You are in: Europe
Change location

You are here

Book > Major Work > American Government and Politics
Guide to U.S. Political Parties
Share
Share

Guide to U.S. Political Parties

Edited by:
June 2014 | 456 pages | CQ Press
Download flyer

This one-volume reference presents the major conceptual approaches to the study of U.S. political parties and the national party system, describing the organization and behavior of U.S. political parties in thematic, narrative chapters that help undergraduate students better understand party origins, historical development, and current operations. Further, it provides researchers with in-depth analysis of important subtopics and connections to other aspects of politics. 

Key Features:

  • Thematic, narrative chapters, organized into six major parts, provide the context, as well as in-depth analysis of the unique system of party politics in the United States.
  • Top analysts of party politics provide insightful chapters that explore how and why the U.S. parties have changed over time, including major organizational transformations by the parties, behavioral changes among candidates and party activists, and attitudinal changes among their partisans in the electorate.
  • The authors discuss the way the traditional concept of formal party organizations gave way over time to a candidate-centered model, fueled in part by changes in campaign finance, the rise of new communication technologies, and fragmentation of the electorate.

 
This book is an ideal reference for students and researchers who want to develop a deeper understanding of the current challenges faced by citizens of republican government in the United States. 

 
About the Editor
 
Contributors
 
Acknowledgments
Marjorie Randon Hershey and Edward M. Burmila
Introduction
Who is Included in a "Party"?

 
Different Definitions of "Party"

 
Central Themes in the Study of Political Parties

 
Plan of the Guide

 
 
Part I. What Are Parties For?
Mark D. Brewer and Jeffrey M. Stonecash
1. Parties and the Respone to Change: The Representation and Mobilization of Divisions in a Nation
The Nature of Party Coalitional Change

 
Parties, Conflict, and the Challenge of Social Change

 
Partisan Responses to Change

 
Conclusion

 
Jamie L. Carson
2. Political Parties: Recruiting Leaders and Structuring Elections
Relationships Between Political Parties and Their Candidates

 
Challenges to the Parties' Role Posed by Progressive Era Reforms

 
Unintended Consequences of Candidate-Selection Reforms

 
Decline and Resurgence of Parties' Roles in Nominating Candidates and Structuring Elections

 
How the Parties Regained an Important Role in Campaigns

 
Conclusion

 
Frances E. Lee
3. Parties as Coordinators: Can Parties Unite What the Constitution Divides?
Parties as Centralizers: Theory and Practice

 
Building Majorities: Procedural and Substantive

 
Enacting Policies

 
Do Parties Promote Policy Coherence?

 
Bridging the Separation of Powers?

 
Promoting Accountability

 
The Parties and the Constitution

 
Hans Noel
4. What the Parties Stand For
Understanding Changes in Party Philosophies

 
The First Party System (1789-1824): The Great Principle

 
The Second Party System (1828-1854): Reemergent Conflict

 
The Third Party System (1854-1892): The Irresistible Force of Slavery

 
The Fourth Party System (1896-1932): The Progressive Era

 
The Fifth Party System (1932-) and Beyond: Liberalism Versus Conservatism

 
Party Ideologies in the Twenty-First Century

 
Paul A. Beck
5. Parties in the American Political Environment: Shaped, Adaptive, and Shapers
The Constitutional Framework and Political Parties

 
The Uniqueness of the American Parties

 
Environmental Change and Shifting Powers Within Parties

 
The Lens Reversed: Parties Shaping Their Environments

 
Emerging Environmental Challenges to the Parties

 
Conclusion

 
 
Part II. Historical Development of the Parties
 
6. The Origins and Development of U.S. Political Parties, 1790-1861
Clashing Views About Government

 
The Parties’ Coalitions

 
The Parties Fade

 
A Populist Party System

 
The Rise of Van Buren

 
Party Organizations

 
The Whigs and the Democrats

 
Sectional Tension

 
New Parties Arise

 
Conclusion

 
Jeffrey D. Grynaviski
7. Political Parties in the Age of Industrialization: From Their Golden Age Through the Progressive Era
The Golden Age of Parties

