American Parties in Context ─ Comparative and Historical Analysis

Sixty years ago, the ultimate goal of the APSA’s Responsible Parties Report was for the parties to provide a clearer picture to the electorate as to how government would be different depending on Republican or Democratic rule. Since then the two major parties in America have indeed grown quite distinct, offering dramatically different visions for the country. This book is intended to significantly enhance students‘understanding of the American parties today by putting them in broader context. The book does more than just tell students how the American parties are similar/different in comparison to other party systems, and more than just tell them how the American parties have changed over the past sixty years.

Harmel, Janda, and Giebert demonstrate that the American parties have moved significantly in the direction of the APSA Committee’s "responsible parties" model, but while showing little inclination for implementing the greater discipline the Committee thought essential. Already having provided as much ideological choice as the British parties, the US parties have now edged closer on the other critical requirement of legislative cohesion, with the latter resulting "naturally" from the greater homogenization of the meaning of "Democrat" and "Republican" across the country, both within the electorate and now within Congress as well. The authors show that dramatic increase in cohesion is not the product of greater party discipline, but rather of sectoral realignments.

Robert Harmel is Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University.

Matthew Giebert is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at Texas A&M University.

Kenneth Janda is Payson S. Wild Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Northwestern University.