Why Parties?

by Aldrich, John Herbert

• ISBN13: 9780226012742
• ISBN10: 0226012743
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-05-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

Since its first appearance fifteen years ago,Why Parties?has become essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the nature of American political parties. In the interim, the party system has undergone some radical changes. In this landmark book, now rewritten for the new millennium, John H. Aldrich goes beyond the clamor of arguments over whether American political parties are in resurgence or decline and undertakes a wholesale reexamination of the foundations of the American party system. Surveying critical episodes in the development of American political partiesfrom their formation in the 1790s to the Civil WarAldrich shows how they serve to combat three fundamental problems of democracy: how to regulate the number of people seeking public office, how to mobilize voters, and how to achieve and maintain the majorities needed to accomplish goals once in office. Aldrich brings this innovative account up to the present by looking at the profound changes in the character of political parties since World War II, especially in light of ongoing contemporary transformations, including the rise of the Republican Party in the South, and what those changes accomplish, such as the Obama Health Care plan. Finally,Why Parties? A Second Lookoffers a fuller consideration of party systems in general, especially the two-party system in the United States, and explains why this system is necessary for effective democracy.

Author Biography

John H. Aldrich is the Pfizer-Pratt University Professor of Political Science at Duke University. He is the author and coauthor of numerous books and articles, as well as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and recipient of the American Political Science Association's Samuel J. Eldersveld Career Achievement Award.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. viii
Political Parties and Democracy
Politics and Parties in America	p. 3
Why Parries Form	p. 27
Party Formation in America, 1790-1860
Prologue	p. 67
Founding the First Parties: Institutions and Social Choice	p. 70
A Jacksonian Democracy: The Mass Party and Collective Action	p. 102
Whigs and Republicans: Institutions, Issue Agendas, and Ambition	p. 130
The New Political Party in Contemporary America
Prologue	p. 163
Party Activists and Partisan Cleavages	p. 169
Political Parties and Governance	p. 202
The Critical Era of the 1960s	p. 255
Conclusions
Political Parties, Historical Dynamics, and Democratic Politics	p. 295
Notes	p. 325
References	p. 349
Index	p. 367
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.