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Joining the Party, Part 1
Discover how America's two-party system shaped the Constitution far beyond the founders' original design.
Lecture guide · Written by AI from the lecture. For the lecture’s own words, open the Transcript tab.
Exploring the role of political parties in America's constitutional system, this lecture argues that while the original founding document did not anticipate parties, subsequent constitutional amendments from the Twelfth to the Twenty-Fifth heavily reflect partisan practice and two-party dynamics. Akhil Reed Amar demonstrates how early rules created dangerous rivalries leading to the Twelfth Amendment, and how later amendments codified party strategies such as platform promises, primaries, and ticket-balancing.
Key Takeaways
- The original Constitution did not anticipate a two-party system and created presidential selection rules that pitted political rivals against each other as president and vice president.
- The Twelfth Amendment restructured presidential elections into separate ballots for president and vice president to accommodate the emerging two-party reality.
- Major constitutional amendments, including the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth, were deeply partisan measures driven by Republican party platforms and opposition.
- Later amendments such as the Seventeenth, Twenty-Second, Twenty-Fifth, and Twenty-Fourth codified emerging informal party practices like primaries and ticket-balancing.
Concepts Explained6
Two-Party System—A political system where two major political parties dominate politics within a government.
Original Presidential Selection Rules—The constitutional mechanism where each elector voted for two people, with the top vote getter becoming president and the runner-up becoming vice president.
Twelfth Amendment—Constitutional amendment providing for separate elections for president and vice president to accommodate a two-party system.
Thirteenth Amendment—Constitutional amendment abolishing slavery, pushed by the Republican Party platform.
Works & Sources Cited3
Book
America's Unwritten Constitution—Chapter 10, 'Joining the Party, America's Partisan Constitution'
Primary Document
Federalist No. 10—Written by James Madison, arguing against factions and hyper-partisanship
Primary Document
Lincoln—Movie depicting the political maneuvering around the Thirteenth Amendment.