 
Political Party Organization

 
Voter Behavior

 
The Progressive Era

 
Conclusion

 
Kristi Andersen
8. Constructing a New Majority: The Depression, the New Deal, and the Democrats
Party Politics in the 1920s

 
A Changing Electorate

 
The Great Depression and Party Politics

 
The Mechanics of Political Change: Mobilization and Conversion

 
The Democrats Organize a Coalition

 
Party System Consolidation

 
Conclusion

 
Jeffery A. Jenkins
9. Partisanship, Sectionalism, and Race: Civil Rights and Party Development From the 1950s Through the 1970s
Background to the Era

 
The Eisenhower Years

 
The Kennedy/Johnson Years

 
The Nixon/Ford Years

 
The Carter Years and Beyond

 
Conclusion

 
David Karol
10. Parties Revised and Revived: Democrats and Republicans in the Age of Reagan, 1980 to 2000
Parties in the Electorate: The End of Democratic Dominance

 
Changing Party Coalitions

 
The Parties and the Presidency

 
The Parties in Congress

 
The Democratic Response to Reagan

 
Third-Party Developments in the 1980s and 1990s

 
Conclusion: Parties Revised and Revived

 
Casey B.K. Dominguez
11. Polarization and Volatility: The State of the Party System in the Twenty-First Century
Political Events in the First Decade of the Twenty-First Century

 
The Party as Organization

 
Party in the Electorate

 
Party in Government

 
Understanding Outcomes

 
Prospects for Future Change

 
Conclusion

 
 
Part III. Party Organizations
Daniel DiSalvo
12. The Nature of Party Organizations
Party Structures

 
Party Development

 
Party Organizations in Congress

 
Conclusion

 
Vladimir Kogan
13. From Machines to Service Centers: The Evolution of State and Local Political Parties
The Anatomy of the Party

 
Machine Politics in the City

 
Era of Political Reform

 
Adaptation and Resurgence: Party Activities in the Modern Era

 
Survival in the Twenty-First Century: Emerging Challenges

 
Daniel J. Galvin
14. The Transformation of the National Party Committees
The Timing and Process of Party Change

 
The Republican National Committee’s Transformation Into a Service Institution

 
The Democratic National Committee’s Delayed Transformation Into a Service Institution

 
Conclusion

 
Paul S. Herrnson
15. The Impact of Reform on National Party Financing and Campaigning
The Institutional Setting

 
Party Finance During the Golden Age

 
Party Finance and the Federal Election Campaign Act

 
Party Finance and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act

 
Party Finance in the Post-BCRA Era

 
Political Parties as Enduring Multilayered Coalitions

 
Geoffrey C. Layman
16. Party Activists
Perspectives on Parties and Party Activists

 
Amateurs and Professionals: The Political Incentives and Norms of Party Activists

 
Party Activists and Partisan Change

 
Activists and Party Polarization

 
Conclusion

 
Ronald B. Rapoport and Justin de Benedictis-Kessner
17. Vote-Seeking Third Parties in the Twentieth Century
Categorizations of Third Parties

 
Factional Parties

 
Regional Versus National Parties

 
Characteristics of Candidates and Campaigns

 
Third Parties and the Institutional Environment

 
The Institutional Context

 
Opportunities for Success: The Political Environment

 
Comparing the Campaigns

 
The Dynamic of Third Parties

 
 
Part IV. Parties in the Electorate
Marc J. Hetherington
18. The Nature of Partisan Identification
What Is Partisanship?

