This book challenges traditional notions of American party politics and political culture. Usually, American politics is looked on as relatively consensual and nonideological, but John Gerring argues that American party history and, by extension, American political history at large have been irreducibly ideological. He contends that the major parties have articulated views that were, and are, coherent, differentiated, and stable. The argument rests on evidence provided by election rhetoric - speeches, party platforms, and other campaign tracts disseminated by party leaders during presidential campaigns. Using these texts, Professor Gerring traces the values, beliefs, and issue-positions that have defined party life from the 1830s to the 1990s. Party Ideologies in America, 1828-1996 thus presents a historical synthesis of mainstream party politics from the birth of competitive parties to the present day.
