Divergent democracy : how policy positions came to dominate party competition / Katherine Krimmel.

Author/creator Krimmel, Katherine, 1981- author.
Format Book
PublicationPrinceton ; Oxford : Princeton University Press, [2024]
Copyright Date©2024
Descriptionxxii, 269 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.
Subjects

SeriesPrinceton Studies in American Politics: Historical, international, and comparative perspectives
Princeton studies in American politics. ^A308870
Contents The puzzle of programmatic partisanship -- What constrains and facilitates programmaticism? -- The dance of clientelism and programmaticism -- National party institutions and programmaticism, 1856-1950 -- National party institutions and programmaticism, 1950-2020 -- Party competition and American democracy.
Abstract "The United States has the most programmatic party system in the world: it has, that is, parties that compete with each other on the basis of differing policy positions. While this may seem obvious today, in our world where Republicans and Democrats seem to hold opposite opinions on every conceivable policy, this was not always the case. When the parties began competing with each other in 1856, they ran on a system of clientelism (the provision of material of support or jobs in exchange for political support). While this change has largely been conflated with rising polarization, Krimmel aims in this book to untangle programmaticism from polarization and shed new light on major changes in American democracy. In this book, Krimmel charts the evolution of programmaticism over time and--using a sophisticated, multi-method approach--builds a new measure to study and track this. She shows that programmaticism in American parties has risen and fallen and risen again--most recently ascending in 1960 and now at a level never before seen. She traces this change to the demise of local machine politics, the rise of national politics, and crucially to the civil rights movement which initiated a shift away from clientelistic practices in the American South"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in other formOnline version: Krimmel, Katherine, 1981- Divergent democracy Princeton ; Oxford : Princeton University Press, [2024] 9780691258065
LCCN 2023038380
ISBN9780691257969
ISBN0691257965 paperback ; acid-free paper
ISBN9780691257952 hardcover ; acid-free paper
ISBN0691257957 hardcover ; acid-free paper
ISBNelectronic book