Engines of Change: Party Factions in American Politics, 1868-2010

by Daniel DiSalvo

Overview

America's dominant two-party system forces the political parties to be inclusive and erect big tents. Since their origins, the Democratic and Republican parties have been ideologically variegated to accommodate such a demographically diverse and geographically expansive nation. Yet, given the variety of views within the parties, which prevail and why?

In Engines of Change, Daniel DiSalvo provides the first full account of the role of national intra-party "factions" in American politics. Factions are party sub-units that have enough ideological consistency, organizational capacity, and lasting power to sustain intra-party conflict. This definition widens the category to include many groups not previously categorized as factions, providing a more complete picture of all the different blocs interested in pushing their parties in a particular direction. DiSalvo follows the actions of twelve different party factions from the late 1860s to the present, showing how they have consistently shaped the larger party's ideology, the distribution of power in Congress, the patterns of presidential governance, and-ultimately-the development of the American state.

From the Mugwumps, Stalwart Republicans, and Half-Breeds of the Gilded Age, to the Modern Republicans and New Politics Democrats of the mid-twentieth century, to the more recent New Right and Tea Party movements, the groups DiSalvo covers all had a significant effect on the way their party operated at the time, with the most significant factions even generating changes that lasted long beyond their own era. Indeed, factions have often been just as important as the parties themselves in driving political change. Sweeping in scope, Engines of Change will reshape our understanding of the forces most responsible for reconfiguring the political landscape of modern America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199891702
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/20/2012
Series:	Studies in Postwar American Political Development
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Daniel DiSalvo is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the City University of New York.

Table of Contents

Preface: Parties and Factions in American Politics
I. Introduction: Four Questions about American Party Factions
II. Factions and the Study of American Political Parties
III. Conveyor Belts of Ideas: Factions and Party Ideology
IV. Selecting a Party Leader: Factions and Presidential Nominations
V. Breaking up the Party: Factions and Splinter Parties
VI. Power Distributors: Factions in Congress
VII. Shaping the Situation: Factions and the President
VIII. Factions and American State Building
IX. Factions, Party Responsibility, and American Institutions

Editorial Reviews

"Reaching back a century and a half, this work is chock full of interesting information about U.S. party factions. Yes, parties taken alone may be the main game, DiSalvo argues, but we make an analytic mistake by not dwelling enough on the Tea Party, the New Democrats, the Dixiecrats and other eruptions of that sort. Party factions can set policy agendas, throw their weight around in Congress and in presidential nominating, and otherwise make a difference."—David Mayhew, Sterling Professor of Political Science, Yale University

"Engines of Change is destined to change political scientists' understanding of the American political system. In this original work, Daniel DiSalvo locates the primary source of movement in American politics in the party faction, between interest groups and the political party as a whole. DiSalvo develops his thesis without recourse to ponderous jargon, making his case through a wonderfully rich and informative investigation of political history from the Stalwarts of 1870s to the Tea Party of today."—James W. Ceaser, Harry F. Byrd Professor of Politics, University of Virginia

From the Publisher