Chapter
Eight: Political Parties
Web Links
(page references
match the sixth edition)
p. 241 - How much does it cost to attend the
Electoral
College? How good is its
football team? Sorry, it's not that kind of college. If
you're still interested in learning about this
institution of higher politics, visit this U.S.
government web site, which also contains information and
statistics on presidential elections, past and
present.
p. 250 - The John F. Kennedy School of Government at
Harvard created a web-based case study, Third-Party
Time?, that asks you to
become the chief political strategist for a prospective
third-party or independent Presidential candidate. Your
mission, if you decide to accept it, is to win the
election.
p. 251 - The
Libertarian Party, which
ran more than 200 candidates for congress in 1998,
rightly describes itself as the third largest political
party in the United States. It steadfastly defends
individual freedom against virtually all government
efforts to impose order and equality. The Libertarian
site invites you to try the "world's smallest political
quiz." If you note similarities between this computer
quiz and The Challenge of Democracy's own IDEAlog program
for analyzing political attitudes, congratulations! With
permission from the quiz's creators, we patterned our
program after an earlier version of the Libertarian quiz
more than a decade ago.
p. 251 - Although the Reform
Party was not as active
as the Libertarians in running candidates for Congress,
its presidential candidate, Ross Perot, won far more
votes in the 1996 election (over 8 million) than the
Libertarian candidate, Harry Browne (under half a
million). But its principles are not nearly as well
developed as the Libertarians. Compare the two sets for
yourself.
p. 253 - The PR
Library offers a source
of information on proportional representation (PR)
elections -- "including beginning readings, in-depth
articles by scholars and activists, an extensive
bibliography, and a guide to related Web sites." Many
scholars argue against replacing our system of majority
representation with a PR system for fear that it will
produce numerous smaller parties squabbling over their
special interests.
p. 254 - Ballot
Access News, describes
itself as "a non-partisan newsletter reporting on the
trials and tribulations of folks trying to put candidates
on the ballot in the United States of America." It
reports on surprisingly restrictive ballot access laws in
this country, which the average voter has no knowledge or
conception of." What about your state?
p. 257 - The main source for surveys of voting behavior
in national election is the National Election Studies, a
national resource at the University of Michigan funded by
the National Science Foundation. The NES
Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral
Behavior has posted some
convenient tabulations of the U.S. electorate's
characteristics at this page.
p. 259 - You can retrieve all the major party platforms
since 1844 by going to Janda's Platform
Posting. By searching
these platforms for keywords (e.g., tariff, civil rights,
women's suffrage), you can study how parties have or have
not changed their positions over time.
p. 261 - Since passage of the Federal Election Campaign
in 1974, the Federal
Election Commisssion has
been responsible for collecting and reporting on receipts
and expenditures in federal election campaigns. In recent
years, the FEC has been posting much of its information
on its web site. Go there to look up the candidates for
congress in your home district. You can learn how much
they have raised and spent--and from which groups and
individuals. It's a gold mine of information.
p. 264 - Campaign finance regulations are very
complicated. For a clear explanation of terms and rules
consult the site published by the Benton Foundation,
Destination
Democracy.
Web Links 
