New Party Politics From Jefferson and Hamilton to the Information Age

by White, John Kenneth; Shea, Daniel M.

• ISBN13: 9780534560232
• ISBN10: 0534560237
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-06-23
• Publisher: Cengage Learning

Summary

The authors of this fresh text on American political parties employ an engaging writing style, a strong historical foundation, and a new analogy for understanding party systems in a compelling textbook. White and Shea trace the evolution of parties from the late 18th century through the Information Age, examining the impact of new information technologies throughout the text.

Author Biography

John Kenneth White (Ph.D., University of Connecticut, 1980) is professor of politics at the Catholic University of America Daniel M. Shea (Ph.D., State University of New York at Albany, 1993) is associate professor of political science at Allegheny College

Table of Contents

PREFACE	xiii
ABOUT THE AUTHORS	xvi
INTRODUCTION: RETHINKING POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE INFORMATION AGE	1	(15)
Notes	13	(3)
1 POLITICAL PARTIES IN AN AMERICAN SETTING	16	(23)
Political Parties: Institutions Americans Love to Hate	17	(4)
Comparatively Speaking: Political Party Development in a Comparative Setting	18	(3)
Praise from the Ivory Tower	21	(1)
Politics without Parties	22	(1)
The Parties Speak: Gejdenson versus White on the Importance of Political Parties	23	(1)
Three Important Party Distinctions	23	(1)
How Parties Differ from Other Organizations	24	(1)
The Components of American Political Parties	25	(1)
Does the Tripod Work in the Information Age?	26	(3)
What Do Political Parties Seek to Accomplish?	29	(3)
The Battle of the Titans: Hamilton versus Jefferson	32	(4)
Like God, Parties Are Not Dead	36	(1)
Further Reading	36	(1)
Notes	37	(2)
2 THE ASCENDANCE OF PARTY POLITICS	39	(25)
The Pre-Party Era	40	(1)
The Colonial Experience	40	(5)
Comparatively Speaking: Comparing Representation and the Bases for Party Competition	43	(2)
Nascent Parties: Federalists versus Republicans	45	(4)
Party Rule: 1824-1912	49	(2)
Breakdown and Renewal: The Election of 1824	51	(1)
The Jackson-Van Buren Alliance	52	(1)
The Rise of Mass-Based Politics and the Emergence of the Spoils System	53	(2)
The Interregnum: Parties and the Civil War	55	(2)
The Coming of the Machine	57	(4)
The Parties Speak: A Day in the Life of Party Boss George Washington Plunkitt	59	(1)
The Parties Speak: Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard J. Daley on Patronage	60	(1)
Parties "American Style"	61	(1)
Further Reading	62	(1)
Notes	62	(2)
3 THE DECLINE OF PARTY POLITICS	64	(37)
Comparatively Speaking: Dealignment and Party Decline in Different Settings	66	(2)
"Clean It Up!": The Progressive Movement	68	(1)
Enter the Progressives	69	(10)
The Parties Speak: Robert M. LaFollette, Sr. "The Menace of the Machine" (1897)	73	(6)
Why the Progressive Movement Was Successful	79	(3)
An End to Party Politics?	82	(2)
Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal	84	(1)
The New Deal and Party Politics	85	(1)
Political Parties and the Cold War	86	(2)
The Rise of Interest Groups	88	(1)
The Interest Group Explosion	89	(2)
The Rise of Candidate-Centered Politics	91	(1)
Party Activist versus Professional Consultant	91	(2)
The Parties Speak: Ed Rollins and the "Campaign from Hell"	92	(1)
Party Member versus Nonpartisan Candidate	93	(1)
Party Affiliation versus Voting Choice	94	(1)
A Partyless Age?	94	(4)
The Parties Speak: "Mr. Mayor, You Could Have Used a Machine"	95	(3)
Further Reading	98	(1)
Notes	99	(2)
4 PARTY ORGANIZATIONS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY	101	(27)
