What are political parties and where did today’s parties come from? 267in which the parties were divided on the government’s response to industrialization
and restrictions on immigration.
The fifth party system was born out of the Great Depression: the worldwide
economic collapse that led to the unemployment of millions of people. Many
Republicans argued that conditions would improve over time and that government
intervention would do little good, whereas Democrats proposed new programs that
would help people in need and spur economic growth. The Democratic landslide in the
1932 election led to the New Deal, a series of federal programs proposed by President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt and enacted by Congress to stimulate the national
economy, help needy people, and impose a variety of new regulations. Debate over the
New Deal brought together the New Deal coalition of African Americans, Catholics,
Jews, union members, and white southerners, who became strong supporters of
Democratic candidates over the next generation.^7 This transformation established the
basic division between the parties that exists to the present day: Democrats generally
favor a large federal government that takes an active role in managing the economy
and regulating behavior, and Republicans generally believe that many such programs
should be provided by state and local governments or not provided at all.
The move from the fifth to the sixth party system was marked by the introduction
of new political questions and debates that divided the parties.^8 Beginning in the late
1940s, many Democratic candidates and party leaders, particularly outside the South,
came out against the “separate but equal” system of racial discrimination in southern
states and in favor of programs designed to ensure equal opportunity for minority
citizens. Then, during the 1960s, many Democratic politicians argued for expanding
the role of the federal government in health care, antipoverty programs, and education.
Most Republicans opposed such initiatives, although a significant portion did not.
At the same time, these new issues also began to divide American citizens and
organized groups, leading to a gradual but significant shift in the groups that identified
with each party.^9 White southerners and some Catholics moved to the Republican
Party, and minorities, particularly African Americans, started identifying more
strongly as Democrats. Democrats also gained supporters in New England and West
Coast states. By the late 1980s, all three elements of the Republican and Democratic
parties (organization, government, and electorate) were much more like-minded than
they had been a generation earlier.
The sixth party system also brought changes in party organizations. Both the
Republican and Democratic parties increased their involvement in recruiting,
training, conducting fund-raising, and campaigning for their party’s congressional
and presidential candidates in an effort to elect like-minded colleagues who would
vote with them to enact their preferred policies.^10 At the same time, disagreements
between congressional Republicans and Democrats increased, making it harder to
find common ground in many policy areas.Realignments Each party system is separated from the next by a realignment, a
change in one or more of the factors that define a party system, including the issues that
divide the parties, the nature and function of the party organizations, the composition
of the party coalitions, and the specifics of government policy. In most cases, a
realignment begins with the emergence of a new question or issue debate that captures
the attention of large numbers of ordinary citizens, activists, and politicians.^11 To spur a
realignment, the issue has to be crosscutting, meaning that within each party coalition
there are people who disagree on what government should do.
A realignment between the fifth party system (1933–1968) and the sixth (1969–
present) produced the division between modern-day Republicans and Democrats.^12
Parties in the fifth party system were primarily divided by their positions on therealignment
A change in the size or composition of
the party coalitions or in the nature
of the issues that divide the parties.
Realignments typically occur within
an election cycle or two, but they can
also occur gradually over the course
of a decade or longer.Debate over Roosevelt’s New Deal
programs established the basic divide
between Democrats and Republicans
that continues to this day: in the main,
Democrats favor a larger federal
government that takes an active role in
managing the economy; Republicans
prefer a smaller federal government
and fewer programs and regulations.Full_09_APT_64431_ch08_262-295.indd 267 16/11/18 1:39 PM