Procedures

• WARM-UP:

  Before beginning class have students answer the following questions:

  • In your own words, what are political parties?

  • What actions do political parties take in the United States?

• INTRODUCTION:

  Review the students' answers to the warm-up questions and address any misconceptions that students might have about political parties. To introduce the role that political parties play in the United States, students should view the following video clip and answer the questions.

  Video Clip 1: The Role of Political Parties in U.S. Government (3:17)

  • What were the founders' opinions of political parties? How are they viewed today?

  • How does the structure and rules of the U.S. political system lead to political parties and partisan politics?

  • According to Professor Wilentz, how have political parties addressed issues throughout U.S. History?

• EXPLORATION:

  After reviewing the students' answers to the introductory questions, have the students use the chart on the handout to view video clips showcasing examples of the functions of political parties.

  Handout: Functions of Political Parties (Google Doc)

  Students will provide the following information on the chart.

  • A definition of this function of political parties

  • Examples of actions relating to this function

  • Keywords and terms associated with this function

  • Information on how this function helps connect citizens to the political process

• VIDEO CLIPS: FUNCTIONS OF POLITICAL PARTIES

• Recruiting and Nominating Candidates

  • Video Clip 2: Political Party Support for Candidates (2:48)

  • Video Clip 3: DNC Chair Tom Perez on 2020 Nominees (1:20)

• Getting Candidates Elected

  • Video Clip 4: RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel on Mobilizing Voters (2:19)

  • Video Clip 5: Republican Party Efforts in the 2016 Election (3:00)

• Monitoring the Party in Power

  • Video Clip 6: Senate Minority Leader Schumer (D-NY) on Opposing Republican Policies (2:31)

  • Video Clip 7: Rep. Ryan (R-WI) on Republican Opposition to President Obama (3:36)

• Organizing Government

  • Video Clip 8: Vice President Pence at the Republican Congressional Retreat (2:28)

  • Video Clip 9: Assistant House Speaker Lujan (D-NM) on Party Cohesiveness (2:06)

• APPLICATION AND CONCLUSION:

  Using the notes that the students took on the chart, students should address the following prompt. This can be either through a written response, class discussion, creation of a graphic organizer or other type of response.

  • Based on examples from the video clips, how do the functions of political parties help connect citizens to the government and political process?

• EXTENSION/ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITIES:

  Create a Meme- For each of the four functions of political parties, create a meme that represents the purpose and actions related to this function.

  Party National Committee Research- Using the Republican National Committee or Democratic National Committee website, research and provide specific examples of how the party fulfills each of these functions. Explain how each of these examples illustrates this function of political parties.

  Political Party Current Events- Find a news story that relates to an action by a political party. Read the articles and provide the following:

  • Summary of the article

  • Explanation of how the party is fulfilling the specific function(s) of political parties

• ADDITIONAL PROMPTS:

  • Which function of political parties is the most important for connecting citizens to the political process? Explain why using examples from the video clips.

  • Do political parties have too much power in the political process? Why or why not?

  • How are the four functions of political parties connected to each other?

  • How do the functions of a political party change when that party is not in power?