American Politics Today - Essentials (3rd Ed)

168 CHAPTER 6|POLITICAL PARTIES

and Democratic parties that persists to the present day: Democrats generally favor

a large federal government that takes an active role in managing the economy

and regulating individual and corporate behavior, while Republicans believe that

many such programs should either be provided by state and local governments or

be kept entirely separate from government.

The Sixth Party System, 1969–Present

A sixth party system emerged as new political questions and debates divided the

parties.^12 Beginning in the late 1940s, and continuing more decisively during

the 1960s, 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 throughout the nation.

At the same time, Democratic politicians, particularly President Lyndon John-

son, argued for expanding the federal government into health care funding (in

the form of the Medicare and Medicaid programs), antipoverty programs, educa-

tion, and public works. Johnson called his plan the Great Society. Although some

Republican politicians supported portions of the Great Society, particularly the

civil rights reforms, there was considerable Republican opposition to expanding

the role of government in society.

This division on civil rights—along with diff erences on other issues such as

foreign policy, abortion rights, and the size and scope of government—produced

a gradual but signifi cant shift in the groups that identifi ed with each party. White

southerners and some Catholics gradually moved to the Republican Party, and

minorities, particularly African Americans, started identifying more strongly

as Democrats. Candidates (particularly those entering politics) either chose or

changed their party affi liations to refl ect the new party coalitions. 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 the party organizations.

Both the Republican and the Democratic parties became parties in service,

increasing their involvement in recruiting, training, conducting fund-raising,

and campaigning for their party’s congressional and presidential candidates.^13

Just as in the first party system, the parties in government became more

involved in campaigns as a way of electing like-minded colleagues who would

vote with them to enact their preferred policies. At the same time, the parties in

government began to play a larger role in building policy compromises within

and across the parties and in working to shape legislative proceedings to enact

these compromises into law.

Realignments

Each party system is separated from the next by a realignment—a change in one

or more of the factors that defi ne a party system. These factors include the issues

that divide supporters and candidates from each party, the nature and function of

realignment A change in the size
or composition of the party coali-
tions or in the nature of the issues
that divide the parties. Realign-
ments typically occur within an
election cycle or two, but they can
also occur gradually over the course
of a decade or longer.