Few Americans read the official party platforms that are produced every four years at a party’s presidential convention. But that does not mean the statements are unimportant. As South Carolina Republican party chair Katon Dawson explained in 2008 in a National Journal online article, “It’s your mission statement for your party. It’s the vehicle you use to get involved as an activist in the issues that matter.”
In 2008, both parties sought to get supporters more involved in the drafting of their platforms. Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican Party Platform Committee chairman, opened up the Republican Party’s national website to solicit comments and feedback from partisans across the United States. The Democrats launched a “Listening to America” project where local groups of partisans could meet and discuss their ideas for the national platform.
The national platforms are only one way for America’s parties to use new technologies.
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| 1. Visit the websites of the two major parties, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. How are the major political parties using new technologies to encourage participation by their supporters?
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| While the major American parties, Republican and Democrat, have extensive online outreach, the Internet is arguably even more valuable to America’s third-party movement, which consists of partisans who often have difficulty obtaining valuable media coverage and publicity for their candidates.
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| Research America’s third-party tradition by visiting the Project Vote Smart website: http://www.votesmart.org/resource_political_resources_state.php
This site allows you to select a state and to get a list of active parties and website locations.
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| 2a. Look up the website of a third party in your state. What is this party? |
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| 2b. What are some of the issues it promotes? |
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| 2c. Do you wish this party had a competitive candidate running for the U.S.presidency in the 2008 election? Why or why not? |
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The major American party platforms date back to the nineteenth century. Research America’s two main parties, their historical positions, and the history of some famous third parties.
Documents are available online at the American Presidency Project, supported by the University of California at Santa Barbara: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/platforms.php
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| 3a. Compare some of the differences between the Democratic and Republican national platforms in 2008 and 1908. How have the party priorities changed over time? |
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| 3b. Compare the party platforms of the Democratic and Republican parties in 2008 on a single issue of interest to you. What is that issue? What did both of the party platforms have to say about it? |
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