Political Parties In American Society Book

	Preface	iii
	About the Authors	xxi
1	Parties in Society: A Theoretical Overview	1
	The Place of Parties in the Political System	1
	What Type of Group is a Party?	4
	The First Image of Party: A Group Seeking Power by Winning Elections	5
	Variations in Scholars' Conceptions of a Political Party, from 1770 to Today	6
	The Second Image of Party: A Group Processing Interest-Group Demands	7
	The Third Image of Party: An Ideological Competitor	7
	Parties in Comparison with Other Groups	9
	The Relevance of Parties for Democracy	10
	Can Only Democracies Have Party Systems?	14
	The Historical Relevance of Parties	15
	Notes	16
2	The American Party System Viewed Comparatively	18
	A Comparative Perspective: An Example of a Pluralized Multiparty System	21
	Party Volatility but System Equilibrium	22
	Cohesiveness of the Opposition Vote	28
	The Social Group Coalitional Character of American Parties	29
	Ideological Conflicts and the Parties	32
	A Majority-Oriented Party System with Frequent Divided Control	36
	Variation in Party Strength by State and Region	38
	Types of Party Systems: Dimensions for Comparison/Pros and Cons	40
	Notes	41
3	The American Party System: Origins and Development	43
	The Early Party Era: 1790-1800	44
	Early History: Jefferson's Role as Party Founder	45
	Early Party Culture	48
	Early Party Organization	52
	Major Eras in Party History	53
	From 1788 to 1824	53
	From 1824 to 1854	54
	From 1860 to 1892	54
	From 1896 to 1932	54
	Since 1932	55
	Three Major Patterns of Party Competition	56
	Determinants of Party Systems	57
Position 1	The Early Patterns of Interest-Group Conflicts	57
Position 2	The Conditions under Which the Suffrage Was Extended	58
Position 3	The Treatment of New Claimants for Power by Established Elites	59
Position 4	The Political Constitution, Particularly the Election System, as Determinant	60
Position 5	The Responsiveness of Established Parties to Social Problems	62
Position 6	Psycho-Cultural Socialization of Citizens to the System	63
	Conclusion	64
	Notes	64
4	Third Parties in American Politics	66
	The History of Third Parties	66
	H. Ross Perot, the Most Recent Third-Party Phenomenon	69
	Theories to Explain Third Parties	71
	Third-Party Attempts by Blacks and Other Groups	74
	Gender and Third Parties	75
	Concluding Observations	76
	Notes	77
5	The Public's Support for the Parties	79
	The Public's General Belief in Parties is Positive	81
	The Public's "Affect" Toward Parties	82
	The Differential Electoral Effects of Two Presidential Scandals	84
	The Strength of the Public's Identification with Parties	85
	Variations by Groups in Political Independence over Time	88
	The Special Case of African American Party Loyalties	89
	The Link of Party Identification to the Public's Issue Positions	91
	The Link of Party Identification to Voting	92
	Public Support for Realignment in the South	96
	Conclusions	99
	Notes	100
6	The National Organization of Our Parties: Revived and Relevant	102
	A Historical Perspective on Party Organizational Development	103
	Parties as Umbrella Structures	107
	A Description of Our National Party Organs: Autonomous But Increasingly Influential	108
	Party Chairs	109
	The Current State of National Party Organization	113
	National Party Activities in Recent Years	115
	Reform of Party Organization in Congress	118
	What Reforms Since 1970?	120
	Evaluation of the National Organizations Today	122
	Notes	122
7	State and Local Party Structures: Strengthened and Still Relevant	124
	Basic form of the State and Local Organization: A Stratarchy	125
	Other Major Features of State Organizations	127
	State-Level Party Units	128
	Variations in State Parties and Their Political Environments	129
	District and County Levels of Organization	131
	The City, Ward, and Precinct Organizational Levels	133
	Bosses and Political Machines: Are They Withering Away?	137
	The Philosophy of a Political Boss	138
	Party Organization as a Hybrid Type	143
	Evaluation of the Local Organizations	144
	Notes	146
8	Party Activists: Working Elites with Organizational Links to the Masses	148
	The Reality of Local Party Activism in the Postwar Period	149
	Social Backgrounds: How Inclusive are Local Parties?	153
	Party Activists in the South: The Changing Political Context	154
	Pathways into Party Work	157
	Motivations for Party Activism	159
	The Ideology and Issue Positions of the Activists	162
	The Impact of Local Activism on Public Behavior	166
	Minor Party Activists: Contrasts With the Two Major Parties	168
	The Party Activists: Some Final Observations	170
	Notes	172
9	Parties and Leadership Recruitment	174
	Major Characteristics of Political Elite Recruitment in the United States	178
	Leadership Recruitment at State and Local Levels	180
	Major Types of State and Local Nomination Procedures	182
