Rent 9780673995780 | Party Politics in America | Beck, Paul Allen @knetbooks.com

Summary Table of Contents Author Biography

Party Politics in America, now considerably revised and updated, is a longtime leading text on American political parties. Its coverage is comprehensive, including the American party system and its third parties and independents; all three parts of the parties (the party organizations, the party in the electorate, and the party in government); and the interaction among these parts, especially during election campaigns. Professor Beck integrates academic research on the parties with contemporary and historical examples of party politics in the U.S. The eighth edition incorporates new research and political events through the beginning of the 1996 presidential election campaign, employs more comparisons with other democratic party systems than before, and addresses directly the question of the changing role of the parties in American politics.

Preface	p. xvii
Parties and Party Systems	p. 1
In Search of the Political Parties	p. 5
Toward A Tripartite Definition of Parties	p. 7
The Party As A Set of Activities	p. 11
The Indirect Consequences of Party Activity	p. 13
The Special Characteristics of Political Parties	p. 14
The Evolution of American Parties	p. 16
The Party in Its ... MOREEnvironment	p. 23
The American Two-Party System	p. 27
The National Party System	p. 28
The Fifty American Party Systems	p. 31
The Causes and Conditions of Two-Partyism	p. 34
Deviations From Two-Partyism	p. 38
Whither the American Two-Party System?	p. 46
The Political Party as an Organization	p. 51
The State and Local Party Organizations	p. 55
The Party Organizations in State Law	p. 55
Party Machines, Then and Now	p. 61
The Revitalization of Local Party Organizations	p. 65
State Party Organization	p. 67
Party Organization in Perspective: Trends and Changes	p. 72
National Organizations: A New Presence at the Summit	p. 74
The National Committees and National Officers	p. 75
The Supporting Cast of National Groups	p. 79
Two Paths to Power	p. 83
Power and Authority in the National Party	p. 86
The Limits of Party Organization	p. 91
The Political Party of the Activists	p. 92
Incentives for Political Activity	p. 92
The Processes of Recruitment	p. 99
The Recruits: Amateurs and Professionals	p. 101
Vitality of the Party Organization	p. 104
Power and Discipline in the Party Organization	p. 105
The Political Party in the Electorate	p. 111
The Loyal Electorates	p. 115
Party Realignments and the American Party Systems	p. 115
How People Acquire Party Loyalties	p. 120
The Social Bases of Party Identification	p. 122
The Issue and Ideological Bases of Party Identification	p. 129
A Sixth Party System?	p. 131
The Party within the Voter	p. 133
The Stability of Party Identifications	p. 133
Party Identification As A Filter for Political Views	p. 135
Party Identification and Voting	p. 137
Party Identification and Party Perceptions	p. 143
Partisanship and Perot	p. 143
The Myth of the Independent	p. 144
The Loyal Electorates and Changing Party Politics	p. 145
The Active Electorate	p. 148
The Low Turnout in American Elections	p. 148
Changing Legal Definitions of the Electorate	p. 150
Legal-Institutional Barriers To Voting	p. 152
The Special Case of Voting Rights for American Blacks	p. 153
Political Influences on Turnout	p. 156
Turnout: The Personal Equation	p. 158
The Puzzle of Declining Voter Turnout	p. 161
Consequences for the Political Parties	p. 164
The Broader Issues	p. 166
The Political Parties in the Electoral Process	p. 169
The Naming of the Party Candidates	p. 171
How the Nomination Process Evolved	p. 171
The Present Mix of Primary and Convention	p. 173
Varieties of the Direct Primary	p. 175
Primaries: Rules of the Game	p. 177
The Threat of the Direct Primary	p. 178
The Party Organization Fights Back	p. 180
Candidates and Voters in the Primaries	p. 182
The Direct Primary in Retrospect	p. 183
Choosing the Presidential Nominees	p. 187
First Steps Toward the Nominations	p. 187
The Politics of Delegate Selection	p. 191
Citizen Participation and Choice in Presidential Nominations
Primary Versus Party Selection	p. 197
The Final Act: The National Party Conventions	p. 197
The Delegates	p. 200
Conventions in the New Nominating Process	p. 205
The Case for Change	p. 207
Parties and the Campaign for Election	p. 209
The Electoral Institutions	p. 209
Political Consequences of Electoral Law	p. 214
Campaign Strategy	p. 217
Campaigning in the New Millennium	p. 218
The New Campaigning for the Presidency	p. 224
Do Campaigns Make A Difference?	p. 225
The Party Organization's Role in Modern Campaigning	p. 227
Financing the Campaigns	p. 230
How Big Has the Money Become?	p. 231
Who Spends the Campaign Money?	p. 233
What Is the Impact of Campaign Spending?	p. 237
Sources of Funds in Federal Campaigns	p. 238
Sources of Funds at the State and Local Level	p. 246
Reform of the Campaign Finance Rules	p. 246
Money, Parties, and Power in American Politics	p. 252
Campaign Finance: A Reflection of the American Way	p. 252
The Party in Government	p. 255
Party and Partisans in the Legislature	p. 259
Party Organization and Party Power in Legislatures	p. 259
Party Impact and Influence	p. 266
Party Cohesion in Legislative Voting	p. 270
Legislative Parties and Party Government	p. 278
The Party in the Executive and Judiciary	p. 280
The Executive As a Party Leader	p. 281
Party Leadership and Legislative Relations	p. 285
Party Power and Administrative Policy	p. 288
The Shadow of Party in the Judiciary	p. 292
The Party Within the Executive and the Judge	p. 296
The Quest for Party Government	p. 297
The Debate Over Responsible Party Government	p. 298
Ideological Parties in the United States?	p. 302
Ideology in the American Electorate	p. 306
Party Responsibility American-Style	p. 310
Barriers To Responsible Parties: Divided Government	p. 312
The Continuing Search for Responsible Party Government	p. 314
The Place of Parties in American Politics	p. 316
Parties and Their Environment	p. 316
Party Decay in the 1960s and 1970s	p. 319
Party Renewal	p. 323
The Future of Party Politics in America	p. 326
Conclusion: The Party Dilemma	p. 331
Party Politics on the Internet	p. 333
End Notes	p. 337
Index	p. 389
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Paul Allen Beck is a professor of political science and department chair at The Ohio State University.

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