Party Development and Party Action: The American Origins

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According to much conventional historiography, modern political parties arose first in Great Britain and later in America. A more accurate view would assert the contrary that parties in the sense appeared first in the United States with the Federalists and Jeffersonian Republicans of the 1790s, and in Great Britain only some decades later with the Whig-Liberal and Tory-Conservative formations of the 1830s and 1840s. The dates themselves are not of great moment; it is rather the issue of when, how, or under what conditions modern parties emerged that is significant. It is an argument of this essay that much about the nature and role of party can be learned from an historical analysis of the origins of party in America. A further argument is that even a brief comparison of American and English experience can further clarify such understanding. The American case is at once special and indicative of certain key aspects of party development in general. The term proper sense, of course, suggests some conceptual or theoretical distinction between parties and other formations. The point here is that it is of primary importance for the historian or political scientist who is concerned with party development or action to distinguish in a conscious, analytical manner between pre-party political formations or factions on the one hand, and parties on the other. If this distinction is carefully made, much else follows, including clarification which opens the way to historical explanation of the early development of party in the United States, and ultimately of the origin of parties generally. Thus, party is explored here as a modern political phenomenon and indeed as an aspect of political modernization in general. Finally, party is also understood as being associated with some form of mass politics, whether actively democratic or passively plebiscitarian.1 Democracy is construed summarily as popular representation, popular participation or initiative, and popular choice. The focus of inquiry is on the American experience and literature, against a limited comparison with the English background. Throughout, emphasis