	Nonpartisan Procedures	182
	Partisan Procedures	182
	The Effects and Consequences of the Direct Primary	185
	The Primaries and Voter Participation	187
	The Primaries and Political Competition	188
	Recruitment of Candidates at the Local Level: The Trend toward Diversity	189
	The Role of Parties in the Recruitment Process	190
	Concluding Observations	192
	Notes	194
10	Presidential Nominations: The New Model	195
	The New Populism Model of Presidential Nominations	196
	Preprimary Period: The Early Blooming and Demise of Potential Candidates	200
	William J. Clinton as a Native-Son Presidential Candidate	201
	The Presidential Primaries and Caucuses	205
	Changes Since 1968 in the Operation of the Presidential Primary and Caucus Systems	207
	"Front Loading": A Major Current Problem	209
	The Primary Voters: Who are They and What Factors are Linked to Their Vote?	211
	The Presidential Primaries: Evaluations	214
	The National Convention: Changed Role and Functions	216
	Notes	219
11	The Campaign Process	220
	Theoretical Models of the Political Campaign	224
	Campaign Effects	229
	The Mass Media Role	230
	Candidate Strategies and Different Types of Campaigns	233
	Presidential Campaign Strategies and the South: Playing the Race Card	237
	The Presidential Campaign Debates	238
	The Campaign Role of Parties and Interest Groups	239
	An Evaluation of the Campaign Process	241
	Notes	244
12	Money and Political Campaigns: The 1996 Debacle	247
	A Brief History of the Regulation of Campaign Finance	248
	The Provisions of Federal Regulations of Party Finance as of 1996	251
	Publicity Requirements	251
	Limits on Contributions and Spending	252
	Public Funding	253
	Administration of National Party Finance Regulations	254
	Increasing Costs: A Major Concern	255
	The Cost of Congressional Campaigns	258
	The Role of Citizen Contributions	260
	The Big Money	260
	"Big Money" in Campaigns: Much Reform Activity but Little Change	261
	The Role of Parties in Campaign Finance	263
	The Pacs and Campaigns	266
	Conclusions: Major Concerns and What Reforms are Needed Now?	270
	Notes	277
13	Parties and the Election Process	279
	The Election System Imposes Constraints on Parties	281
	Changes in our Election System	282
	Voting Participation and Nonvoting	283
	Group Differences in Voter Turnout	285
	Explanations of Voter Turnout Decline	288
	The Electoral System and Its Restrictions	289
	Generational Explanations for Low Turnout	290
	Attitudes and Beliefs as Factors Explaining Voter Turnout	292
	The Role of Parties in Voter Turnout	295
	Nonvoting: An American Paradox!	296
	The Consequences of Nonvoting	300
	Notes	303
14	The New Technologies: How the Parties Have Adapted	305
	The Professional Campaign Manager	306
	The Pollsters	308
	Franklin Roosevelt and an Early Straw Vote: 1935	310
	The Political ad Specialists	312
	The Public Relations Specialists	315
	Parties: Adapting to Modern Campaign Technology	316
	Conclusion	318
	Notes	318
15	Parties and Governance: Making Divided Government Work	321
	The U.S. Congress: Two Chambers with Special Features	322
	Two Conceptions of the Role of Parties in Congress	323
	Party Voting and Party Cohesion Trends in Congress	328
	Further Evidence of Party Influence on Congress and Its Members	332
	The Role of the Party in the Constituency	335
	Concluding Observations on the Party Role in Congress	337
	Political Parties and Divided Government	338
	Partisan Bases of Presidential Leadership	339
	Conclusions on Party in Governance	343
	Postscript: The 1998 Election and the Impeachment: Implications for Our System	343
	The Impeachment Trial	349
	The Founding Fathers, the Constitutional Convention, and the Definition of Impeachment	350
	Senators' Views on Impeachment Proceedings	351
	Notes	352
16	The Party System and the Race Problem	354
	The Historical Narrative	355
	The State of Racial Inequality	364
	Theories of the Causes of Racial Injustice and Inequality	367
	Progress in the Past: What Can We Learn?	368
	Black Accession to, and Participation in, Party Politics: The 1960s and Beyond	370
	The Electoral and Party Involvement of Other Minorities	375
	The Pluralist and Two-Party Models: Do They Facilitate Black Progress?	376
	The Balance-of-Power Theory: The Role of Minority Voters	377
	Alternative Scenarios: What are the Prospects?	379
	Notes	385
17	Change and Adaptation in the American Party System	387
	What Major Changes have Occurred in the American Party System?	390
	Changes in Mass Support	390
	Coalitional Changes	391
	Ideological Shifts?	393
	Organizational Developments	396
	As Parties Change, What Type of Party System has Emerged?	398
	The Theory of Realignment	400
	Criticisms of Our Party System: Is More Reform Necessary?	405
	Postscript: The Value of Studying American Parties	410
	Notes	411
	Index	413