The Decline and Revival of
Political Parties
Richard M. Skinner
The Decline of Political Parties
• In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, a series of
events undermined the power of political
parties.
• New issues, such as civil rights and the
Vietnam War, split the parties, especially the
Democrats.
• Old divisions, such as those between
Protestants and Catholics, became less
meaningful.
Candidate-Centered Campaigns
• Television especially allowed candidates to
appeal directly to voters without relying on
party organizations.
The Rise of Television
• Network programming began in 1947.
Television proved to be more rapidly adopted
than any other technology in history.
Trivial TV for Truman
• Television provided limited coverage of the
1948 presidential campaign, when only 1 in
200 Americans had sets.
“I Like Ike”
• By 1952, 1/3 of American homes had TV.
• Both presidential campaigns used TV
advertisements to reach voters.
Kennedy on Television
• By 1960, 7/8 of households had TV – essentially
everyone except the old, poor, and rural.
• Millions tuned in to a series of debates between
John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Many
believed that those debates helped Kennedy win
the election, in part because of his good looks.
“The Most Trusted Man in America”
• In 1963, NBC and CBS extended their nightly newscasts
from 15 to 30 minutes. Both began the new format
with interviews with President Kennedy.
• TV quickly surpassed newspapers as the primary
source of news for American citizens.
• CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite was dubbed the “most
trusted man in America.”
Political Consultants
• By the 1970s, political consultants were managing
most statewide campaigns.
• Many of them were experts in new political
technologies: polling, TV advertisements, direct mail.
• They replaced traditional party workers who lacked
such training.
The Independents and the Incumbents
• Between 1964 and 1978, the proportion of American voters
who called themselves independents rose from about 22% to
38%.
• “Ticket-splitting” between candidates of different parties
became common. Many white Southerners favored
Republicans in presidential races while still backing Democrats
“down-ballot.”
• Incumbents were the main beneficiaries of ticket-splitting.
Movement Politics
• Since the early 19th century, party politics in
many states had been dominated by
pragmatists more interested in patronage or
sociability than in ideology.
• But in the 1960s, they were challenged by a
new wave of issue-oriented activists.
• They were usually better educated and less
geared to material gain than were their
predecessors.
Turning Right
• “Movement conservatives” came to control the Republican Party in
the 1960s and 1970s.
• They were centered in the South and West.
• National Review magazine (founded 1955 by William F. Buckley Jr.)
became their favorite mouthpiece.
• They wanted a Republican Party more clearly opposed to the
welfare state.
• They were also militantly anti-Communist.
“Extremism in Defense of Liberty”
• In 1964, conservative activists helped Sen. Barry Goldwater
of Arizona win the Republican nomination.
• Many conservative Southerners admired his opposition to
civil rights legislation. He also gained support in the
growing “Sun Belt” that stretched from Florida to Texas to
Southern California
• While Goldwater lost badly to LBJ, his conservative
supporters came to dominate Republican activists.
“A Time for Choosing”
• Ronald Reagan, an actor and onetime New Deal
Democrat, had emerged as a major conservative
spokesman by the early 1960s.
• Reagan became the strongest campaigner for
Goldwater in 1964.
• In 1966, to the surprise of many, Reagan was elected
governor of California.
“Government Is The Problem!”
• Reagan showed that a movement conservative could
appeal to Independents and Democrats.
• He lambasted student radicals and urban rioters,
calling for “law and order.”
• He also attacked high taxes and generous welfare
programs.
• Reagan sought the presidency in 1968 and 1976 before
winning in 1980.
The “New Right”
• A new group of conservative activists emerged in the 1970s
and 1980s.
• They included Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina, antifeminist Phyllis Schlafly, and evangelists Pat Robertson and
Jerry Falwell.
“The New Right”
• These activists focused on issues arising from a
backlash to the social changes of the 1960s:
– Opposition to the women’s movement.
– Opposition to abortion (legalized in 1973 by Roe v.
Wade).
– Discontent with the consequences of the civil rights
movement: affirmative action, busing.
– Opposition to the “sexual revolution”: pornography,
gay rights, sex education.
