This one-volume reference presents the major conceptual approaches to the study of U.S. political parties and the national party system, describing the organization and behavior of U.S. political parties in thematic, narrative chapters that help undergraduate students better understand party origins, historical development, and current operations.

Table of Contents

• About the Editors
• Contributors
• Acknowledgments
• INTRODUCTION - Marjorie Randon Hershey and Edward M. Burmilas
• PART I WHAT ARE PARTIES FOR?
• 1. PARTIES AND THE RESPONSE TO CHANGE: THE REPRESENTATION AND MOBILIZATION OF DIVISIONS IN A NATION - Mark D. Brewer and Jeffrey M. Stonecash
• 2. POLITICAL PARTIES: RECRUITING LEADERS AND STRUCTURING ELECTIONS - Jamie L. Carson
• 3. PARTIES AS COORDINATORS: CAN PARTIES UNITE WHAT THE CONSTITUTION DIVIDES? - Frances E. Lee
• 4. WHAT THE PARTIES STAND FOR - Hans Noel
• 5. PARTIES IN THE AMERICAN POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT: SHAPED, ADAPTIVE, AND SHAPERS - Paul A. Beck
• PART II HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE PARTIES
• 6. THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF U.S. POLITICAL PARTIES, 1790-1861 - Joel H. Silbey
• 7. POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE AGE OF INDUSTRIALIZATION: FROM THEIR GOLDEN AGE THROUGH THE PROGRESSIVE ERA - Jeffrey D. Grynaviski
• 8. CONSTRUCTING A NEW MAJORITY: THE DEPRESSION, THE NEW DEAL, AND THE DEMOCRATS - Kristi Andersen
• 9. PARTISANSHIP, SECTIONALISM, AND RACE: CIVIL RIGHTS AND PARTY DEVELOPMENT FROM THE 1950s THROUGH THE 1970s - Jeffery A. Jenkins
• 10. PARTIES REVISED AND REVIVED: DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS IN THE AGE OF REAGAN, 1980 TO 2000 - David Karol
• 11. POLARIZATION AND VOLATILITY: THE STATE OF THE PARTY SYSTEM IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY - Casey B. K. Dominguez
• PART III PARTY ORGANIZATIONS
• 12. THE NATURE OF PARTY ORGANIZATIONS - Daniel DiSalvo
• 13. FROM MACHINES TO SERVICE CENTERS: THE EVOLUTION OF STATE AND LOCAL POLITICAL PARTIES - Vladimir Kogan
• 14. THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE NATIONAL PARTY COMMITTEES - Daniel J. Galvin
• 15. THE IMPACT OF REFORM ON NATIONAL PARTY FINANCING AND CAMPAIGNING - Paul S. Herrnson
• 16. PARTY ACTIVISTS - Geoffrey C. Layman
• 17. VOTE-SEEKING THIRD PARTIES IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY - Ronald B. Rapoport and Justin de Benedictis-Kessner
• PART IV PARTIES IN THE ELECTORATE
• 18. THE NATURE OF PARTISAN IDENTIFICATION - Marc J. Hetherington
• 19. PARTY IDENTIFICATION AND ISSUE ATTITUDES - Logan Dancey
• 20. INDEPENDENTS AND AMERICAN ELECTIONS - Russell J. Dalton
• 21. PRIMARY ELECTIONS AND CAUCUSES - Barbara Norrander
• 22. PARTISANSHIP IN GENERAL ELECTIONS - Helmut Norpoth
• 23. DIFFERING VIEWS ON POLARIZATION OF THE ELECTORATE - Thomas M. Carsey
• PART V PARTIES IN GOVERNMENT
• 24. EBBS AND FLOWS IN THE POWER OF CONGRESSIONAL PARTY LEADERS SINCE 1910 - Bruce I. Oppenheimer
• 25. DIFFERENCES IN PARTY LEADERSHIP AND CONTROL AMONG THE U.S. HOUSE, U.S. SENATE, AND STATE LEGISLATURES - Jennifer Hayes Clark and Gerald C. Wright
• 26. WHAT INFLUENCE DO THE PARTIES HAVE IN THE PRESIDENCY AND THE BUREAUCRACY? - Jesse H. Rhodes
• 27. PARTISAN CONTROL OF GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC POLICY - David R. Jones
• 28. POLITICAL PARTIES AND THE CHANGING MEDIA ENVIRONMENT - Marjorie Randon Hershey and Jessica Gall Myrick
• PART VI PARTIES IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT
• 29. POLITICAL PARTIES AND INTEREST GROUPS: PARTIES AS NETWORKS - Richard M. Skinner
• 30. THE STANDARD OF RESPONSIBLE PARTIES - John J. Coleman
• 31. POLITICAL PARTIES AND ECONOMIC INEQUALITY - Lawrence R. Jacobs
• CONCLUSION Marjorie Randon Hershey