Political Realignment

Are American political parties really in decay? Have American voters really given up on the major parties? Taking issue with widely accepted theories of dealignment and party decay, Paulson argues that the most profound realignment in American history occurred in the 1960s, almost without notice, and that still another realignment is on the way. The result, he asserts, is not the decline of American political parties, but the birth of a new party system which features a liberal party and a conservative party. This development should have a major impact on American democracy in the twenty-first century, offering the possibility of some form of party government more commonly seen in parliamentary systems.

What social groups support which political party, and how that support has changed over time, are central questions in the sociology of political behaviour. This study provides the first systematic book-length reassessment and restatement of the sociological approach to American politics in more than 20 years. It challenges widespread arguments that the importance of social cleavages have declined precipitously in recent years in the face of post-industrial social and economic changes. The book reconceptualizes the concept of social cleavages and focus on four major cleavages in American society: class, religion, gender, and race, arguing a that a number of important changes in the alignments of the groups making up these four cleavages have occurred. The book examines the implications of these changes for the Democratic and Republican Parties. The findings of the book are examined in light of the central dilemmas facing the two major parties in the contemporary political environment.

This work answers key questions by first placing the dilemma in the context of recent elections - at both the state and federal level - and by defining the types of minor parties and of the roles they play.