– A belief that religion had been forced out of public
life.
Reagan and the Right
• Ronald Reagan helped bring the New Right
into the Republican Party.
“Dump Johnson”
• As the Vietnam War became increasingly unpopular, young
liberals organized to oppose Lyndon Johnson’s campaign for
re-election in 1968.
• Their candidate was Sen. Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota.
• After McCarthy fared surprisingly well in early primaries,
LBJ decided not to seek another term.
• Sen. Robert F. Kennedy immediately joined the race.
A Tumultuous Year
• Vice President Hubert Humphrey entered the race, but
too late to compete in primaries. He nonetheless
wrapped up key support from party leaders.
• Kennedy and McCarthy battled in a series of primaries
that ended with RFK’s narrow victory in California. But
he was assassinated on primary night.
“The Whole World is Watching”
• At the Democratic convention in Chicago, Humphrey was nominated for
president.
• With RFK dead, there was no clear alternative. McCarthy was disliked by
insiders, while the 36-year-old Edward Kennedy refused to seek the
nomination.
• Outside the convention, riots broke out on the streets of Chicago. Inside,
chaos reigned.
• But the convention agreed to create a commission to investigate
reforming the nomination process.
The McGovern-Fraser Commission
• The commission, first chaired by Sen. George
McGovern, then by Rep. Donald Fraser,
proposed a new process with much less of a
role for party leaders.
• Primaries came to dominate presidential
nominations.
• Caucuses were opened to much wider
participation
McGovern ‘72
• McGovern exploited the new rules and the enthusiasm of
the anti-war movement to win the Democratic presidential
nomination in 1972.
• McGovern lost badly to Nixon, but many of his followers
remained active in the Democratic Party. They found new
causes: women’s rights, gay rights, the environment.
• The reformed process survived mostly intact.
Party Renewal
• In many ways, political parties have revived
since 1980:
• Citizens are voting more along party lines and
perceiving events and leaders in partisan
terms.
• Party committees are playing a greater role in
elections.
• Presidents and other officeholders have built
stronger ties to the parties.
Party Renewal
• Many of the factors that had once weakened
parties have now strengthened them.
• Movement activists have become major parts
of the party coalitions.
• Political consultants have been built close ties
to the party committees.
• The South has gone from a “swing” region in
the 1960s and 1970s to a Republican
stronghold.
Ronald Reagan
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Sought conservative Republican majority.
Used RNC to win support for policies.
Worked closely with Hill GOP.
Polarized electorate.
Sought ideological overhaul of executive
branch.
The War on the Hill
• In the 1980s, Democrats strengthened their
congressional leadership to combat Reagan.
• As the Republican Party grew in the South,
and as more blacks voted, the numbers of
conservative Democrats shrank.
• Newt Gingrich led a group of young
conservative Republicans fighting against the
Democratic leadership.
A Divisive Era
• Polarized politics has only grown over the last
three presidents.
Party Organization
• During the late 1970s, Bill Brock greatly
expanded the activities of the Republican
National Committee, especially in providing
services to candidates.
• Congressional campaign committees also
stepped up their roles.
• The Democrats began to respond in the 1980s,
but especially during the George W. Bush era.
Party in the Electorate
• The percentage of Republicans in the
electorate increased during the 1980s and
1990s, especially among Southern white men.
• But Democrats made gains under George W.
Bush, especially among young voters just
entering the electorate.
Conservative Republicans, Liberal
Democrats
• Since Reagan was elected, the ideological
differences between the parties have grown.
• Conservatives are more Republican, liberals
are more Democratic.
• The tie between party identification and views
on issues has grown dramatically, especially
on social issues like abortion.
A More Partisan Public?
• The percentage of voters who are “pure
independents” has fallen since the 1970s,
while the number of “strong partisans” has
grown.
• Voters have become more willing to vote
“straight tickets.” They are more likely to see
important differences between the parties.
A New Type of Party Politics
• 19th century parties were
– Decentralized
– Non-ideological
– Run by patronage politicians
• 21st century parties are
– Centralized
– Ideological
– Run by political professionals and ideological
activists