American Democracy Now, 2nd Edition (Harrison)

Chapter 8: Political Parties

Chapter Outline



  1. Parties Today and Their Functions
    1. Defining a Political Party
    2. How Parties Engage Individuals
    3. What Political Parties Do
  2. The Three Faces of Parties
    1. The Party in the Electorate
      1. Measuring the Party in the Electorate
      2. Determining Who Belongs to Each Political Party
      3. Differences Between Democrats and Republicans
    2. The Party Organization
      1. The National Parties
      2. State Parties
      3. County and Local Parties
    3. The Party in Government
      1. Divided Government
  3. Political Parties in U.S. History
    1. The First Party System: The Development of Parties, 1789-1828
    2. The Second Party System: The Democrats' Rise to Power, 1828-1860
    3. The Third Party System: The Republicans' Rise to Power, 1860-1896
    4. The Fourth Party System: Republican Dominance, 1896-1932
    5. The Fifth Party System: Democratic Dominance, 1932-1968
    6. A New Party System?
  4. Two-Party Domination in U.S. Politics
    1. The Dualist Nature of Most Conflicts
    2. The Winner-Take-All Electoral System
    3. Continued Socialization to the Two-Party System
    4. Election Laws That Favor the Two-Party System
  5. The Two-Party System Today: In Decline or in Resurgence?
    1. The Party's Over
    2. The Party's Just Begun
  6. Third Parties in the United States
    1. Types of Third Parties
      1. Issue Advocacy Parties
      2. Ideologically Oriented Parties
      3. Splinter Parties
    2. The Impact of Third Parties
  7. New Ideologies, New Technologies: The Parties in the Twenty-First Century
    1. Struggling for the Heart of the Republican Party: Moderates, Neocons, and a Tea Party Movement
    2. Democrats Today
    3. Changing Both Parties: New Technologies
Harrison: American Democracy Now, 2nd Edition
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