1st Edition

The Divided Democrats Ideological Unity, Party Reform, And Presidential Elections

By William G. Mayer Copyright 1996
    234 Pages
    by Routledge

    236 Pages
    by Routledge

    Do Democrats have greater difficulty maintaining party unity than Republicans? William Mayer argues that they do, chiefly because the Democrats are a more ideologically diverse, less cohesive party. After extensively documenting the Democrats' traditional problems of division and disagreement, Mayer presents evidence suggesting that the Republican advantage over the Democrats has finally started to narrow—raising important questions about the future of the Republican coalition.

    Forthcoming Titles -- Foreword -- Introduction: Party Unity and Presidential Elections -- Do Democratic Rules Make the Nomination Process More Divisive? -- The Divisive Primary Revisited -- Ideological Cohesion in the American Party System -- Ideological Cohesion over Time: The Origin and Evolution of the Party Coalitions -- Group Appeals and the Democratic Coalition -- The Politics of Democratic Disunity -- Variables Used in the Probit Equations in Chapter 3 -- Measuring Ideological Cohesion -- Open-Ended Responses on Group-Related Themes and Issues

    Biography

    William G. Mayer is assistant professor of political science at Northeastern University.