The Party Identification Model and Partisan Dealignment
Are parties in decline? Is the rise in candidate-centred politics demonstrating the ability of political parties to adapt in response to perceived weaknesses? Discuss.
Throughout Western democracies, political parties have lost their appeal. Membership of major parties has declined dramatically, while our strength of party affiliation is continually decreasing. The ‘mass party’ which emerged as the dominant actor of the twentieth century and peaked during the 1950s were initially the focal point of democratic participation, now they have memberships reduced to a quarter or less of what they had a few decades ago. The decline in political parties, in conjunction with accessibility of mass media, has led to the deterioration of internal party campaigning. As such, the party professional with their polling, surveys and other aspects of systematic elections research have replaced the party worker as the primary method of gathering campaign information. In the United States, political parties have responded to such weakness by utilising candidate centred politics, in which candidates mobilise their own electorate. Whilst the decline of political parties is prevalent within Britain and Australia, these electorates have not adapted to this movement away from the party organisation and continue to vote according to party-orientation as candidates are unable to gain their own base of support with voters placing party policies and national issues over candidate value.
By the 1950s, a portrait of the American electorate was drawn that emphasised ‘the absence of ideology or specific issues as political motivations for the American voter and the overwhelming importance of a sense of affiliation with party for presidential and congressional voting.’ Partisan identification was the anchor of stability for the political system; however, following the impact of short-term events during the 1960s, such as the Vietnam War, there was a decline in party loyalty as the American
Throughout Western democracies, political parties have lost their appeal. Membership of major parties has declined dramatically, while our strength of party affiliation is continually decreasing. The ‘mass party’ which emerged as the dominant actor of the twentieth century and peaked during the 1950s were initially the focal point of democratic participation, now they have memberships reduced to a quarter or less of what they had a few decades ago. The decline in political parties, in conjunction with accessibility of mass media, has led to the deterioration of internal party campaigning. As such, the party professional with their polling, surveys and other aspects of systematic elections research have replaced the party worker as the primary method of gathering campaign information. In the United States, political parties have responded to such weakness by utilising candidate centred politics, in which candidates mobilise their own electorate. Whilst the decline of political parties is prevalent within Britain and Australia, these electorates have not adapted to this movement away from the party organisation and continue to vote according to party-orientation as candidates are unable to gain their own base of support with voters placing party policies and national issues over candidate value.
By the 1950s, a portrait of the American electorate was drawn that emphasised ‘the absence of ideology or specific issues as political motivations for the American voter and the overwhelming importance of a sense of affiliation with party for presidential and congressional voting.’ Partisan identification was the anchor of stability for the political system; however, following the impact of short-term events during the 1960s, such as the Vietnam War, there was a decline in party loyalty as the American
Bibliography: Everson, D., ‘The Decline in Political Parties’, in Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, Vol. 34, No. 4, 1982, pp. 49-60. Sorauf, F., Political Parties in the American System, Boston, Little Brown, 1964. Wattenberg, M., The Rise of Candidate-Centered Politics, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1991. Webb, P., ‘Are British Political Parties in Decline?’ in Party Politics, Vol.1, No. 3, 1995, pp. 299-322. -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. Everson, D., The Decline in Political Parties, in ‘Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science’, Vol. 34, No. 4, 1982, pp. 51. [ 2 ]. Agranoff, R., The New Style of Campaigning: The Decline of Party and the Rise of Candidate-Centered Technology, in Fishel, J., ed. ‘Parties and Elections in the Anti-Party Age’, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1978, pp. 230. [ 3 ]. Sorauf, F., Political Parties in the American System, Boston, Little Brown, 1964, pp. 108. [ 4 ]. Wattenberg, M., The Rise of Candidate-Centered Politics, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1991, pp. 34. [ 5 ]. Dennis, J., ‘Trends in Public Support for the American Party System’ in British Journal of Political Science, Vol. 5, No. 2, 1975, pp. 187-230. [ 6 ]. The Decline of the Political Parties, , 2012. [ 7 ]. Webb, P., Are British Political Parties in Decline? in ‘Party Politics’, Vol.1, No. 3, 1995, pp. 305. [ 8 ] [ 10 ]. CNN Politics, Report Shows Turnout Lower than 2008 and 2004, , 2012. [ 11 ]. Australian Electoral Study 1987-2007, Trends in Australia: Political Opinion, , 2008, pp.48.