1. Chapter 11 Political Parties

2. Political Parties and U.S. Government
America’s two-party style has endured for over two hundred years, with Democrats and Republicans as the main standard-bearers since
The election rules explain the dominance of the two parties.
Third parties arise periodically to challenge two-party dominance, but none has ever managed to break through.

3. America’s Party Systems: Origins and Change
Two main parties have always dominated U.S. party politics—and since 1856, they have been the same two parties, Republicans and Democrats.
The two parties—and the contest between them—regularly reboot the party system. Each change in party system means a change in the voters making up each party and the ideas that inspire them.
We count at least six party systems since the U.S. founding. The latest, which began in 1969, is the period of very close elections.
Political historians are watching carefully for the rise of the next party system.

4. Party Identification . . . and Ideas
A substantial majority of voting-age Americans identify strongly with one of the two major parties. Others declare themselves independents—their numbers have been rising.
Our powerful sense of party identification is a result of many factors, including parental influence, political context, and even personality type.
Party identification in turn helps shape our voting patterns, the ways we filter political information, and our bedrock ideas about politics and government.
Each party features several ideological factions, with most politically aware Americans aligning with one or two of these.
Each party includes three groups: the party organization, the party in government, and the party in electorate.

5. Party Competition . . . and Partisanship
After declining thirty to forty years ago, the main political parties are now both thriving—and are highly competitive. Recent national elections have featured narrow margins of victory in presidential races and frequent shifts in party control.
This competition has helped fuel a rise in partisan differences, evident among both national policymakers and the U.S. public.
Most Americans—and many social scientists—believe that partisanship is affecting the quality of American government. The intensity of the conflict, they believe, will weaken our institutions.