Research Catalog

Title

Dynamics of the party system; alignment and realignment of political parties in the United States [by] James L. Sundquist.

Author

Sundquist, James L.

Publication

Washington, The Brookings Institution [1973]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xiii, 388 p. illus.; 24 cm.

Summary

Focusing on three major realignments of the past -- those of the 1850s, the 1890s, and the 1930s -- Sundquist traces the processes by which basic transformations of the country's two-party system occur. From the historical case studies, he fashions a theory as to the why and how of party realignment.

Subject

Political parties > United States > History

Genre/Form

History

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

1. Party realignment: what? when? how? -- A comparative study of past realignments -- The concepts of party realignment -- The partial character of realignments -- 2. Some hypothetical scenarios -- Formation of a party system -- The prealignment period -- Scenario 1: No major realignment -- Scenario 2: Realignment of the two existing parties -- Scenario 3: Realignment of the existing parties through the absorption of a third party -- Scenario 4: Realignment through the replacement of one major party -- Scenario 5: Realignment through the replacement of both old parties -- 3. The realignment process: a preliminary statement -- Five variables -- Searching the past -- 4. Slavery polarizes the nation -- Acendancy of the compromisers -- The disruption of the old parties -- Division of the Whig Party -- 5. The realignment of the 1850s -- A new major party: the Republicans -- Substance of realignment -- Solidification of the new alignment -- 6. The agrarian revolt and the rise of Populism -- The farmers enter politics -- Tensions within the old parties -- The protest forces regather -- The major parties respond slowly -- The prairie state parties of 1890 -- Democratic radicalism in the South -- 7. The realignment of the 1890s -- Creation of the People's Party -- Polarization of the Democratic Party -- Silver Democrats capture the party -- The Populists are absorbed -- The critical election of 1896 -- Substance of the realignment -- Persistance of the Civil War alignment -- 8. Realignment averted: the Progressive Era -- Diffuse character of the Progressive Movement -- A bipartisan responsiveness -- The accidents of leadership -- The deviation of 1912 -- 9. Minor realignments of the 1920s -- The Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party -- La Follette, McNary-Haugenism, and Al Smith -- The "Al Smith Revolution" in the East -- 10. The realignment of the 1930s -- Herbert Hoover and limited intervention -- Before 1932: the Democrats move slowly -- After 1932: the Democrats commit themselves -- Substance of the realignment -- Evolution of the New Deal Party system -- The retreat toward the center -- 11. Aftershocks of the New Deal earthquake in the North -- North Dakota: the NPL switches parties -- Wisconsin: La Follette Progressivism changes parties -- Minnesota: the Farmer-Labor Movement shifts parties -- Pennsylvania: patronage Republicans switch parties -- Two-stage realignment in other states -- The rise of the Programmatic Liberal Democrats -- 12. Aftershocks of the New Deal earthquake in the South -- The Dixiecrat Revolt -- Metropolitan Republicanism in the South -- From Thurmond to Wallace: the protest vote -- The second stage of southern realignment -- The Programmatic Republican Conservatives -- Variations in the second stage -- 13. The realignment process: an amplified statement -- 14. Some further notes on party dynamics -- The static, one-dimensional model -- An open or closed party system? -- 15. Crosscutting issues since the New Deal -- Communism as a realigning issue -- Race as a realigning issue -- Vietnam as a realigning issue -- Law and order and the "social issue" -- 16. Current trends in party strength -- The convergence of party strength -- A competitive party balance -- Alienation and independence -- 17. Whither the American party system? -- A Black-White political alignment? -- A rebirth of the New Deal Party system?

ISBN

0815782160 0815782152 (pbk.)

LCCN

^^^73001083^

OCLC

• 632275
• SCSB-12698558

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library