An introduction to political parties

Preface            xv

Acknowledgments      xviii

1 The Study of Political Parties          3

Why Study Political Parties    3

The Search for Useful Information    3

Intellectual Curiosity              5

Party in the Electorate            8

What Affects Citizen Attitudes Toward Parties         8

Party as an Organization         10

The Cadre and Mass Parties   11

The Structure of Incentives for Party Leadership      13

The Structure of IntraParty Democracy         13

Parties in Elections     14

The Distinctiveness of American Elections   14

Recent Changes in Elections 14

Party in the Government         15

Party Influence on Congress   16

Party Influence Elsewhere in Government     17

Party Impact upon State Public Policy           18

Part One Party in the Electorate         21

2 The Social Bases of Partisanship                 23

Social Cleavages and Politics             23

The Relatively Weak Relationship Between Social

Factors and Partisanship in America              24

The Relationship Between Status and Participation   24

Occupation      25

Education        26

The Low Impact of Education on Party Preference   27

The High Impact of Education on Participation         27

Income            28

Socioeconomic Status and Partisanship         29

Socioeconomic Status and Participation        30

Socioeconomic Status Lifestyles and Attitudes         31

Religion          32

Religion and the 1960 Presidential Election              32

The Social Bases of Western Parties              34

Ethnic Groups             36

Important Ethnic Groups        36

Ethnic Voting              37

Blacks Americas Largest Ethnic Group         37

Age                 40

Political Differences Between Youth and Older People        40

The Youth Vote in 1972         40

Youth A Potential Source of Change             41

Regionalism                41

The Five Political Regions     42

Regionalism A Weak Base for Party Support            43

3 The Partisan Electorate        49

Party Identification                 50

The Stability of Party Identification               51

Indications of Change             53

Sources of Identification and Change            53

The Evidence of Loyalty in Voting                55

Loyalty and Participation                   57

The Independents                    58

The Independent of the Past               59

The New Independent             59

Candidates and Issues             61

Voter Images of Candidates               61

How Images Change               65

How Partisans Differ in Their Images            65

The Impact of Party Identification on Voter Images 68

How Voter Images of Parties Candidates and Issues Are Related     71

Rating the Candidates in 1968            71

Issues in the Seventies            75

The Earlier Nonimportance of Issues             76

The Recent Importance of Issues       76

Circumstances Affecting the Role of Issues   76

4 Citizen Perceptions of Parties Trust Efficacy and Information       83

Citizen Images of the Political Parties           84

Factors Affecting Party Image           90

Group Identification and Party Loyalty          92

The Effect of Policy Voting on Party Image             93

Citizen Support for the Political Party           95

Public Support for Parties is Limited             95

Public Evaluation of the Parties         97

The Decrease in Public Support for Parties    98

Trust                99

The Record of the Past           99

The Decline in Trust               100

The Importance of Trust         101

The Dimensions of Trust        101

Efficacy                       102

Measuring Efficacy                103

Developing Feelings of Efficacy        103

Information                 104

Lack of Knowledge Among the Electorate                105

Information Trust and Efficacy                      107

Part Two Party as an Organization                 113

5 Party Organization               115

The National Committee and Convention      116

How Committee Members Are Chosen         117

Committee Functions             118

The National Chairman          118

Congressional Campaign Committees           119

Selection of Members             120

Functions                    120

State Committees Variable Creatures of the Law      121

Variations in Size                   121

Selecting Members                 122

County Committees                122

General Characteristics of Party Organization           123

The Dispersal of Power          123

The Effects of Open Membership      124

Appraising the Party Organization     124

Criticism         125

Contrasts Between Party Critics and Defenders         125

Citizen Impact on Parties       128

Party Impact on Citizens        128

Citizen Appraisals of the Parties        128

6 The Party Actives    133

Party Actives Social Characteristics               134

Party Leaders as a Reflection of the Electorate          135

The Overlap in Groups Represented by Leaders in Both Parties             135

Age                 136

Socioeconomic Status             139

Social Characteristics of Public Officeholders           143

Defining Their Jobs                144

PartyBuilding Functions         144

