9.3: Party Structure

Political scientist V. O. Key described parties as having a three-part structure. Most prominent is the party-in-government, the members who hold official elected or appointed government positions. Due to their official status, these members have formal authority to implement the party’s desired policies. A party’s goal is to get as many of its members as possible into high-ranking or influential government positions to maximize its influence.

The party-as-organization is the party’s formal administrative structure. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Republican National Committee (RNC) play these roles for their respective parties. The party-as-organization works behind the scenes to support and promote the party’s success. Its duties include campaigning on behalf of candidates, coordinating communication strategies, crafting platforms, managing primaries and nominating conventions, and recruiting new members.

The party-in-the-electorate is the share of the electorate that supports the party. It consists of average citizens who either are registered party members or simply think of themselves as members. They play their most crucial role on Election Day, as their votes can propel the party’s candidates to victory. The party-in-government and the party-as-organization strive to grow and maintain the party-in-the-electorate by listening to what it has to say and trying to appeal to its policy interests.

The party-in-government is like the players on a professional sports team. They are the most famous and visible members of the party, the ones who actually go “on the field” to play a direct role in policymaking. The party-as-organization is akin to a team’s managers, coaches, trainers, and doctors. They are not as famous as the party-in-government and operate mostly out of sight, but they are instrumental in keeping the party-in-government organized and performing at a high level. The party-in-the-electorate is similar to a team’s fans. They play no direct role in the party’s on-field successes, but without their votes and donations the party couldn’t to field a competitive team, which gives the party good reason to keep its supporters passionate and satisfied.

Each part of the party is essential to its overall effectiveness. A professional sports team could not long exist with coaches and fans but no players, or players and fans but no coaches, or players and coaches but no fans. The same is true of a party: if it had no members in government, or lacked an organizational structure, or had no support from the electorate, it could not gain or maintain enough power to achieve its policy goals.

A professional sports team’s success is closely tied to how well its parts work together. If the players ignore the advice of the coaches, or if the coaches berate and mistreat the players, or if the players and coaches act dismissively toward the fans, or if the fans stop buying tickets or boo from the stands, the team’s competitiveness is undermined. Likewise, a party must maintain cohesion among its parts in order to function as designed, lest its politicians and candidates stop cooperating, its organization stop assisting, or its supporters stop voting or donating.