 
The Distribution of Partisanship

 
Where Party Identification Comes From

 
Beyond Socialization and Groups

 
The Effects of Party Identification

 
Conclusion

 
Logan Dancey
19. Party Identification and Issue Attitudes
The Partisan Divide

 
How Voters Align Party and Issues Positions

 
The Normative Implications

 
Conclusions and Remaining Questions

 
Russell J. Dalton
20. Independents and American Elections
The Evidence of Weakening Party Ties

 
The Consequences of Dealignment

 
Independents and Electoral Politics

 
Barbara Norrander
21. Primary Elections and Caucuses
Direct Primaries

 
The Presidential Nomination Process

 
Concerns About Primary Elections

 
Helmut Norpoth
22. Partisanship in General Elections
Party Identification and the Vote

 
Rivals of Party Identification

 
Issue Opinions in General Elections

 
Candidate Perceptions in General Elections

 
The Impact of Issues and Candidates

 
Cycles and Equilibrium in General Elections

 
Conclusion

 
Thomas M. Carsey
23. Differing Views on Polarization of the Electorate
Is the Electorate Polarized Now?

 
Causes of Party Polarization in the Electorate

 
The Consequences of Party Polarization in the Electorate

 
Conclusion

 
 
Part V. Parties in Government
Bruce I. Oppenheimer
24. Ebbs and Flows in the Power of Congressional Party Leaders Since 1910
Moving in Opposite Directions, 1910–1915

 
Republican Dominance Followed by Democratic Control, 1919–1937

 
The Conservative Coalition and the Independent Power of Committee Chairs, 1937-1970

 
The Return of Stronger Parties, 1970 to the Present 317

 
Conclusion

 
Jennifer Hayes Clark and Gerald C. Wright
25. Differences in Party Leadership and Control Among the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and State Legislatures
Legislative Leadership: Structure and Organization

 
Where’s the Party? Assessing Contemporary Debates of Party Power

 
Leadership, Gatekeeping Rights, and Majority Roll Rates

 
Analyses and Results

 
Conclusion

 
Jesse H. Rhodes
26. What Influence Do the Parties Have in the Presidency and the Bureaucracy?
Parties, the Presidency, and the Constitution

 
The Rise of Political Parties and the Transformation of the Presidency

 
The Progressive Movement and Challenges to the Nineteenth-Century Party System

 
The Modern Presidency and the Transformation of the American Party System

 
From the High Tide of the Modern Presidency to the Reemergence of Party Politics

 
Conclusion

 
David R. Jones
27. Partisan Control of Government and Public Policy
Party Differentiation in Policy Preferences

 
Presidential Relations With Copartisans

 
Policy Outcomes Under Divided Versus Unified Government

 
Policy Outcomes Under Democratic Versus Republican Control

 
Changes in Party Control

 
Conclusion

 
Marjorie Randon Hershey and Jessica Gall Myrick
28. Political Parties and the Changing Media Environment
Relationships Between the Parties and the Media

 
How the Party-Media Relationship Has Changed

 
How Parties Use the Digital Media

 
How the Media Constrain the Parties’ Goals

 
Conclusion

 
 
Part VI. Parties in Their Environment
Richard M. Skinner
29. Political Parties and Interest Groups: Parties as Networks
Groups and the Party Networks

 
Members of the Party Networks

 
Interest Groups and Political Parties: Personnel and Resources

 
Groups as Policy Demanders

 
Party-Group Tensions

 
Conclusion

 
John J. Coleman
30. The Standard of Responsible Parties
The Debate Over Responsible and Functional Parties

 
Challenges Facing Responsible Parties in the United States

 
Episodes of Responsible Party Government

 
The Current Era and Party Responsibility

 
Polarization and the Responsible Party Ideal

 
Conclusion

 
Lawrence R. Jacobs
31. Political Parties and Economic Inequality
Political Parties and Economic Structure

 
Information and Power

 
So What?

 
Disciplined Parties and Democracy

 
Marjorie Randon Hershey
Conclusion
Selecting Leaders

 
Policy Coordination Within Government

 
Holding Leaders Accountable

 
What Happens Next?

 
Summing Up

 
 
Index

Select a Purchasing Option

Order from:

ISBN: 9781452267807
£160.00