Comparatively Speaking: The Greens and Party (Dis)Organization	103	(2)
Organizational Adjustment and Growth	105	(1)
The Rebirth of the Republican National Committee	106	(2)
The Democratic National Committee Plays Catch-Up	108	(1)
New Technologies in the Information Age	109	(2)
Summary	111	(1)
The Emergence of Legislative Campaign Committees	112	(1)
The Hill Committees	113	(2)
State Legislative Campaign Committees	115	(3)
The Parties Speak: Congressman David Price on the Role of Party in Campaigns	116	(2)
Wither the Local Parties?	118	(1)
Evidence of Local Party Renewal	118	(4)
The Parties Speak: Party Leaders Voice Concerns about Legislative Campaign Committees	119	(3)
Evidence of Local Party Decline	122	(1)
Revivalists versus Declinists	122	(3)
Conclusion	125	(1)
Further Reading	125	(1)
Notes	126	(2)
5 NOMINATING PRESIDENTS IN THE INFORMATION AGE	128	(37)
What Kind of President?	129	(5)
From John Adams to George W. Bush: The Problem of Presidential Selection	134	(8)
The Parties Speak: Alexander Hamilton on Choosing an American President	135	(3)
The Parties Speak: Politics Drowns in a Sea of Reforms	138	(2)
Comparatively Speaking: Nominating Candidates: Contrasting U.S. Democrats with German Social Democrats	140	(2)
Hamilton's Family versus Jefferson's Community	142	(1)
The King-Making Caucuses	142	(1)
Enter the Party Conventions	142	(3)
The Rise of Haeliltonian Nationalism	145	(1)
The McGovern-Fraser Commission	146	(7)
The Parties Speak: Newsweek's Evan Thomas Reflects on Robert F. Kennedy's Life and Legacy	148	(5)
Are Primaries and Caucuses Representative?	153	(1)
Republicans Follow the McGovern-Fraser Lead	154	(3)
The Unintended Consequences of the McGovern-Fraser Reforms	157	(1)
The Mikulski and Winograd Commissions	158	(1)
Enter the Superdelegates	159	(1)
Looking to 2004	160	(2)
Further Reading	162	(1)
Notes	163	(2)
6 PARTY BRAND LOYALTY AND THE AMERICAN VOTER	165	(37)
Comparatively Speaking: Party Identification-Is There Brand Loyalty Elsewhere?	167	(3)
The Importance of Party Identification	170	(3)
Measuring Party Identification	173	(2)
Is Party Identification Obsolete?	175	(1)
The Making of an Idea: Party Realignment	175	(1)
V.O. Key and Party Realignment	176	(4)
The Parties Speak: V.O. Key and the Theory of Party Realignment	177	(3)
Party Realignment: The Death of a Concept?	180	(5)
The Parties Speak: Everett C. Ladd, "Like Waiting for Godot, the Uselessness of Party Realignment"	184	(1)
Where Are the Voters Going?	185	(1)
The End of the New Deal Coalition	186	(1)
Here Come the Ticket-Splitters	186	(2)
Party Coalitions during the George W. Bush Era	188	(2)
The Gender Gap	190	(4)
Divided Government	194	(3)
What's Left for the Parties?	197	(1)
Further Reading	198	(1)
Notes	198	(4)
7 STATE AND LOCAL PARTIES: "MOM AND POP" SHOPS IN THE INFORMATION AGE	202	(36)
State and Local Parties in the Information Age	204	(1)
Regulating State Parties	204	(1)
Party Structure	205	(6)
Comparatively Speaking: Regionalism and Political Parties	206	(5)
A Network of Allied Party Groups	211	(2)
Who Belongs?	213	(1)
Primary Voters	214	(2)
The Blanket Primary Controversy	216	(3)
Officials in the Party Organization	219	(2)
Activists	221	(1)
Summary	221	(1)
Local Political Culture	221	(4)
The Parties Speak: The "Amateur Democrats"	224	(1)
What State and Local Parties Do	225	(1)
Manifest Party Functions	225	(2)
State Parties in Legislative Campaigns	227	(2)
State and Local Parties, Computers, and the Internet	229	(1)
Desktop Tools	229	(1)
State Parties on the Internet	229	(1)
Computers and Money to the Rescue?	230	(4)
Appendix: Democratic and Republican State Committee Web Sites, Spring 2003	234	(1)
