Promotional Information

This book presents a theory of political disalignment and a revised theory of party realignment, using four case studies from the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Italy to illustrate these concepts.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Preface Chapter One Introduction Party Disalignment and Realignment Characteristics of Disalignment Realignment Theory Working Definitions and Variables Objectives and Hypotheses Methodology Plan of the Book Chapter Two Parties and Party Systems Major vs. Minor Parties The Party Base Party Labels A Definition of Political Parties Party System Consolidation and Institutionalization Socioeconomic Cleavages and Party Preferences New Parties and New Cleavages Party Durability Party Systems Electoral Systems Party Types Perspectives on Leadership Chapter Three Realignment and Dealignment The Origins of Realignment Theory Realignment Criticisms Realignment Resurrected? The Dealignment Perspective Political Change outside the United States Chapter Four Disalignment and Realignment: A New Theoretical Approach A Different Lens Calculation of Parties' Bases and Medial Voters A Theory of Disalignment Disalignment and Electoral Systems A New Theory of Realignment A Typology of Elections Introduction to the Cases Hypotheses Chapter Five The Case of the American Whig Party Origins and Rise of the Whigs The 1824 Election The 1828 Election Party Development The Jackson Presidency The Birth of the Whig Party The 1836 Election The Frustrations of the 1840 Election The Tyler Disaster The 1844 Election The Mexican War and the 1848 Election Taylor, the West, and Patronage The Compromise of 1850 The 1850 Election and Its Aftermath The 1852 Election Temperance, Immigration, and Catholicism The Kansas-Nebraska Bill and the End of the Whigs The Know Nothing Surge The Whig Rise and Fall Conclusions Chapter Six The Case of the British Liberal Party Origins and Rise of the Liberals Liberal Doctrines The Age of Gladstone Gladstone and Ireland The Prewar Years The House of Lords Battle Labor Discord Women's Suffrage The Irish Crises Coalition and War Management The Expanded Electorate The 1918 "Coupon" Election The 1920s Local Elections Conclusions Chapter Seven The Case of Canada's Progressive Conservative Party Quebec and Regionalism in Canada The Unassimilated Province Western Protest The Party System Regional and Provincial Competition Electoral Structure and Serial Party Systems Pan-Canadianism in the Third-Party System Mulroney and the Meech Lake Accord Preludes to Disaster The 1993 Earthquake The New Protest Parties Continuity of Change: 1997–2002 Renewal of Change: 2004–2008 Who Won the Merger? Provincial vs. Federal Party Systems Conclusions Chapter Eight The Case of the Italian Party System The Rise of the Italian State Influences on the Party System The Quasi-Stable Party System The Postwar Party System to 1992 The Collapse of the First Republic Italy: Conclusions and Outlook Chapter Nine Comparative Analysis of the Cases Conditions Necessary for Disalignments Leadership Failure Intensity of National Identity Cleavage Issues and Positions Alienation of the Core Base Availability of a Successor Party or Parties The Electoral System Analysis of the Cases against the Hypotheses Chapter Ten Conclusions and Implications for American Politics in the 21st Century Protecting the Base Base Integrity and Party Polarization The Obstruction of Governance The Intensity of Belief The Cartel Parties New Party Barriers The Reform Party Experience Clarity of Choice The Italian Analogy Could Disalignments Recur? Are Disalignments Cyclical? Selected Bibliography Index

About the Author

Charles S. Mack, PhD, is a post-doctoral scholar in politics at the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC.