Parties, Politics, and Public Policy in America

by Hetherington, Marc J.

• ISBN13: 9781604264586
• ISBN10: 1604264586
• Edition: 11th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-12-15
• Publisher: Cq Pr

Summary

With revitalized and stronger political parties should we see more effective and accountable government? Despite the resurgence of parties in America, charges of irresponsible and unreliable government remain. Why the disconnect? In Parties, Politics, and Public Policy in America, Marc Hetherington along with new coauthor Bruce Larson explore this question, while giving students an overview of how parties work and shape public policymaking in America. In this eleventh edition, Hetherington and Larson provide more in-depth coverage of the parties&BAD:rs" functions in Congress and campaign finance. In addition, the authors examine developments in the 2008 nomination and election contests&BAD:-generational voting patterns, shifts in the red-blue divide, and the possibility of a partisan realignment. No other book for this course combines the breadth of scholarship with the brevity and accessibility found here.

Author Biography

Marc J. Hetherington is professor of political science at Vanderbilt University. He was awarded the Emerging Scholar Award from the Elections. Voting Behavior and Public Opinion section of the American Political Science Association in 2004. He recently published Authoritarianism and Polarization in American Politics (with Jonathan Weiler) and is also author of Why Trust Matters: Declining Political Trust and the Demise of American Liberalism. Hetherington has published numerous articles in the American Political Science Review. American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics. British Journal of Political Science, and Public Opinion Quarterly Bruce A. Larson is associate professor of political science at Gettysburg College. A specialist in American political parties and elections, he has published articles in the Journal of Politics. Legislative Studies Quarterly, and Political Research Quarterly. In addition, he is coauthor of The Party's Just Begun: Shaping Political Parties for America's Future (a book on American political parties) and coeditor of Dangerous Democracy? The Battle over Ballot Initiatives in America (a book on statewide ballot initiatives in the United States)

Table of Contents

Tables, Figures, and Boxes	p. xi
Preface	p. xv
Political Parties and the Political System	p. 1
The Activities of Parties	p. 2
Recruitment and Selection of Leaders	p. 3
Representation and Integration of Group Interests	p. 4
Control and Direction of Government	p. 5
Parties as a "Dependent Variable"	p. 8
The Legal-Political System	p. 8
The Election System	p. 9
Political Culture and the Parties	p. 13
A Heterogeneous Nation	p. 15
Party Organization	p. 18
The National Committee	p. 18
The National Chair	p. 21
Congressional and Senatorial Campaign Committees	p. 22
State Committees	p. 23
Local Party Organization	p. 23
The Changing Parties: "Old Style" and "New Style" Politics	p. 25
American Parties and Competition and Competition	p. 33
Characteristics of Parties	p. 33
Dispersed Power	p. 34
The Power of Officeholders	p. 37
Coalitional in Nature	p. 38
Theoretically Moderate and Inclusive, but Less So in Practice	p. 42
Ideologically Heterogeneous in Theory, but Less So in Practice	p. 44
An Interest Group	p. 47
Party Competition	p. 49
Presidential Elections	p. 49
Congressional Elections	p. 54
State-Level Competition	p. 57
Party Competition and Issue Positions	p. 61
The Persistent Two-Party (Not Multiparty) System in America	p. 62
The Party Condition	p. 66
Political Parties and the Electoral Process: Nominations	p. 71
Party Nominating Methods: A Brief History	p. 71
Caucus	p. 71
Party Conventions	p. 72
Direct Primary	p. 72
Types of Primaries	p. 73
Closed Primary	p. 73
Open Primary	p. 74
Blanket Primary	p. 76
Nonpartisan Primary	p. 77
Runoff Primary	p. 77
An Assessment of the Direct Primary	p. 78
Presidential Selection	p. 80
The National Convention	p. 80
Selection of Delegates	p. 82
Rules of Delegate Selection	p. 84
Evaluating Presidential Primary and Caucus-Convention Systems	p. 88
Front-Loading and Its Effects	p. 90
Primaries and the End of Party Boss Influence	p. 95
The Convention Delegates	p. 96
The Politics of the Convention	p. 98
The Convention Committees	p. 98
Selecting the Presidential Ticket	p. 100
The Media, the Nominating Process, and the Parties	p. 102
Campaigns and Campaign Finance	p. 109
Campaign Organization	p. 110
Campaign Strategy	p. 111
Do Campaigns Matter?	p. 112
Issues and Campaigns	p. 116
Campaign Money	p. 119
The Regulation of Campaign Finance	p. 123
Soft Money	p. 127
Reforming Campaign Finance Reform	p. 130
Sources of Campaign Financing	p. 133
Presidential Contests	p. 133
Congressional Contests	p. 134
Evaluating the Campaign Finance System	p. 141
The Congressional Party and the Formation of Public Policy	p. 153
Congressional Elections	p. 154
Party Representation in Congress	p. 156
Do the Parties Differ on Public Policies?	p. 159
The Parties and Liberal-Labor Legislation	p. 161
The Sources of Stronger Parties in Government	p. 165
Party Organization in Congress	p. 169
Party Conferences	p. 169
The Speaker of the House	p. 170
The Floor Leaders	p. 172
The Whips	p. 177
The Policy Committees	p. 178
Informal Party Groups and-Specialized Congressional Caucuses	p. 179
Factors Influencing the Legislative Success of Party Leaders	p. 180
National Party Agencies and the Congressional Parties	p. 182
The President and the Congressional Party	p. 183
Limits on Presidential Influence	p. 183
The President and Legislative Leaders	p. 187
The Minority Party in Congress	p. 188
The Party in Congress: An Assessment	p. 188
Party Identification, Partisanship, and Elections	p. 199
The Origins of Party Identification	p. 200
The Effects of Party Identification	p. 202
The Distribution of Party Identification	p. 207
Party Identification and Voting Behavior	p. 210
Gender and Religion Gaps in Party Identification	p. 211
Evidence of the Growing Importance of Party	p. 214
Is the American Public Polarized?	p. 215
Voting and Participation; The Diminished Electorate	p. 220
Who Participates?	p. 221
Atrophy of the Electorate	p. 225
Causes of the Early Twentieth-Century Decline	p. 227
Causes of the Contemporary Decline (and Resurgence) in Turnout	p. 228
The Nation's Response to Declining Voter Turnout	p. 230
The American Party System: Problems and Perspectives	p. 239
The Doctrine of Responsible Parties	p. 239
National Party Organizations and Platforms	p. 241
Intraparty Democracy	p. 243
Congressional Party Organization	p. 245
Nominations and Elections	p. 249
Trends in American Politics	p. 249
Party Organizations Adjust to a Loss of Power	p. 250
Campaign Management: Image Makers and Technical Experts	p. 252
The Effort to Strengthen Party Organization	p. 255
An Era of Party and Governmental Reform	p. 257
The Escalation of Interest Group Activity	p. 259
The Nationalization of Politics	p. 261
The Polarization of Activists and Congress on the Issues	p. 262
The Decline and Resurgence of Partisanship	p. 266
Visceral Issues Drive Mass Party Differences	p. 268
Racial Polarization in Voting	p. 270
The Public's Declining Confidence in Political Institutions	p. 273
Prospects for the Parties	p. 276
Index	p. 287
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