Political Parties : 314
AMERICAN POLITICAL PARTIES
Winter Term 2009
Hanes Walton, Jr.
Samuel J. Eldersveld
ISR 4240
Office Hours: Monday 4-6
GSI Instructors
Allison Dale
Julian Davis
Nathan Kalmoe
734-936-1768
The objective of this course is to acquaint the student with the American Party
system. We will emphasize the development and operation of our parties as
organizational systems, their impact on the political behavior of the public, and the roles
or functions they play in the American political process and system. In addition, we will
often compare the American party system with party systems in other societies.
Throughout the course we will be inquiring about party structures, activists, campaigns,
finances and how well they meet the needs of the American people. In this contest, we
will naturally consider a variety of proposed reforms of the party system.
This will be a lecture and discussion course. It is hoped that the student will be
involved in discussions during the many class sessions. The student is responsible for the
assigned text materials.
Textbooks: Can be found at Shaman Drum and they are:
Walton, Reelection
Flanigan and Zingale Political Behavior of the American Electorate 11th
Edition
Hershey
Party Politics in America 13th Edition
Abramowitz
The 2008 Election Update
Suggestive Readings:
Eldersveld and Walton, Political Parties in
American Society 2nd Edition
Mendelberg, The Race Card: Campaign Strategy, Implicit Messages and
The Norm of Equality
Chhibber & Kollman, The Formation of National Party Systems
West,
Celebrity Politics
Important Dates
1. Mid-terms Exam……………………………………………February 18th
2. Final Exam………………………………………………... April 29th
3. Research Paper Due………………………………………...March 16th
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Outline of Course: Topics and Readings
Week 1
Political Parties in Society: What are their Functions and Roles
Hershey Chapter 1
Walton, Chapter 1; Flanigan Chapter 1
Other Suggested Readings:
Anthony Downs, An Economic Theory of Democracy pp. 24-31
V.O. Key, Jr.
Southern Politics Chapter 15
Samuel DuBois Cook, “Introduction: The Politics of The Success of
Failure,” in H. Walton, Jr., Black Political Parties
T Mendelberg,
The Race Card Chapter 1
Week 2
The U.S. Party System Viewed Comparatively: How Unique is Our System?
Hershey Chapter 16
Eldersveld and Walton Chapter 2
Other Suggested Readings:
Arend Lijphart,
Russell Dalton,
Democracies 1984, pp; 106-114.
Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Parties
Chapter 7
G.B. Powell,
“Party Systems and Political System Performance,”
American Political Science Review vol. 75
(Dec, 1981).
Chhibber & Kollman, “Party Aggregation and Number of Parties,”
American Political Science Review (June, 1998),
pp. 329-342.
Week 3
The American Party System’s Origins: Why Did We Develop A Two-Party
System?
Hershey Chapter 1; Walton Chapter 2; Flanigan, Chapter 4
Other Suggested Readings:
Richard Hofstadter, The Idea of a Party System Chapter 1
William Chambers, The First Party System pp. 45-56
John Aldrich,
Why Parties? Chapter 2
-3Ted Brader and Joshua Tucker, “The Emergence of Mass
Partisanship in Russia, 1993-1996,” American Journal of
Political Science vol 45 (January, 2001), pp. 63-83.
Donald Stokes and G.R. Iversen, “On the Existence of
Forces Restoring Party Competition,” Public Opinion
Quarterly vol. 26 (Summer, 1962).
Seymour Lipset and Stein Rokkan, (eds.) Party Systems
And Voter Alignments pp. 1-56.
Week 4
Third Parties: What Chances Do They Have?
Hershey Chapter 2: Rapoport & Stone, Three’s A Crowd
Entire Book
Other Suggested Readings:
Walton, “African Americans, H. Ross Perot, and Image
Politics: The Nature of African American Third Party
Politics,” in Walton, African American Power and Politics:
The Political Context Variable pp. 282-293
_________, Black Political Parties Chapter 5 and 6
Steven Rosenstone, Roy Behr and Richard Lazarus, Third
Parties in America Chapter 3
Steven Rosenstone and John Hansen, Mobilization,
Participation and Democracy in America pp. 188-210
Rodolfo O. de la Garza (eds) Awash in the Mainstream:
Latino Politics in the 1996 Election
Week 5 Our Presidential Nomination System: A New Model
Hershey Chapter 9 Walton: Chapters 9 & 10; Flanigan Chapter 7
2008 Election Update Entire work
Other Suggested Reading:
Paul Abramson, et. al., Change and Continuity in the 2004
Elections Chapters 3 & 4
John Aldrich “A Dynamic Model of Presidential
Nomination Campaigns,” APSR PP. 651-669
-4Week 6 Parties and Leadership Recruitment: How Important are the Parties?
Hershey Chapter 10 Walton Chapters 6, 7 & 8
Other Suggested Readings:
Sandy Maisel, et al., “The Naming of the Candidates:
Recruitment or Emergence?” in The Parties Respond pp. 137159.
Chong Lim Kim, et al, “Partisanship in the Recruitment and
Reforms of American State Legislatures,” in Eulau and
Czudnowski, Elite Recruitment
Kenneth Prewitt, The Recruitment of Political Leaders
Chapter 3
Aldrich, “Jacksonian Democracy,” Chapter 4
Week 7 The Public Support for the Parties: Is It Really Declining?
