Every man has its own opinion as to what the role of a political party is and how valuable it is to the community. The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas on October 17th hosted an event that focused on identifying the benefits, if there are any, of political parties on the local level of American politics: county, city and other election below the state level. Do they serve any purpose? Are independent politicians preferable?

With three expert guests featured, the Kansas audience was treated to an exploration of the role of parties, an aspect of American democracy most people would claim to understand but would be surprised at the complicated reality. This video conversation helped throw more light on the value of political parties, how the Founding Fathers viewed political parties, and their actual role today. From the event invite:

Most individuals have no idea what state and local parties actually do. Given our candidate-centric culture, how do parties continue to provide service and value to the party and their candidates? What will their role be in the future of politics?

The ‘discussion group’ was set up with an interesting mix of speakers including two direct political rivals, Vicky Hyatt is the vice chair of the Kansas Democratic Party and Jim Joyce is the Executive Director of the Kansas Republican Party. The other speaker, Ken Martin is vice chair for the Democratic National Committee and also chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

Kelly Dietrich, National Democratic Training Committee founder and University of Kansas alumnus, led the discussion as he has been leading the entire discussion group series, titled “Political Campaigns, Top to Bottom: Data, Door Knocking and the 2018 Midterms“, organized by the Dole Institute. The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, founded to honor U.S. Senators Bob and Elizabeth Dole, is described as “out to promote political and civic participation as well as discussion in a bilateral, logical balances way”.

In the best of situations, the work of a political party is to help their constituents build long lasting and permanent infrastructures for daily life. Are they the tool we should be using for this? Add your comments below. The video lasts for about one hour. Take a look:

Also see Democracy Chronicles articles on American Local Democracy for related news.