Introduction: Rethinking Political Parties in the Information Age 1
1 Political Parties in an American Setting 13
Political Parties: Institutions Americans Love to Hate 14
Praise from the Ivory Tower 16
Politics without Parties 16
The Parties Speak: Gejdenson versus White on the Importance of Political Parties 17
Three Important Party Distinctions 18
How Parties Differ from Other Organizations 18
The Components of American Political Parties 19
Does the Tripod Work in the Information Age? 21
What Do Political Parties Seek to Accomplish? 23
The Battle of the Titans: Hamilton Versus Jefferson 27
Like God, Parties are not Dead 30
2 The Ascendance of Party Politics 33
The Pre-Party Era 33
The Colonial Experience 34
Nascent Parties: Federalists Versus Republicans 37
Party Rule: 1824-1912 40
Breakdown and Renewal: The Election of 1824 41
The Jackson-Van Buren Alliance 42
The Rise of Mass-Based Politics and the Emergence of the Spoils System 44
The Interregnum: Parties and the Civil War 45
The Coming of the Machine 48
The Parties Speak: A Day in the Life of Party Boss George Washington Plunkitt 49
The Parties Speak: Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard J. Daley on Patronage 51
Parties "American Style" 52
3 The Decline of Party Politics 55
"Clean it Up!": The Progressive Movement 56
Enter the Progressives 57
The Parties Speak: Robert M. LaFollette, Sr., "The Menace of the Machine" (1897) 61
Why the Progressive Movement Was Successful 65
An End to Party Politics? 68
Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal 70
The New Deal and Party Politics 71
Political Parties and the Cold War 72
The Rise of Interest Groups 74
The Interest Group Explosion 74
The Rise of Candidate-Centered Politics 76
Party Activist versus Professional Consultant 76
Party Member versus Nonpartisan Candidate 77
The Parties Speak: Ed Rollins and the "Campaign from Hell" 78
Party Affiliation versus Voting Choice 79
The Parties Speak: Louis LaPolla, "The Pothole Mayor," A Case Study in Ambition 80
A Partyless Age? 81
4 Party Organizations in the Twenty-First Century 84
Organizational Adjustment and Growth 86
The Rebirth of the Republican National Committee 87
The Democratic National Committee Plays Catch-Up 89
New Technologies in the Information Age 89
The Emergence of Legislative Campaign Committees 93
The Hill Committees 93
The Parties Speak: Congressman David Price on the Role of Party in Campaigns 96
State Legislative Campaign Committees 97
The Parties Speak: Party Leaders Voice Concerns about Legislative Campaign Committees 98
Wither the Local Parties? 99
Evidence of Local Party Renewal 99
Evidence of Local Party Decline 102
Revitalists Versus Declinists 103
5 Nominating Presidents in the Information Age 108
What Kind of President? 108
From John Adams to Bill Clinton: The Problem of Presidential Selection 113
The Parties Speak: Alexander Hamilton on Choosing an American President 114
Hamilton's Family Versus Jefferson's Community 116
The Rise of Nominating Conventions 117
The Rise of Hamiltonian Nationalism 120
The McGovern-Fraser Commission 121
The Parties Speak: The New Republic's Reflections on the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy and the Democratic Party of 1968 122
Are Primaries and Caucuses Representative? 128
Republicans Follow the McGovern-Fraser Lead 130
The Unintended Consequences of the McGovern-Fraser Reforms 132
The Mikulski and Winograd Commissions 133
Enter the Superdelegates 134
Looking to 2000 135
6 Party Brand Loyalty and the American Voter 140
The Importance of Party Indentification 142
Measuring Party Identification 145
Is Party Identification Obsolete? 147
The Making of an Idea: Party Realignment 147
V. O. Key and Party Realignment 148
The Parties Speak: V. O. Key and the Theory of Party Realignment 149
Party Realignment: The Death of a Concept? 152
The Parties Speak: Everett C. Ladd, Like Waiting for Godot, the Uselessness of Party Realignment 154
