The Disintegration of American Political Parties : the Evidence from the 1980 Nomination Campaigns

Abstract

In the september issue of this Review Professor Tom Casstevens and I noted that presidential nominations and elections were significant in the United States as harbingers or mirrors of important changes in the larger political milieu. As the Democratic nominating convention ground to a soporific conclusion after nominating President Carter to oppose Republican Ronald Reagan in the November general election it was apparent that 1980 was no exception. Major systemic changes were reflected in the nomination process. The most important and most threatening revelation of 1980 was the inability of either party organization to control the selection of the party’s presidential candidate. It was apparent that the proliferation of primaries and changes in campaign finance laws have reduced sharply the efficacy of party organizations in general and the role of state party organizations in particular. These same innovations have enhanced the influence of single-issue interest groups over presidential nominations. As a consequence nomination strategies have evolved which circumvent party organization while cultivating the support of single-issue interest groups. Indeed, contemporary campaign rules even encourage single interest groups to circumvent the candidates’s campaign organization in support of the candidate’s election. This circumvention in turn reinforces the decline of party influence and reduces the psychological attachment of American citizens to either major political party.