other political institutions. The political arena has become more complex, diverse and populated and so political parties have inevitably had to make room in the political system and this has led to a decline in their significance.

In the United States it is clear to see that political parties have been in decline. Whilst the world of politics was changing, the political parties were left behind. As fundamental changes occurred in the media, society, regulation and the political system, the parties failed to adapt. The functions of the parties have been increasingly carried out by alternative bodies: the media as the method of communication, the federal matching funds and PACs as a source of income, the primary as the means to candidate selection and interest groups and non-governmental organisations as representatives of the issues. Whilst the political parties are still an important part of the political process, they no longer dominate it in the way they once did.

The case against party decline in the United States

There are those who reject the claim of party decline. They feel the case in the United States has been over exaggerated and that there is a lack of evidence to support the claim. Given all the evidence above for American parties having been in decline, this approach appears to hold much less weight. There are two strong points made though. One is that “American political parties are essentially weak and always have been.” The other that “most people still think of politics in terms of the Democrat – Republican divide, and Congressmen are almost entirely elected according to their party label. Parties do matter, both for politicians and the electorate.”

Indeed, political parties do matter and are still an essential element of the political system. The claim for party decline though is not that parties are weak, which it is true to say that they are in the United States compared with many other Western democracies, but that they have declined in importance and become weaker. This is the case for both Republican and Democrat parties in the 1970s. However, there is a case made that parties subsequently went under a period of renewal and revival.

The theory of party renewal

There are several key factors that point to a party renewal in the United States, which has prevented further decline and acted to counteract elements of previous decline. One of the key arguments for party decline says that parties were “unable to respond effectively to changing circumstances” and this inability to adapt meant that the role of political parties diminished as other institutions became more effective at carrying out its functions. The theory of party renewal suggests that these political parties did later adapt and established their role in the political system.

The two main parties have undergone extensive internal reform and modernisation since the claim of party decline was put forward. The Republicans carried out the Brock Reforms in the 1980s, which significantly strengthened the standing of the Republican National Committee. Similarly, in the 1990s, the Democrats also modernised, developing computerised direct mail facilities and establishing a permanent headquarters in Washington D.C. Bibby argues that “the prophets of party demise have been proven wrong” as through party reform the parties “have become more professionalized and organizationally stronger in the sense that they can provide campaign services to their candidates.”

The parties have also found a way to counteract the restrictions placed on campaign finance and alternative sources of income through federal matching funds and PACs that were limiting the party role. They have achieved this through the increased use of ‘soft money.’ Soft money is largely unregulated money that is given to national parties, which they then use for such things as voter registration drives, the commissioning of opinion polls, and issue centred advertising. Both the parties have utilised the fact that party building and get-out-the-vote activities remain largely unregulated and so have used this to develop their role in national campaigns. This is reflected in the growth of soft money, with the total of soft money received by both the Republicans and the Democrats increasing from $89 million in 1991-92 to $263.5 million in 1995-96 ; that is almost a threefold increase in less than four years. Also, in respect to the rapid emergence of PACs contributing to party decline, Bailey points out that PACs “often follow the party’s lead when deciding which candidates to support [and] … many PACs have aligned themselves with either … party because of shared beliefs and values.” This suggests that rather than declining the party role, PACs can actually have a supplementary role.

The political parties have also adapted in other areas in order to establish their place in the political system. Campaigns have been nationalised, which has pulled the candidates together back under the large umbrellas that are the two main parties. They have managed to increase control over candidate selection, using such things as ‘super-delegates’, and still hold the capacity to wield a strong influence on the outcome; look at the 2000 selection of Bush, the favourite of the party leaders, as the Republican candidate over McCain who was the preference of many of the party members. There has also been increased partisanship in Congress, particularly in 1995 when party votes in the House of Representatives scaled to 73%, the highest since 1910, and during Clintons impeachment. This points to a more collective, more united and as such more significant party role.

So, is this claim of party decline only applicable to US political parties?

There are a number of specific conditions in the United States that have pointed to the existence of party decline. However, the claim of party decline can also be seen elsewhere. The effects of the expansion of the media, the increase in alternative organisations and a growth in issue-based elections have all had affects worldwide. Looking to home soil: whilst there are many differences in the party system in Britain, particularly a much smaller focus on money and fundraising and a bigger focus on a tight collected party rather than individual candidates, there are circumstances that have contributed to the decline of the political parties. There has been a convergence of the political parties into the middle ground, which has removed some of the distinctions between the parties and perhaps declined their strength. However, contrary to this, New Labour have found great success at the elections by adopting the centre of the spectrum and appealing to a broad base of the electorate. It is more, that parts of the electorate have become disillusioned with the political system and feel that there is little to choose from between the parties that has led to any decline.

There has also been a steady decrease in party membership, with significant falls in the number of party members being found in the majority of Western European countries and the USA , as well as falls in party alignment. This suggests that perhaps parties are no longer the centre focus of politics that they once were. This is also emphasised by the increased volatility of the electorate swinging between the parties, and furthers the concept of issue-based and candidate-based elections.

Parties are also no longer the centres of policy making that they once were. “In the UK, the role of the Labour Party in the country as a source of policy has all but ceased.” This is also seen in the US, where the national party conventions are no longer the debating forums over party policy that they once were. Another indirect effect of the media, with the party needing to appear united going into an election, rather than debating the issues internally.

Considering New Labour once more, it appears that they are currently a huge force of great significance in UK politics not merely a party whose role is being sidelined. At first this appears to be a strong example against party decline, but it is important to remember that this great influence is held by Blair and the Labour executive rather than distributed within the party.

A good way to contemplate the importance political parties still have in the UK is to imagine the chaos of polling day if suddenly the choice of political party was removed. A huge amount of voting in the UK is done under the party label, and whilst party membership and identification has declined, parties, and their leaderships, are still the focus of UK elections.

Conclusion

By looking in depth at the United States as a case study it is possible to get a real grasp of the claim that political parties are in decline. I am in no doubt that the role of American political parties has declined. The failure to adapt to the changing political system in the 1960s and 70s has had serious implications on the parties and allowed other bodies to effectively take on their roles. However, party renewal and reform in the 1980s and 90s did bring about that much needed adaptation and has helped parties to reaffirm their position in the current political system. The fact that all US Presidents have been either Republican or Democrat, that the overwhelming majority of the members of Congress are either Republican or Democrat and that the majority of Americans still look at politics along the lines of Republican or Democrat, speaks for itself. It tells us that American political parties are certainly not dead yet. That said, whilst a revival of the parties has slowed further decline and counteracted some previous decline, the role of the American political party overall has still declined. Indeed, it is almost inevitable that the role and significance of parties today is less than it once was; how could political parties manage to maintain such a significant role in a political system now dominated by the media and cluttered with PACs, interest groups, non-governmental organisations and international institutions.

The case of the United States summarises particularly well the main point of party decline, that is: as the number of alternative bodies, processes and institutions arise the less space there is in the political system to share around. If these go on to perform the functions of political parties more effectively than the parties themselves, then the parties will lose their dominance and so their significance declines.

Political parties are still an important part of the political system, and still carry out key functions. As Axford says; “if political parties did not exist, we would have to invent them.” However, whilst their position is important it has declined. This can be seen generally in the western world by the fall in party membership and identification; clearly the electorate do not see parties as the main focus of politics anymore. As to whether political parties are currently in decline and will decline further in the future, I think this largely rests with the growth of global governance. As politics becomes increasing played out at the regional and global level, political parties will be subjected to further alternative institutions and their significance will decline.