American Political Parties Decline And Resurgance Essay — страница 4

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National Committee and National Convention thusinvigorating, enhancing, and adding coherency to National State/Partyrelations.The emphatic trouncing of the Republicans in the 1974 and 1976 electionsheralded in party renewal for the Republicans. These changes weresubstantially influenced by the candidate-centred nature of Americanelections. The emphasis now in both parties was to assist their candidatescampaign rather than replace them. The domination of Federal elections byparties was now impossible through the Federal Election Campaign Act(F.E.C.A.) of 1974 which limited party expenditure on candidates, thusreinforcing the candidate-centredness of American elections.Party renewal led to the reconstruction of the party organisation; theywere now fiscally solvent, more diversified

and more professional. However,P.A.C. fundraising accounted for the final source of party revenue andcontributed substantially towards the organisational and infrastructuralinvestment of the party. Party roles have now changed through the reforms,the new-found strength and modernisation, candidate recruitment, campaignfinance and recruitment for the House and Senate, State and local offices. The party organisation has become more cohesive and high-profile inCongressional elections. These changes have taken place within thecandidate-centred system but have not reduced its relevance. Epstein(1986), however sounds a cautionary note and argues that the increasedpolitical role of financial resources cannot of itself account for thedevelopment and rise of candidate-centred politics as

a substitution forparty decline. Reform and renewal have indeed changed the role of theParty, however, many Americans still retain Democratic and Republicanidentification.Partisanship has declined substantially from the perspective of its abilityto structure the vote. Ticket splitting has increased with only a smallmajority of the electorate now actually believing that they should votestrictly on the basis of party labels. Though having become less central invoting decisions, parties do provide cues for voters even in the absence ofcandidate-centered appeals. Decline is obviously visible but not to theextent that Wattenberg (1994) argues. They have changed their roles and nowperform different functions differently. It is precisely this adaptiveelement, which could well be the

parties’ strength in the dynamic of theAmerican political process. Parties are now more organized and have betterresources, but the authority of the party still depends on the support ofthe incumbent President. The major objective for the party is to help electindividual candidates rather than promote policy; there will still be alimitation on their development and authority in the sense that thecandidate-centered election system is unlikely to be overturned by partyactivities.BIBLIOGRAPHYPeele, G., et. al. [eds.], 1992: Developments in American Politics,Basingstoke: Macmillan.Epstein, L., 1986: Political Parties in the American Mould, London:University of Wisconsin Press.Wattenberg, M., 1994: Decline of American Political Parties 1952-1988,Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University

Press.