Where are the Voters Going? 157
The End of the New Deal Coalition 157
Here Come the Ticket-Splitters 157
Party Coalitions in the Clinton Era 160
The Gender Gap 163
Divided Government 166
What's Left for Parties? 169
7 State and Local Parties: Mom-and-Pop Shops in the Information Age 174
State and Local Parties in the Information Age 175
Regulating State Parties 176
Party Structure 177
A Network of Allied Party Groups 180
The Parties Speak: David Rehr on the National Beer Wholesalers Association and the GOP 182
Who Belongs? 184
Primary Voters 184
Officials in the Party Organization 189
Activists 191
Local Political Culture 192
The Parties Speak: The "Amateur Democrats" 194
What State and Local Parties Do 195
Manifest Party Functions 195
Nassau County Republicans: A Machine That Keeps on Ticking 197
The Kings County Republican Committee: Fighting the Nonpartisan Tide 198
The Loudoun County Democrats: An Information Age Revival Story 199
Dare County Democratic Committee: Hoping for a Policy Makeover 200
State and Local Parties, Computers, and the Internet 201
Desktop Tools 201
State Parties on the Net 201
Computers to the Rescue? 203
Appendix A Republican State Committee Web Sites as of 1998 204
Appendix B Democratic State Committee Web Sites as of 1998 205
8 Campaign Finance and Information Age Political Parties 208
A Brief Look at Money in Elections 210
Phase 1 Money as a Supplement to Party Activities (1790s to 1880s) 210
Phase 2 The Rise of Corporate Politics (1880s to 1950s) 211
Phase 3 Media-Centered Elections (1960s to the Present) 213
Efforts to Regulate the Flow of Money in Elections 214
Meaningful Reform: Watergate and Federal Reforms 216
A Challenge in the Courts: Buckley v. Valeo 218
The Rise of PACs 220
Creative Party Finances in the Information Age 222
Issue Advocacy 223
The Parties Speak: Ten Myths about Money in Politics 224
Independent Expenditures 227
Hard and Soft Money 229
Transfers to State Party Committees 231
Bundling 232
Funding Nominating Conventions 233
The Future of Party Finance in America 233
9 Elected Officials: The Reluctant Sales Force of the Party System 237
The Parties Speak: The 1994 House Republicans' Contract with America 238
The President as Party Leader 240
The Party in Congress 241
The Parties Speak: Toward a More Responsible Two-Party System 245
The Contract with America 247
The Parties Speak: The House Judiciary Committee on the Question of Impeachment 252
The Rise of the Public Speakership 252
Hamilton's Congress? 255
10 Third Parties and the Information Age: The Orphans of American Politics 264
The Third-Party Paradox 265
Institutional Barriers 267
American Political Culture 273
The Momentum of History 276
The Parties Speak: Benjamin C. Bubar, 1976 and 1980 Prohibition Party Presidential Nominee 278
Significant Third parties in American History 280
The Anti-Mason Party 281
The Free-Soil Party 281
The American (Know-Nothing) Party 282
The Greenback and Populists (People's) Parties 283
The Progressives: 1912-1924 285
The Parties Speak: William Jennings Bryan's "Cross of Gold" Speech Presented to the Democratic National Convention, Chicago, Illinois, July 8, 1896 286
Henry Wallace and the Progressive Party of 1948 287
State's Rights Party (1948) and the American Independent Party (1968) 289
The Reform Party 290
Third Parties in the Information Age 291
An Explosion of Minor Parties 291
Changes in Voter Attitudes toward Minor Parties 293
Minor Parties and the Internet 294
Jefferson, Hamilton, and the Future of Third Parties in America 296
The Parties Speak: Ventura Win Marks Dawn of New Era: Age of Digital Politics 297
Conclusion: Hamilton's Triumph and the Advent of the "Base-Less" Party System 302
The 1998 Election and the "Base-Less" Party System 307
Party Politics in the Next Millennium 312
Voter Trends 312
Organizational Developments 312
Legislative Politics 313
New Laws 313
Minor Parties 314.