When Political Parties Die: A Cross-National Analysis of Disalignment and Realignment

by Charles S. Mack

Overview

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.

Why do major political parties die? The shelf life of minor parties in democracies tends to be short, but major parties tend to be highly durable. The Democratic Party of the United States and the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom have been going strong for two centuries. Major parties perpetuate themselves by maintaining a consistent ideology on major national issues, even at the cost of periodic defeats at the polls. In American politics, ideological polarization maintains the vitality of the two major parties and renders them almost immune to threats from new parties, even as it impedes consensus and compromise on public issues.

Spectacular instances of sudden death in major parties have nevertheless occurred in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Italy, and they all exhibit similar characteristics. The fatal event—which author Charles S. Mack calls "disalignment"—occurs when a schism opens between party leaders and traditional core-base voters on an issue of overriding national importance. Major parties survive periodic defeats, but they cannot survive disalignment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798216164524
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	08/11/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	344
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	7 - 17 Years

About the Author

Charles S. Mack, PhD, is a post-doctoral scholar in politics at the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC.
CHARLES S. MACK is President and CEO of the Business-Industry Political Action Committee in Washington, D.C., the leadership PAC of the business community. His career spans 35 years of corporate and association management and political involvement at national and state levels. Mack has been president of a trade association, a senior public affairs executive of a multinational food manufacturer, and a consultant to companies and associations. He also served on the staffs of the Republican National Committee and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Mack teaches government relations at George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management. He is author of The Executive's Handbook of Trade and Business Associations (Quorum, 1990) and Lobbying and Government Relations (Quorum, 1989).

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

What People are Saying About This

Dr. Kirk BuckmanDepartment of Political ScienceUniversity of New Hampshire

"Dr. Mack makes an important contribution to developing a paradigm for explaining why political parties die and party systems realign. In the process of applying his theory of 'disalignment' to 21st Century American politics, Dr. Mack strengthens our understanding of the dynamics behind the stability and transformation of political parties and party systems."

Pierre Martin

"The demise of a major political party is a rare and fascinating phenomenon which has received little attention in the scholarly literature. This important book brilliantly fills the gap by developing an original theory of realignment and disalignment that will certainly raise some controversy. Stressing the decisive role of party leadership in alienating core voters and the impact of the electoral system, Charles Mack provides an insightful and comprehensive comparative study which refers to historical institutionalism by pointing out that disalignments and realignments constitute critical junctures leading to new developmental paths."
— Pierre Martin, Research Fellow at Sciences Po Grenoble (France) and author of numerous books on electoral systems and realignment theory

John Kenneth White

"For decades, much attention has been paid to the notion of party realignment--i.e., how parties acquire enduring majorities. Charles S. Mack is doing something equally important. By looking at how parties die, he provides us with a rich knowledge of the conditions that make such powerful events possible and, in so doing, tells us much about the relationships between voters and parties."

— John Kenneth White, Professor of Politics, Catholic University of America

William Crotty

"A new and original addition to the study of realignment and more pronouncedly disalignment. Dr. Mack's analysis includes both North American (the United States and Canada) and Western European (Britain and Italy primarily) party systems and systematically tests the proposition that a disalignment results from a fracture or rupture that takes place between a party's core support groups and its leadership or is fueled by an atypical cleavage issue. Realignments deal more with medial voters and in broad canvas constitute a change in relationships more conceptually familiar to social scientists. The study is a most impressive and creative exercise that makes an innovative contribution to our understanding of political change."
— William Crotty, Thomas P. O'Neill Chair in Public Life, and Professor of Political Science, Northeastern University

A. James Reichley

"Charles Mack's groundbreaking study of what he calls 'party disalignment' -- defined as the actual destruction of major political parties and in one case an entire party system -- provides fresh insights on the much debated topics of party realignment and dealignment. Mack offers both rigorous structural analysis and richly presented case histories of disalignments in the United States, Britain, Canada, and Italy. His findings are relevant to current political developments in many Western democracies. The result is a feast for scholars and a good read for all political junkies."

—

A. James Reichley, author of The Life of the Parties

William Crotty

"A new and original addition to the study of realignment and more pronouncedly disalignment. Dr. Mack's analysis includes both North American (the United States and Canada) and Western European (Britain and Italy primarily) party systems and systematically tests the proposition that a disalignment results from a fracture or rupture that takes place between a party's core support groups and its leadership or is fueled by an atypical cleavage issue. Realignments deal more with medial voters and in broad canvas constitute a change in relationships more conceptually familiar to social scientists. The study is a most impressive and creative exercise that makes an innovative contribution to our understanding of political change."

—

William Crotty, Thomas P. O'Neill Chair in Public Life, and Professor of Political Science, Northeastern University

Dr. Kirk Buckman Department of Political Science University of New Hampshire

"Dr. Mack makes an important contribution to developing a paradigm for explaining why political parties die and party systems realign. In the process of applying his theory of 'disalignment' to 21st Century American politics, Dr. Mack strengthens our understanding of the dynamics behind the stability and transformation of political parties and party systems."
— Dr. Kirk Buckman Department of Political Science University of New Hampshire, Durham

John Kenneth White

"For decades, much attention has been paid to the notion of party realignment--i.e., how parties acquire enduring majorities. Charles S. Mack is doing something equally important. By looking at how parties die, he provides us with a rich knowledge of the conditions that make such powerful events possible and, in so doing, tells us much about the relationships between voters and parties."

—

John Kenneth White, Professor of Politics, Catholic University of America

Pierre Martin

"The demise of a major political party is a rare and fascinating phenomenon which has received little attention in the scholarly literature. This important book brilliantly fills the gap by developing an original theory of realignment and disalignment that will certainly raise some controversy. Stressing the decisive role of party leadership in alienating core voters and the impact of the electoral system, Charles Mack provides an insightful and comprehensive comparative study which refers to historical institutionalism by pointing out that disalignments and realignments constitute critical junctures leading to new developmental paths."

—

Pierre Martin, Research Fellow at Sciences Po Grenoble (France) and author of numerous books on electoral systems and realignment theory

A. James Reichley

"Charles Mack's groundbreaking study of what he calls 'party disalignment' -- defined as the actual destruction of major political parties and in one case an entire party system -- provides fresh insights on the much debated topics of party realignment and dealignment. Mack offers both rigorous structural analysis and richly presented case histories of disalignments in the United States, Britain, Canada, and Italy. His findings are relevant to current political developments in many Western democracies. The result is a feast for scholars and a good read for all political junkies."
— A. James Reichley, author of The Life of the Parties

Dr. Kirk Buckman Department of Political Science University of New Hampshire

"Dr. Mack makes an important contribution to developing a paradigm for explaining why political parties die and party systems realign. In the process of applying his theory of 'disalignment' to 21st Century American politics, Dr. Mack strengthens our understanding of the dynamics behind the stability and transformation of political parties and party systems."

—

Dr. Kirk Buckman Department of Political Science University of New Hampshire, Durham