American Political Parties

Catalog description

Examines the nature and development of American political parties. Traces continuity and change in the American party system beginning in the early Republic, assessing the rise and fall of the Whigs, the dynamic between machine politics and progressive reform, and the shifts in party ideas and policy stances that inform contemporary political debates. The question of ideological change in American political parties is further explored by contemporary work on factions, polarization, and culture war. Assesses changes to the parties as organizations in the wake of reforms to the candidate selection process from an institutional perspective. Explores the question of how American political parties compare to their counterparts in other advanced industrial democracies.