CampaignOriented Functions             145

Recruitment and Incentives                146

The Initial Impetus to Get Involved               146

Advancement to Leadership               146

The Rise of the Amateur Activist                   147

Issue Conflict and Consensus Among Party Leaders and Followers 153

A Seminal Study of Beliefs                154

A 1968 Followup Study of Leaders               155

Leader and Follower Attitudes in the 1970s              157

Part Three Party in Elections              163

7 Nominating Candidates       165

Development of the Primary              167

The Primary as a Response to OneParty Politics       168

Considerations in Developing a Primary System       168

Types of Primaries Who May Vote                169

Crossing Over in Open Primaries                   170

Who May Run in a Primary               171

SelfInitiated Candidacy                      171

Party Endorsement The PrePrimary Convention 172

The Challenge Primary                       173

Other Forms of Party Endorsement                174

The RunOff Primary               174

Voter Participation in Primaries         174

The Predominance of Party Activists             175

Primary Voters in the South               176

Candidate Participation in Primaries              177

How Party Dominance and Primary Competition are Related 177

Primary Competition and Urbanization         178

The Advantages of Incumbency         178

The Party Convention as an Alternative to the Primary 179

State Conventions The Connecticut Example            179

National Conventions                         180

The Primary and Its Critics                181

8 Election Campaigns                         187

Major Features of Campaigns            188

Who Participates                     188

The Impact of Campaigns                  189

How Competitive Are Elections        190

The Appeal to Party                194

The Trouble With Issues        195

The Nonparticipating              197

The Two Categories of Nonparticipants        198

Reasons for Nonparticipation             198

The Impact of Nonparticipation         200

The Common Paraphernalia of American Election Campaigns 201

Headquarters               201

Conducting a Registration Drive        201

Surveying Public Opinion      203

Campaign Materials               204

Appeals to Special Groups                 207

Raising Money                        209

What Elections Mean             211

An Expression of Confidence or Dissatisfatisfaction 211

Can Elections Give a Policy Mandate            212

9 Getting Elected President                217

The Effect of the Electoral College On Campaign Strategy 218

How Electoral Votes Are Apportioned Among States           219

Importance of the Big Eleven             219

Presidential Primaries                         223

The Number of Primaries                   223

WriteIn Votes             224

Why Candidates Find Primaries Attractive    225

Hazards of Primary Defeat                 226

Primaries and Issues               227

Testing Campaign Style and Organization in a Primary 228

The New Party Convention                229

Changes in the Democratic National Convention      229

The Convention and Its Critics           231

The Consequences of Reform            233

Presidential Election Campaigns                    234

An Overview 19481972                     234

The 1972 Presidential Election                       235

The Role of Presidential Leadership              238

Part Four Party in Government                      243

10 Party Competition and State Public Policy Outputs 245

The Many Ways of Measuring Competition              247

Choice of Time Span              247

Overall or Alternating Competition               248

Choice of Offices                    249

The ThirdParty Problem                     250

Predicting Margins of Victory and Loss        252

A Partys Normal Vote            252

Weighted Averages                252

Expected Variation                 253

A Formula for Measuring Interparty Competition     254

Our Present Understanding of Interparty Competition          255

Interparty Competition and Public Policy      256

Reapportionment and Public Policy               259

Current Propositions               262

11 The Impact of Parties Upon National Policy         273

Voting in the House of Representatives 1973            274

Democrats in Control             276

Consensus and Division         279

House Voting Generalizations            281

The Influence of Party                        282

The Influence of Party Leaders          282

Conditions of Leadership Influence   284

The Decline of Party Voting              285

Voting by SameState Senators           287

Constituency Influence                       288

Measuring the Relative Influence of Party and Constituency 289

Five Major Issue Areas                       289

A 1958 Study of Influences Upon Voting in Congress 290

Personal Beliefs                      291

12 Parties Critics and the Future        295

Criticism of the Parties           295

The Failure to be Representative        296

Criticism of the Parties Public Policy Role    298

A Scenario for Party Realignment                  301

Index               307