How Do Political Parties Influence Congressional Elections

Political Parties serve a crucial role in congressional campaigns, especially for candidate recruitment. One significant role political parties serve is the state law of redistricting, “Because the composition of House districts can make the difference between winning and losing, the two major parties and individual politicians, particularly incumbents, often fight fierce battles in state legislatures over the alignment of districts.” (Smith, et al., 2007). Similar to my previous discussion, the congressional district map is crucial to the success of political parties and gerrymandering is just apart of the nature of political parties. In order for political parties to completely reap the benefits of their constituents, they must draw a map that serves their best interest. The drawings usually consist of cracking or packing to provide a certain party a political advantage over the opposing party. Another way political parties influence congressional elections is through candidate backing as well as, candidate recruitment. Political parties have recently been more active in seeking candidates to endorse for campaigns et al., 2007). Political parties recruit politicians they think the public will identify with and ultimately support. If a person or politician is conflicted on running for a congressional position, the party will often sway

It is basic psychology that people usually align themselves with news, friends, and sources that confirm their beliefs, which is confirmation bias. Political parties rely heavily on confirmation bias especially from the news because the media usually discuss issues related to a two-party system as opposed to issues based on merit. The political parties view this and use it to their advantage because it divides the debate into Republicans versus Democrats. As Kim from IVN mentions a study from the Pew Research