Party system

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Party Systems refers to the political system of elections, parties, issues, voters and rules-of-the-game as it operated over long periods of time in the U.S. Party systems are separated by Realigning elections which destroy the old system and create a new one. The term "party system" is also used in Canadian politics and occasionally for other nations.

U.S. Models

The concept of party system was introduced by English scholar James Bryce in American Commonwealth (1885).

American Party Systems was a major textbook by Charles Merriam in 1920s. In 1967 the most important single breakthrough appeared, The American Party Systems. Stages of Political Development, edited by William Nisbet Chambers and Walter Dean Burnham. It brought together historians and political scientists who agreed on a common framework and numbering system. Thus Chambers published the book The First Party System in 1972. Burnham published numerous articles and books. The model appears in most political science textbooks and many history textbooks, and is included in the AP tests in history and government that 300,000 high school students take every year.

Closely related is the concept of critical elections (introduced by V. O. Key in 1955), and "realignments."


Bibliography: US

  • Numan V. Bartley, "Voters and Party Systems: A Review of the Recent Literature," The History Teacher, Vol. 8, No. 3 (May, 1975), pp. 452-469. online at JSTOR
  • Beck, Paul Allen. "Micropolitics in Macro Perspective: the Political History of Walter Dean Burnham." Social Science History 1986 10(3): 221-245. Issn: 0145-5532 Fulltext in Jstor
  • David Brady and Joseph Stewart, Jr. "Congressional Party Realignment and Transformations of Public Policy in Three Realignment Eras," American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 26, No. 2 (May, 1982), pp. 333-360 online at JSTOR Looks at links among cross-cutting issues, electoral realignments, the U.S. House and public policy changes during the Civil War, 1890's and New Deal realignments. In each case the policy changes are voted through by a partisan "new" majority party. The Civil War and 1890's realignments were more polarized than was the New Deal realignment, and the extent of party structuring of issue dimensions was greater.
  • William Nisbet Chambers and Walter Dean Burnham, eds. The American Party Systems. Stages of Political Development, (1967)
  • Chambers, William Nisbet. Political Parties in a New Nation: The American Experience, 1776–1809 (1963)
  • Hofstadter, Richard. The Idea of a Party System: The Rise of Legitimate Opposition in the United States, 1780-1840 (1970)
  • James, Scott C. Presidents, Parties, and the State: A Party System Perspective on Democratic Regulatory Choice, 1884-1936 (2000)
  • Jensen, Richard. "American Election Analysis: A Case History of Methodological Innovation and Diffusion," in S. M. Lipset, ed, Politics and the Social Sciences (Oxford University Press, 1969), 226-43.
  • Jensen, Richard. "History and the Political Scientist," in S. M. Lipset, ed, Politics and the Social Sciences (Oxford University Press, 1969), , 1-28.
  • Jensen, Richard. "Historiography of Political History," in Jack Greene ed., Encyclopedia of American Political History (Scribners, 1984), 1:1-25. online
  • Jensen, Richard. "The Changing Shape of Burnham`s Political Universe," Social Science History 10 (1986) 209-19 Issn: 0145-5532 Fulltext in Jstor
  • Kleppner, Paul ed. The Evolution of American Electoral Systems (1981)
  • Renda, Lex. "Richard P. McCormick and the Second American Party System." Reviews in American History (1995) 23(2): 378-389. Issn: 0048-7511 Fulltext in Project Muse.
  • Sundquist, James L. Dynamics of the Party System: Alignment and Realignment of Political Parties in the United States], (1983) online edition

Bibliography: World

  • Lauri Karvonen and Stein Kuhnle. Party Systems and Voter Alignments Revisited (2000)
  • Paul G. Lewis and Paul Webb, eds. Pan-European Perspectives on Party Politics (2003)
  • Seymour M. Lipset and Stein Rokkan, eds. Party Systems And Voter Alignments (1967)
  • Sartori, Giovanni . Parties and Party Systems: A framework for analysis (1976; reprint 2005)
  • James Walch. Faction and Front: Party Systems in South India (1976)

See for the U.S.:


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