Hershey Chapter 6 & 7; Walton, Chapter 12; Flanigan Chapter 3,4, 5, & 6
Other Suggested Readings:
Dalton, Citizen Politics 4th Edition Chapter 9
Bruce Keith, et al The Myth of the Independent Voters
Chapter 5, 10, & 2
Walter Devries and Lance Tarrance, The Ticket Splitters
Warren Miller, “Party Identification, Realignment, and
Party Voting: Back to the Basics,” APSR pp. 557-568.
Angus Campbell, et al., The American Voter Chapter
5&6
David Mayhew, Electoral Realignments: A Critique of
An American Genre pp. 1-47
Week 8 National Party Organizations: Stronger Than Ever?
Hershey Chapter 4; Walton Chapter 12
-5Other Suggested Readings:
Austin Ranney, Curing the Mischief’s of Faction pp.
22-57
Paul Herrnson, Party Campaigning in the 1980s
Chapters 2 & 3
Shea and Green, The State of Parties 1994
The Politics of Cohesion: The Role of The
National Party Committees in the 1992 Election”
_____________, The State of Parties, 1994 “The
Democratic Leadership Council: Institutionalizing
Party Factions,”
Week 9
State and Local Party Structures: How Effective are the Activists?
Hershey Chapter 3 ; Walton Chapter 4 & 5
Other Suggested Readings:
William Crotty, Political Parties in Local Areas
Read the Chapters on Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles,
Houston, Nashville
Raymond Wolfinger, “Why Political Machines Have
Not Withered Away,” Journal of Politics (1972), pp.
365-398.
Mike Royko, Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago
Paul Frymer, “Is the Concept of Electoral Capture
Applicable to Other Groups? The Case of Gay and
Lesbian Voters in the Democratic Party and the
Christian Right In the Republican Party” in Frymer
pp. 179-206.
John Frendeis, “Voters, Government Officials, and
Party Organization,” Shea and Green, pp.147-162.
-6Week 10 The Campaign Process: Are the New Strategies and Technologies Working?
Hershey Chapters 11 & 5; Walton Chapter 10; Flanigan Chapter 6
Other Suggested Readings:
Paul Herrnson Party Campaigns in the 1980s Chapter 4
Shanto Iyengar and Donald Kinder, News That Matters
Larry Sabato, The Rise of Political Consultants: New
Ways of Winning Elections
Tali Mendelberg, The Race Card
Chapter 5
Keith Reeves, Voting Hopes or Fears?
Herbert Asher, Polling and the Public 5th Edition
Kenneth Warren, In Defense of Public Opinion
Polling
Week 11 Money and Political Campaigns: Why the Rise of the 527s?
Hershey Chapter 12
Other Suggested Readings:
Anthony Corrado, Thomas Mann, and Trevor Potter (eds)
Finance Battle: Court Testimony on the New Reforms
Janet Grenzke, “Pacs and the Congressional Supermarket,”
American Journal of Political Science vol 33 (1989), pp,
1-24.
Darrell West, Checkbook Democracy: How Money
Corrupts Political Campaigns
Ross K. Baker, The New Fat Cats: Members of Congress
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Week 12
Part I; Parties and the Election Process: Why is Turnout So Low?
Hershey Chapter 8; Walton Chapter 2 & 3; Flanigan Chapter 2
Other Suggested Readings:
Richard Brody, “The Puzzle of Participation In America”
The New American System.
Arend Lijpart, “Unequal Participation: Democracy’s
Unresolved Dilemma,” APSR vol 91 (March, 1977).
Rosenstone and Hansen, Mobilization, Participation and
Democracy Chapters 5, 6, & 7.
Week 12
Part II: Contested Presidential Elections: What is the Role of the Courts?
Other Suggested Readings:
Donald Stephenson, Jr. Campaign and the Courts: The
United States Supreme Court in Presidential Elections
Week 13
Parties and Governance: How Effective are Parties in Congress?
Hershey Chapter 13 & 14 & 15
Other Suggested Readings:
Gary Cox and Matthew McCubbins, Legislative
Leviathan: Party Government in the House Chapters
5 & 10.
David Rhode Parties and Leaders in the Post Reform
House PP. 17-34.
Green and Farmer, The State of Parties Chapters
14 & 15 & 19
Week 14 Parties and the Race Problem: Is it a Factor in Elections?
Hershey Chapter 16
Walton Chapter 5 and
Other Suggested Readings:
-8Tasha Philpot, Race, Republicans, and the Return of the Party
Of Lincoln
Michael Fauntroy, Republicans and the Black Vote
Paul Frymer, Uneasy Alliance: Race and Party Competition
In America
Ronald Walters, Freedom is Not Enough: Black Voters, Black
Candidates and American Presidential Politics
Edward Carmines and James Stimson, Issue Evolution: Race
And the Transformation of American Politics pp. 27-58
Donald Kinder and Lynn Sanders, Divided by Color Chapter 5
& 6.
Katherine Tate, From Protest to Politics: The New Black Voters
In American Elections Chapters 7 & 8.
Michael Dawson, Black Visions pp. 44-84