Further Reading	235	(1)
Notes	235	(3)
8 CAMPAIGN FINANCE AND INFORMATION AGE POLITICAL PARTIES	238	(40)
A Brief Look at Money in Elections	240	(1)
Phase 1: Money as a Supplement to Party Activities (1790's to 1880's)	240	(1)
Phase 2: The Rise of Corporate Politics (1880's to 1950's)	241	(2)
Phase 3: Media-Centered Elections (1960's to the Present)	243	(3)
Comparatively Speaking: Comparative Campaign Finance	245	(1)
Efforts to Regulate the Flow of Money in Elections	246	(2)
Meaningful Reform: Watergate and Federal Reforms	248	(2)
A Challenge in the Courts: Buckley v. Valeo	250	(2)
The Rise of PACs	252	(2)
Creative Party Finances in the Information Age	254	(3)
The Parties Speak: Buying Loyalty: Bill Frist Has Relied on Money as Much as Charm to Make Political Friends	256	(1)
Issue Advocacy	257	(1)
Independent Expenditures	258	(2)
Hard and Soft Money	260	(2)
Transfers to State Party Committees	262	(1)
McCain and Feingold Have Their Day: Reforming the Reforms	263	(11)
The Parties Speak: The Debate on Campaign Finance Reform	265	(9)
The Future of Party Finance in America	274	(1)
Further Reading	275	(1)
Notes	276	(2)
9 ELECTED OFFICIALS: THE RELUCTANT SALES FORCE OF THE PARTY SYSTEM	278	(27)
The Parties Speak: The 1994 House Republicans' Contract with America	280	(1)
The President as Party Leader	281	(2)
The Party in Congress	283	(8)
Comparatively Speaking: From Elections to Governing: Government Coalition Formation	286	(3)
The Parties Speak: Toward a More Responsible Two-Party System	289	(2)
The Contract with America	291	(6)
The Parties Speak: Constance Morella on the Rise of Partisanship in the House of Representatives	296	(1)
The Rise of the Public Speakership	297	(2)
Congress and the "Little Arts of Popularity"	299	(4)
Further Reading	303	(1)
Notes	303	(2)
10 THIRD PARTIES AND THE INFORMATION AGE: THE ORPHANS OF AMERICAN POLITICS	305	(47)
The Third-Party Paradox	308	(4)
Comparatively Speaking: Does Minor Party Success Elsewhere Suggest Third-Party Success Here?	310	(2)
Institutional Barriers	312	(6)
American Political Culture	318	(3)
The Momentum of History	321	(4)
The Parties Speak: Benjamin C. Bubar, 1976 and 1980 Prohibition Party Presidential Nominee	323	(2)
Significant Third Parties in American History	325	(1)
The Anti-Mason Party	326	(1)
The Free-Soil Party	326	(1)
The American (Know-Nothing) Party	327	(1)
The Greenback and Populists (People's) Parties	328	(2)
The Progressives: 1912-1924	330	(2)
The Parties Speak: William Jennings Bryan's "Cross of Gold" Speech Presented to the Democratic National Convention, Chicago, Illinois, July 8, 1896	331	(1)
Henry Wallace and the Progressive Party of 1948	332	(2)
State's Rights Party (1948) and the American Independent Party (1968)	334	(1)
The Reform Party	335	(1)
The Green Party	336	(3)
The Parties Speak: A Conversation between Ralph Nader and The American Prospect Magazine Editor Robert Kuttner	337	(2)
Third Parties in the Information Age	339	(1)
An Explosion of Minor Parties	339	(2)
Changes in Voter Attitudes toward Minor Parties	341	(2)
Minor Parties and the Internet	343	(2)
Jefferson, Hamilton, and the Future of Third Parties in America	345	(3)
The Parties Speak: Ventura Win Marks Dawn of New Era: Age of Digital Politics	346	(2)
Further Reading	348	(1)
Notes	348	(4)
CONCLUSION: HAMILTON'S TRIUMPH AND THE ADVENT OF THE "BASE-LESS" PARTY SYSTEM	352	(17)
The 2002 Election and the "Base-Less" Party System	357	(4)
Comparatively Speaking: Conclusion	361	(3)
Party Politics in the Twenty-First Century	364	(1)
Voter Trends	364	(1)
Organizational Developments	364	(1)
Legislative Politics	365	(1)
New Laws	365	(1)
Minor Parties	365	(1)
Notes	366	(3)
INDEX	369