New Directions in American Political Parties

by Stonecash; Jeffrey M.

• ISBN13: 9780415805247
• ISBN10: 0415805244
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2010-04-12
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Our portraits of voters, their relationship to parties, and the behavior of elected party members have changed significantly within the last 10 to 15 years. Characterizations of dealignment and decreased importance of parties have been fairly rapidly replaced by a focus on party polarization. Voters are becoming more ideological and the debate is now about the relative role of ideology, religious attachment, views on immigration, and class in affecting party identification and voting. In a short period of time we have gone from concern that parties are not responsive or sufficiently different to whether polarization has become too great.This volume, with contributions from some of the most noted scholars of political parties, brings together assessments of these changes to provide a comprehensive overview of current trends in the field. It serves as an excellent companion to courses on parties and elections, and a useful overview for scholars and students of American politics generally.

Author Biography

Jeffrey M. Stonecash is Maxwell Professor of Political Science at Syracuse University. He is the author of numerous books on political Parties, polarization, and state politics.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	p. vii
List of Figures	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Contributors	p. xiii
Overview: Voters and Parties in Recent Decades	p. 1
Changing American Political Parties	p. 3
Social Change and Party Response	p. 11
Social Change in America: The Context for Parties	p. 13
Strategic Maneuvers: Political Parties and the Pursuit of Winning Coalitions in a Constantly Changing Electoral Environment	p. 22
Parties and the Media: Getting Messages to Voters	p. 44
Party Organization and Mobilization of Resources: Evolution, Reinvention, and Survival	p. 63
Sources of Political Divisions, Realignment, and Current Party Differences	p. 91
Blacks and the Democratic Party: A Resilient Coalition	p. 93
Class in American Politics	p. 110
Ideological Realignment among Voters	p. 126
Religion, Moralism, and the Cultural Wars: Competing Moral Visions	p. 148
Immigrants and Political Parties	p. 166
Partisan Trends in the South and Northeast: Political Ping-Pong	p. 186
Party Actions, Institutions, and Impacts	p. 203
The President as a Partisan Actor	p. 205
Consequences of Electoral and Institutional Change: The Evolution of Conditional Party Government in the U.S. House of Representatives	p. 234
Parties, Public Policy Differences, and Impact	p. 251
Bibliography	p. 263
Index	p. 291
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