Southern Political Party Activists: Patterns of Conflict and Change, 1991-2001

by John A. Clark, Charles L. Prysby

Overview

" The South continues to be the most distinctive region in American politics. Over the last half century, Democratic dominance in the South has given way to the emergence of a truly competitive two-party system that leans Republican in presidential elections. In some ways, the region is increasingly like the rest of the country, yet even the degree of change and the speed with which it occurred give the South a distinctive air. The contributors to Southern Political Party Activists examine both the development of American political party organizations and the changing political character of the South, focusing on grassroots party activists-those who are involved in party organizations at the county level. John A. Clark is associate professor of political science at Western Michigan University. Charles L. Prysby is professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813123400
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	09/10/2004
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Table of Contents

Chapter 1	Studying Southern Political Party Activists	1
Part A	Social Factors and Party Conflict
Chapter 2	Religion: Culture Wars in the New South	13
Chapter 3	The Continuing Role of Race in Southern Party Organizations	29
Chapter 4	Population Movement and Southern Party Activists	45
Part B	Political Attitudes of Southern Party Activists
Chapter 5	A Growing Divide: Issue Opinions of Southern Party Activists	59
Chapter 6	Partisan Attachments of Southern Party Activists	73
Chapter 7	Factionalism Transformation in the Two-Party South: It's Getting Harder to Pick a Fight	91
Chapter 8	Mass-Elite Linkages and Partisan Change in the South	107
Part C	Organizational Involvement among Southern Party Activists
Chapter 9	Purist versus Pragmatist Orientations among Southern Political Party Activists	133
Chapter 10	Motives for Involvement among Grassroots Party Activists in the Modern South	149
Chapter 11	Party Activists in Election Campaigns	171
Chapter 12	Communication Patterns and Party Integration	185
Chapter 13	Conclusion: Patterns of Change between and within Party Organizations	197
Appendix	SGPA 2001: Description of the Sampling Plan and Response Rates	209
	References	227
	List of Contributors	247
	Index	249

Editorial Reviews

Packed with data and grounded in theory, the editors and contributors have written an insightful book about partisan change in the American South.

Perspectives on Political Science

A superlative collection with a first-rate lineup of scholars.

Ted G. Jelen

The essays in this volume provide us with new ways of thinking of changes in Southern politics and are supported by a wonderfully rich dataset.... Essential reading for students of southern politics, of electoral change, grassroots democracy, social movements, and many other topics.

Georgetown University ­Clyde Wilcox

Documents a crucial period of transition in southern politics by focusing on the men and women who do politics at the grassroots. Competently researched and well-written, this collection is a worthy successor to a long line of fine work on the politics of America's most distinctive region.

University of Akron John C. Green

A splendid book of first-rate, original research about grassroots party politics. John Clark, Charles Prysby, and their fellow scholars have truly advanced our understanding of the Democratic and Republican Parties as competing institutions in the modern South.

­Merle Black

"The essays in this volume provide us with new ways of thinking of changes in Southern politics and are supported by a wonderfully rich dataset.... Essential reading for students of southern politics, of electoral change, grassroots democracy, social movements, and many other topics." — ­Clyde Wilcox, Georgetown University

"A splendid book of first-rate, original research about grassroots party politics. John Clark, Charles Prysby, and their fellow scholars have truly advanced our understanding of the Democratic and Republican Parties as competing institutions in the modern South." — ­Merle Black, Emory University, and coauthor of The Rise of Southern Republi

"Documents a crucial period of transition in southern politics by focusing on the men and women who do politics at the grassroots. Competently researched and well-written, this collection is a worthy successor to a long line of fine work on the politics of America's most distinctive region." — John C. Green, University of Akron

"Packed with data and grounded in theory, the editors and contributors have written an insightful book about partisan change in the American South." — Perspectives on Political Science

"A superlative collection with a first-rate lineup of scholars." — Ted G. Jelen

From the Publisher